ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/07/84)
i would like to thank Don Steiny for mentioning the cult of Tara in south
and central Asia. when i was a practicing Buddhist, i was initiated into
and cult of Tara, and, while i no longer practice Buddhism, i still have a
poster of Tara on my wall and relate to here image as a goddess. i do get
a bit over-excited at times, and am guilty of the type of statements which
Don pointed out, namely of the "NEVER" and "ALWAYS" kind. of course there
have been, and in a few places (here i go again, actually more than a few)
still are female divinities.
however, from my reading of Christianity and Judaism and Islam, the female
is secondary to the male. sure, there's Mary, but she is SOOOO pure as to
be hardly a normal human. can the rest of us women emulate her? sure,
virgin births are EASY to come by, none of that DIRTY SEX for the rest of
us:-)
what i was getting at is the lack of STRONG female types in "MAIN-STREAM"
religions. Tara is found within the Tantric branch of Buddhism, not considered
a mainstream form.
and thank you, Janet Walker, for the beautiful posting on Bahai. again,
unfortunately, not a main-stream religion, but, from what i can tell, it
is growing. certainly, the first followers of bahai were courageous. and
today, in its place of origin, it must take more than courage to continue,
since the fanatical orthodoxy of the Moslems in power in Iran are murdering
and otherwise persecuting the people of bahai. religious persecution is
not dead in this country, but at least it has not (yet) reached the proportions
it has in other places or other times.
it is ironic to see so many who claim to be Christian leading a new wave of
persecution in this country and in others (where missionaries forceably convert
"heathens" who are merely following the practices of centuries of forebears.
i am thinking of Indonesia, where i know of it first hand, (the Moslems are
there doing the same thing, and warring in the outer islands with Christians
of various flavors and those few who are strong enough to hold on to their
traditional beliefs). don't they remember history? or is this a "get them
before they get you" mentality?
many religions preach that all men are brothers (what about your sisters?),
but end up seeing only those of the same religion as being in the same family.
may we all learn to live together in our blessed heterogeneity!
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