By Ashley Lister
This week our theme is the colour red. I grabbed the first
red book I could find on my desk. It was a copy of the Bible – the New
International Version.
I keep a copy of the Bible on my desk for lots of reasons.
1.
It’s handy to have the Bible close at hand in
case it’s needed for important research.
2.
It’s the right size to act as a coaster for my I ♥ Satan mug.
3.
It puzzles all those people who call me Godless when
I brandish my ever-present copy of the good book.
4.
As a writer, I’m aware that we owe a hell of a
lot to the Bible in regards to education and world literacy.
5.
I find it hilarious to read.
This is one of my favourite passages from the Bible. This comes
from 1 Peter 3.
1 Wives, in
the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do
not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of
their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of
your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward
adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or
fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner
self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth
in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of
the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted
themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed
Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right
and do not give way to fear.
I love the sentiment of this. It’s like this portion of the Bible
was written by Christian Grey. Although, to be more accurate, this is how the
Christian Grey version of the Bible would likely read:
Baby, submit
yourselves to your husband and stop biting your lower lip or ye will visit the
red room. Listen to your inner goddess as she does the merengue with some salsa moves. Your beauty should come from outward adornment, such as Calvin
Kleins, Converse trainers or Ray-Bans. Now drinketh this Pinot Grigio and sucketh
your husband's manliness. Oh, my!
And for all those who want to remind me that I’m going to
burn in the flames of hell, please feel free to put those sentiments in the
comments box below.
4 comments:
Oooh Ashley, don't get me going...
But, just to let you know, Husbands also are told to submit to their wives
Anon,
Is that the shorter passage that begins:
"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner..."
I did think of including that but I thought it would make the bible quotes too heavy for this week :-)
Best,
Ash
Blasphemy - Surely they knew even then that men prefer a dominatrix to whip them into shape.
Adele,
Some men prefer that. But I think the Bible is a construct in misogyny.
Ash
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