Gender and Religion, 2nd Edition

The Dark Side of Scripture

Barbara Crandall

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781441141194
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Sexuality & Gender in Religion

When did patriarchy start and why? What explanation did the major world religions offer for women's inferiority? How have their beliefs and scriptures influenced women's lives in different parts of the world where they are the dominant faith? Gender and Religion, 2nd Edition investigates the statement that the major world religions consider women to be inferior to men by reviewing the religious tracts and laws relating to women. Presenting the socio-political context in which these ideas developed, Barbara Crandall reveals that none of them invented the concept, but accepted it as the custom of human society where and when each began. Using material on the history of patriarchy and up-to-date discussions of women's achievements, the book explores the way gender issues are addressed in the various sacred texts impacting upon women's education, employment, property and inheritance rights, franchise and participation in government, marriages, rights to their children, practice of religion, and control of their own bodies.

Chapter 1

Hinduism

History

Before and During the Vedic Period: 1500 to 500 BCE

Hinduism is over 4,000 years old and is believed to be the oldest living major religion. Its history can be divided into the Vedic, Epic, Medieval and Modern periods. The name Hindu comes from the old Sanskrit word Sindhu, meaning one who lived on the Sindhus river, in what is now North-west India (1, vol. 11, p. 507). Here, according to archaeological evidence, there was once a fairly advanced culture – the Indus valley civilization – that peaked circa 2500 BCE. Excavations in this region, near Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have unearthed the ruins of well-planned, fortified cities as well as temples and statues. Little is known about the religion of the people who lived here: the female figurines and other artifacts found here may be symbols of fertility and regeneration or may indicate the worship of goddesses (2, p. 28).

By about 2000 BCE, this civilization was in decay, possibly because of climate changes resulting in long periods of drought. Successive waves of Indo-Europeans or Aryans invaded the region between 1500 and 1000 BCE and eventually occupied the greater part of Iran and Northern India (1, vol. 12, p. 187). They came from lands near the Caspian Sea and Southern Russia and migrated over the high mountain passes, following the river valleys of the Indus and later the Ganges. They were a pastoral people and lived outside the cities established by their predecessors whom they regarded as their inferiors. They worshipped fire and its god, Agni and Soma – the extract of a sacred plant – gathered by their priests and believed to have hallucinogenic or stimulant properties (2, p. 43). The people also believed in magic and practised phallic worship, and sacrifice (3, p. 97).

The Vedic period is named for the oldest of their scriptures, the Rigveda. Vedic society appears to have been patriarchal but it was family-oriented, and women played some essential roles. In contrast to the Indus valley people, sons were more welcome than daughters because only men could make offerings to their ancestors and defend the community.

At some time in their history, these Aryan invaders developed a three-class social structure in which the Brahmans or priests occupied the highest order, the Kshatriyas were next and represented the rulers or warriors, and the Vaishyas made up the lowest class, and included the majority of the people or commoners, such as the farmers, merchants and artisans (4, p. 41). All three classes were ‘twice-born’, the second birth occurring at an initiation rite or Upanayana. This class structure is described in the Rigveda (5), the oldest of the Vedic scriptures; here the head of primeval man became the Brahman, his arms the Kshatriya and his thighs the Vaishya. The indigenous people or Sudras, were regarded with contempt and made up the fourth class, represented by his feet. They were only once born.

Eventually this four-class society evolved into the well-known caste system, becoming over time more and more complex with many secondary divisions, sects and subclasses, eventually numbering into the thousands. These divisions determined marriage partners and religious, social and labour practices. Required distances of separation were maintained between the members of the different castes. Food that was prepared by a member of one caste could not be eaten by someone belonging to another. The caste of an individual was fixed at birth and determined by that of each parent. When the mother was of lower or equal rank to the father, the child retained the latter’s status. If, on the other hand, the mother’s caste was higher, she was viewed as defiled by her partner and the child was treated as an outcast. Changes within a subclass or caste division could be made over time and a whole group could adopt a change, take a new name and move to a higher status.

Men and women whose work involved human and animal emissions and body parts, dead or alive, were viewed as polluted. Their occupations included midwifery, barbery, laundry, undertaking and associated trades. The lowest of all subclasses were the Untouchables whose work included street cleaning, sewage, handling dead animals and other kinds of menial labour. They and their families were denied entry into temples and schools and they lived separately away from urban areas and often worked at night. Even the sight of an Untouchable was polluting.

Caste rules were strictly observed by most Brahmans, and to a lesser degree by the Vaishyas, and even less by the Sudras. Compliance varied in different regions of the country and, as a result of Muslim influences, was less strict in Northern India. But in Bengal and its surrounding regions as well as the Tamil south, caste rules were strictly enforced.

The power and control of the Brahmans increased over time, particularly in Northern India and racial purity became more and more of an obsession. This led first of all to laws to prevent intermarriage with the indigenous people and later on, between the different classes and castes. Their main purpose was to maintain the purity of each.

Two new religions – Buddhism (see next chapter) and Jainism – began in India in the fifth century BCE (6). Both were protest movements against the power of the Brahmans, including their rituals and the misery inflicted by the caste system and animal sacrifice, which was by then practised on a large scale. Neither subscribes to a higher power or God, and both are peace-seeking faiths practising universal tolerance to other religions and people. They both believe the primary duty of man is to achieve the perfection of his soul. Jains show compassion for all living creatures and believe that all forms of life have souls (1, vol. 12, p. 846). Their Five Precepts reject violence, promote truth and honesty, oppose theft in any form, avoid sensual pleasures and oppose the possession of material things and people. Jains are vegetarians and are well known in India for maintaining animal shelters (7).

Epic or Classical Period: 500 BCE to 700 CE

The second period of Hindu history is the Epic or Classical period (500 BCE–700 CE), named for its literature including the Mahabharata (8, p. 105) and the Ramayana (2, p. 107). Sanskrit treatises dictating conduct and laws for Hindu society appeared in the early centuries of the Common Era. One of them, the Manu Smriti, had a major influence on every aspect of women’s lives, from childhood through widowhood (9).

Alexander the Great invaded North-west India between 327 and 325 BCE and, although his period of control was brief, it had a lasting influence on the language and architecture of Hindus in the region. A period of wars and foreign invasions followed and then a time of relative peace and unity was established under the Mauryan rulers. Asoka (274–237 BCE), the third of the Mauryan kings and the greatest of Indian rulers, eventually controlled all of India except for the Tamil south (10, pp. 93ff.). Asoka converted to Buddhism after he witnessed the death and destruction sustained during a battle at Kalinga and renounced all further wars.

A period of foreign invasions from the north-west followed the Mauryan kings and was succeeded by one of the most creative periods of Indian history. This began in about 400 CE and produced Sanskrit literature, philosophy, art and science. This coincided with the Gupta dynasty uniting Northern India, Nepal, Assam and the Punjab and lasted until 550 CE (11, p. 80).

Medieval Period: 700 to 1800 CE

The Medieval Period (700–1800 CE) includes the millennium of Muslim control and most of the period of European settlements. Northern India had experienced several Arab incursions starting in the eighth century CE, but Mahmud’s in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, was one of the best known and confined mainly to the Punjab. Rival Muslim rulers contended over and finally ruled all of Northern India including Delhi. By the fourteenth century, they had penetrated Southern India, but control was not uniform and mostly confined to strongholds or garrisons. Intervening areas remained largely under Hindu control.

Babur, a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan, invaded Northern India in 1526 and became the first of the Mogul emperors. Akbar, the greatest of them, took control in 1556 and ruled for about 50 years. He eventually ruled all of Northern India from the Deccan to Kabul including Kashmir. Although a Muslim, he was conciliatory to the Hindus and abolished the poll tax usually imposed on all non-Muslims. Akbar was followed by a number of less notable rulers of whom one, Shah Jahan is remembered for some of his great buildings, including the Taj Mahal. He also encouraged the arts and literature, and painting and calligraphy flourished. Later Mogul rulers impoverished the agricultural classes by their extravagances, excluded Hindus from office and reinstated the poll tax for non-Muslims.

Sikhism was started by Guru Nanak (1469–1539) in the late fifteenth century CE and combines both Hindu and Muslim beliefs and practices (1, vol. 20, p. 505). The Sikhs are disciples of ten gurus, and their sacred scripture is the Granth Sahib. Nanak was influenced both by the Hindu Bhakti movement and the Muslim Sufis. Sikhs oppose the worship of idols and the caste system and believe in a single God before whom all men are equal. Nanak’s successors built Amritsar into a centre of pilgrimage in the sixteenth century. Their leader was persecuted and then murdered by the Mughal emperor and over time, this transformed the Sikhs into fanatical anti-Muslims.

Most upper-class Hindus continued with their traditional religious practices during the period of Muslim rule, but many Hindu images, icons and some of their temples were destroyed, especially in the north. Many higher-caste Hindu women adopted the Muslim customs of veiling and purdah, which confined women to their homes.

Decadence and a general deterioration in morals affected the Muslim aristocracy and their military during the seventeenth century making Northern India ripe for another uprising. One came from the Marathas and another from Nadir Shah, King of Persia. The Marathas were eventually defeated by an Afghan ruler in 1761 and control passed to local rulers and generals.

European incursions into India came by sea and included one from Portugal in the sixteenth century, for the repair and fuelling of their ships as well as trade. Their capital was Goa on the west coast from where they were active in spreading Catholicism. The Dutch followed at the end of the sixteenth century in order to protect their trading posts in the East Indies, particularly in Batavia. The English East India Company consisted initially of a small group of traders, who had bases in Bombay and then in Bengal in the early seventeenth century. French trading centres were established in the second half of the sixteenth century; their conflicts with the English led to an unofficial war, which ended with the defeat of the French in 1760.

Modern Period: 1800 to the Present

The Modern period of Hindu history started in about 1800 CE. The English East India Company initially controlled Bengal where they established local rulers; their interests and control then spread to adjacent regions. The general policy of the company was to establish law and order and the dispensation of justice, to develop a civil administration and to collect revenues but to avoid any interference in local customs and religious practices. After a number of struggles, particularly in the north, virtually all conflict ended by the early nineteenth century and the English controlled nearly all of India. Slavery was abolished and attempts were made to outlaw female infanticide and sati (widow immolation) with very limited success. Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the British crown took over control of India from the East India Company.

The Hindu Renaissance had its beginning in this period. Its goals were to promote the spiritual aspects of Hinduism, to emphasize reason and to reject icon worship, the caste system, child marriages and sati (4, p. 69).

British rule had a major impact on the economy, as Indians were forced to produce the raw materials – especially cotton – required for the Industrial Revolution in England. The caste system and religious customs went unchanged. There was a growing and widespread discontent over the treatment of Indians and their lack of representation in senior administrative positions, and this led to a rebellion in the Punjab and a movement of passive resistance. Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) was a part of this movement. Born into a Vaishya family, Gandhi studied law in London and practised in Durban, South Africa where he developed his policy of non-violent protest before he returned to India.

The Indian Nationalist Movement began in the last part of the ninetee...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1
• Hinduism
• Chapter 2
• Buddhism
• Chapter 3
• Judaism
• Chapter 4
• Christianity
• Chapter 5
• Islam
• Chapter 6
• Ancient Cultures and Tribal Religions
• Conclusions
• Index