Should God be replaced? Message Board

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Politics : Should God be replaced?

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To: Lane3 who wrote (126)	7/27/2000 12:06:59 PM
From: Druss	Read Replies (2) of 28931

Karen--I mentioned Joseph Campbell's book Occidental Mythology as a reference source. An excellent source for what you are talking about is his book Primitive Mythology. Body mutilation goes back at least 25,000 years as part of sacrifices to the gods. Navajo men in historical times were recorded as cutting off fingers as offerings to the gods. Normally the little finger and ring finger were given. In some men, all they kept were six fingers (counting the thumb). What this has bearing on is the famous cave paintings of Western Europe show similar things. Hand prints were often made using a mouthful of paint to spray around the hand to form a 'negative' image. Many of the adult size hands show this mutilation pattern. Genital mutilation is not documented on the cave drawings but we do have historical records of such going back of a number of types. Australian Aborigine male practiced slitting the penis starting below the tip. The slit was made on the bottom. This was a rite of passage done on young males. A small slit was made at first but later on in years many males would opt for longer slits in later years some cutting to the very base of the shaft. Female clitorectomy is continues to be practiced in many African and Middle Eastern countries. This is done frequently by parents seeking to control the sexual activity of daughters starting to hit their teens. This has become a major issue of women's rights advocates in the areas. However the practice seems to go back thousands of years. My feeling it that it dates from the development of agriculture in the area. Hunter gatherer groups operate in small bands and young females reaching the age of fertility are married off. Subduing their sexuality is not desirable for the new husband. Agriculture produces surplus population and higher marriage ages. Circumcision of both sexes is widely practiced in the Middle East and Africa. The origins seem to be sacrificial in nature, a highly sensitive area imbued with mystical fertility capabilities. I have seen arguments that keeping sand out of the foreskin area was the reason it began. I don't buy that one at all. Too much like saying you get sand between your eye and eyelid so get rid of the eyelid. Just cannot picture people thinking that way. Males tend to get into a fetal ball at the thought of cutting that area. only a demand from a deity would get them to do so. A bit of sand would be a minor discomfort and easily fixed. Ritualized piercing of female's hymens at young ages is also practiced in scattered areas as is a number of cultures which practice ornamentation of the genitals, often by piercing and hanging objects. Hope this helps. All the Best Druss

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