Chapter 97
Section 97 of Is the Bible Worth Reading and Other Essays? For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Is the Bible Worth Reading and Other Essays? By Lemuel K. Washburn Section 97 of Woman's Religion
The Christian Church of today is the Church of Woman. Woman is certainly the better half of Christianity. She is the minister's right bower. The Christian soldier is an Amazon. The first at the prayer meeting, at the donation party, at the missionary convention, at the Sunday service, at the altar, at the Sunday school, is woman.
And the last is woman too. Without its female members, adherents, and workers, the Christian church would be in an abandoned wreck within a week. It is true that men give money to the church. They do it generally to please the woman at their solicitation. The Christian religion is a female religion.
It is emotional piety. There is nothing robust, independent about it. Nothing that appeals to strength, intellect, reason. It is a vine, not an oak. Even its chief idol was fashioned for female worship.
The songs of Christianity were written for women to sing, rather than men. The God of Christianity is a father, its savior is a young man, and its angels are all of the masculine gender. The Christian heaven is a he kingdom, as far as its administration is concerned, a sort of celestial harem, for certainly ten women go there to one man, if the membership of the church determines the election of candidates to heavenly bliss. The two favorite hymns at the prayer meeting, the two that are sung with most feeling, are Jesus, lover of my soul, and nearer my God to thee.
Religion was invented to catch woman, the priest is the spider, and woman the fly. Upon the altar of every faith, woman has been the sacrifice. Religion claims its female victims in this age just as surely as when the Hindu widow was sent to join her dead husband on wings of flame. Woman today is not killed to appease a god, but she is still made a fool of by the priest.
The spirit of the offering is the same. The form only is different. The foundation of every Christian church is woman. The salary raiser of every Christian minister is woman. Woman is the keystone in every arch of Christian endeavor that spans the earth.
She is the bright, particular star of the church's hope. Men are not so easily caught by the Christian scheme of salvation as women. They want to see some return for their money on earth. It is the woman who is caught in the religious toils. It is the woman who is the slave of God, the victim of priest and minister.
The declaration that will kindle enthusiasm in the human breast most quickly is that a new way has been discovered to get rich. End of section 97
