New Liberal Christmas Tradition: Mary Was Raped
Valerie Tarico wrote an article at Alternet, republished at Salon, that should get her a lot of invites to ironically themed liberal Christmas parties. The title: "Why rape is so intrinsic to religion."
Tarico lays out a series of myths from pagan traditions, mostly Greek and Roman, in which women are abducted, violated, and coerced. We have Danae, Europa, Rea Silvia...and, what do you know, the Virgin Mary.
Notably, Tarico avoids using the same dire language for the Blessed Mother that she uses for the pagan myths: "[I]n the Gospel of Luke, the Virgin Mary gets pregnant when the spirit of the Lord comes upon her and the power of the Most High overshadows her." No "cutting" or "overcom[ing]" or "imprison[ing]" here – but it still, per Tarico, equates to Mary not "giving consent."
At this point, anyone with even a passing understanding of the Bible must be hearing alarm bells. That, and seeing a coruscating marquee that reads LUKE 1:38:
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.
This passage has been read over and over (and over!) again in Catholic Masses throughout the world as Christmas approaches. Protestants, too, are quite clear on it; be it done to me according to thy word is one of the most oft-quoted and well-known phrases of the Advent season.
The best Tarico can do is complain that "Mary assents after being not asked but told by a powerful supernatural being what is going to happen to her[.]" Yet Tarico apparently couldn't be bothered to read the rest of the source she's citing:
And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid; for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. (Lk. 1:46-48)
Read Luke 1 in its entirety. It doesn't get much more "consent" than that.
So one must chalk this up to incredible, mind-blowing ignorance by media figures who purport to cover religion: Tarico is so oblivious to what she's trying to cover here, and so desperate to blast Christianity, that she cites one of the rare religious stories that actually contradicts her claim – that chronicles a woman not only consenting, but consenting enthusiastically. ...
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/liberal_christmas_tradition_mary_raped.html
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