Approximately 2,500 years ago, an Iron Age people did their best to describe the creation of the world. Their particular creation story, found in Genesis, borrowed heavily from other cosmogonic mythologies found in the ancient Middle East. But their account eventually attained a privileged status due to the fact that it was disseminated by Europeans as they subjugated indigenous folks on five continents.
Here are a few of the beliefs held by these Iron Age authors: The stars were points of light embedded in a dome that covered the Earth; the entire universe revolved around Earth; menstruation was a sin for which women had to atone; the Sun was created the day after “seed-bearing plants and trees;” the Earth is approximately 6,000 years old.
They were also oblivious of the following: the germ theory of disease; the cause of eclipses and tides; genes and genetics; and the origin and development of languages.
Now, of course, these folks were products of their time and they certainly could not be expected to grasp future scientific developments any more than we can today.
The problem, however, is that conservatives and evangelicals today don’t seem to grasp that fact. These Iron Age writers, who were frankly ignorant regarding the physical world and human nature, decided to divide humanity into two exclusive and distinct types: men and women. Incredibly enough, this is the paradigm that drives the discrimination and hatred of gays, lesbians and the transgendered today.
And, sadly, the commentary emanating from conservatives and evangelicals on human gender and sexuality sounds fine in the context of the ancient Iron Age world but woefully lacking given what we know today about these issues.
JAMES HOUCK
Baker
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