women who were not virgins when they married, etc.? The reason is cultural
inculcation. Birth control and abortion when they became readily available
were deemed “wrong” by people who happened to be Catholic, and so they
sought out justification for this position in their Bible. That sort of religious
sanction would buttress within a Catholic society the claim they have against
the personally objectionable action.
The List Is Long
I could go on all day about these things, like circumcision, the caste system,
the covering of women with the hijab (the Koran only says for women to be
modest), etc. When I first started going to Malaysia and Indonesia in the late
80s, most women did not wear the hijab or even a head scarf. Now, it’s the
norm in many parts of those countries. Islam and its interpretation didn't
change during that period; local culture changed. There was the outlawing of
Christmas in England by the Puritans under Cromwell, and its reintroduction
under Charles II. Slavery was abolished despite it being explicitly approved
of and sanctioned in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic religions. None of
these items have anything to do with the core nature of a religion under a
Joseph Campbell definition. They are cultural preferences. There is no
explanation given for adhering to them; they are dictates without
justification and can be abandoned without serious “harm” to the core
religious belief.
Religion is a product. If it’s not attractive to people, it dies out or changes.
Just look at Judaism as it’s practiced today. It’s nothing like historic Judaism
and even the Ultra-Orthodox just follow the politically correct observable
practices. They are not out stoning people (although they have been known
to spit on girl school children they deemed to be improperly dressed or on
Christians—but if it’s a choice of spitting on me or stoning me, I am ready
for the spittle. Just let me get my raincoat). Actually, as Joseph Campbell
once observed, there is very little religion in the Hebrew Bible anyway.
Religion isn’t as bad as the “religious”
But changes in religion are not always progressive. The rise in popularity of
fundamentalist Christianity, Judaism and Islam with their insistence on
acceptance of the short, simple, and fairytale-like description of creation and
explanations of natural causes (demonic possession, for example) may be a
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