Introduction
Sexual behavior and homosexuality are the sensitive issues among other issues in the world of religion. Every society has moral rules that regulate sexual behavior. However, the rules differ from society to society. At times, to its intents and purposes, the rules necessarily and sufficiently need some specific study and comparing for rational precision. At this event, the comparison of the sexual behavior of different societies with the religious beliefs displays some distinctive connection between the social structures and morals. Power argues that the monastic rules served to ensure the proper public performance of monks because it is the key to securing new monks. Particularly, Power argues that the extensive cataloging of prohibited sex acts is intended to challenge the sexual drive by teaching monks the terrible effects of any imaginable option of sexual activity. Considering the norm rituals during the years that witches are something real, the different taboo issues arise. Cimminnee demonstrates that female scents such as menstrual blood, vaginal and thigh sweat and urine serve as a sexual liberation and stimulates the opposite sex. The female fluids used by the witches in their potions to stimulate lust. In addition, clothing is part of the stimulation of lust that would attract the opposite sex or the inner animalistic behavior of men. In only implies that the sexually active women are dangerous in the society where they belong. On the other hand, Schroeder presents that a lot of behaviors and acts forbid the monks to expose their desire, lust, and passion. Specifically, it explains the pleasure and desires that play a vital role in a religious matter as regulated by the rules. Moreover, homosexuality is a serious matter pertaining to the taboo thing. Alpert emphasizes that the women in the Jewish culture began identifying themselves as Jewish lesbians as they took the roles in the leadership rituals, role models, and challenging discrimination. It entails that sex is an aspect of the lesbian community, including the genital sex, erotic passion, nonconformity to gender roles, romantic friendships, and the affiliation with the political and cultural community of women. In the same way, in the Renaissance period, an illness known as Syphilis infected some individuals and a fearful disease. In particular, the illness starts with the symptoms like skin and flesh filled with water and sore bladders and stomach that brought terror in Europe. This study describes the rules and expectations on sexual deviancy and celibacy with the strong disciplinary monastic codes; it introduces ideas regarding different taboo topics and it sheds light on the behavior of religious figures and multiple rules regarding sexual sins. In addition, it exposes challenging male and female complementary in Jewish lesbians and gender roles in Judaism; and it shows the truth of an illness and the behavior of the judgmental society towards the infected ones.
Taboos and Multiple Rules about Sexual Sins
The rules and expectations of the celibate monks and the strong disciplinary codes abide by the monastic men. Sexual indulgence is described in a way that neither intercourse nor penetration is permissible, nor if the human reproductive organ of a man entered a woman even its width of the seed of sesame plant is considered as an indulgence. Similarly, in the early Christian monastic culture, the public confessions are required of monks who had violated any of the rules. Another similarity between the medical-spiritual literature in Western antiquity and ancient India concerns male semen, celibacy is a practice of retention of vitality and heat. The sexually deviant behavior covers a wide range but spectacularly little is mentioned about homosexuality. However, the silence should not be mistaken for permissibility but interpreted as a sign for heterosexuality occupying the default position for monks. It argues that the monastic rules served to ensure the proper public performance of monks and securing the new monks. In addition, the extensive cataloging of prohibited sex acts is intended to undermine the sexual drive by teaching monks the terrible consequences of any imaginable variant of sexual activity.
Moreover, the multiple rules regarding sexual sins relate to the behavior of religious figures, the monks. The monks are highly forbidden to act the things against the monastic religion, particularly the behaviors or acts showing their desire, lust, and passion for women. For example, a young boy named Zacharias, who lived with the monks, watched closely by the older monks because young boys and children are generally the cause of lust to some monks. It implies that even the religious figures can commit behaviors or acts against the religion through pleasure and desire. The idea of physical intimacy is a worry, but the idea of celibacy is a bigger issue. Shenoute and Apoophthegmate who made the rules regulate the religious figures and its people. For example, Shenoute requires the monks be cautious while using their hands and feet when they cleanse their body, it can possibly a way to arouse them with pleasure and desire. They believe that arousal is an ultimate sin for the monastic law and monks consider themselves real men when they control their passion towards others. Eventually, the monks forced Zacharias to leave their premises, and a common way to regulate ascetics, they spread gossip about Zacharias, and his father, for the monks, Zacharias is a temptation. As a result, Zacharias disfigured himself to be left alone and needs to make himself less attractive in order to re-stabilize the erotic lives of the adults.
Another example of a person that caused temptation is Mary of Egypt, known for her provocative beauty and seductive body she used for survival. In fact, Mary sacrificed her body, she seduced the male monk, God, and even after her death, she still seduced Zosimus. On the other hand, Shenoute condemned the lesbian relationships and very specific with the rules regarding the proper sexual speaking. In particular, there are specific prohibitions against kissing children, to hold children or unsupervised activity with children. Shenoute requires and controls everyone not to do simple things such as bathing a child, scared that the touch would be sensual or pleasurable.
Gender Roles in Judaism
One of the subjects in taboo is the homosexuality, a forbidden or prohibited act in the some religions. Furthermore, this study exposes challenging male and female complementarities in Jewish lesbians and gender roles in Judaism. Specifically, complementarity is a notion, to be whole, and women must be partners with men. However, complementarity has a biological component that is supported by the notion that both men and women fit together and influencing dimensions of the cultural relationship between them. In addition, complementarity is rooted deeply in the structure of biblical and ancient Judaism. However, lesbians in the Hebrew Bible have never been a regular topic and some women in the Jewish culture identified themselves as Jewish lesbians and performed the role in leadership rituals, role models, and challenging discrimination. In the contemporary time, Lesbianism is a women’s claim of independence from complementarity. Lesbians choose to define themselves with the central aspects of their identity in relation to other women, not to men. It shows that the lesbian identity is an aspect of the lesbian community, involving the genital sex, erotic passion, nonconformity to gender roles, romantic friendships, and affiliation with the political and cultural community of women. On the other hand, in Christianity, it maintains a similar standard for sexual behavior regardless of gender but remains flexible when it comes to issues of sexual desire, arousal, and temptation. In this event, the Christian community when discussing sexual desire and temptation, it identifies as moderate essentialists that conceptualizes the differences between men and women as inherent. However, it recognizes the potential for flexibility and the possibility that men and women can re-shape their behavior to accommodate their heterosexual partners.
The legal tradition of biblical and ancient Judaism strictly provides the structural basis for complementarity male-female roles. The Jewish law designates strict categories for everything in the world, especially the relationship between men and women, that men are the central category. In addition, in the Jewish law, there is no such thing as autonomous women; all issues pertaining to women are explained in terms of their relationship with men. All other considerations of women in the Rabbinic Judaism reinforce the existence of the centrality of the heterosexual relationship. On women’s behavior, most prohibitions like modesty in dress, abstention of public rituals, and menstrual taboo include controlling women’s demeanor to their husband and their roles with other men in the culture.
Illness and Judgmental Society
Finally, the reading shows the truth of an illness and the behavior of the judgmental society towards the infected ones. The reading emphasizes the fearful illness known as Syphilis with its symptoms like skin and flesh filled with water, sore bladders, and a stomach that brought great terror in Europe. Syphilis provoked the widespread of moral panic and the infected individuals are condemned from pulpits and from chairs in medical school or university. Correspondingly, some of the physicians judged the infected individuals instead of providing assistance to cure the illness. In response to the illness as considered as a plague, most hospitals transformed for the better but often for the worse. In fear, hospitals cast their infected patients in the street; others follow the traditional way by castigating and persecuting the sick. The public is motivated by the fear of infection, resulting in panicky towns and hospitals barred the infected individuals of syphilis. Often, they blamed the prostitutes for spreading the disease. As a result, sexual morality became stricter and even condemned the prostitutes savagely than the men who used their services. In this sense, there is no clear view of what is the right thing to do and not only fear has motivated the public; they do not know how to see things by giving unequal judgment to others. In a worse scenario, the hospitals in the early modern Europe as charitable institutions, designed to provide the best care and shelter of the sick poor, decided to refuse patients with syphilis. In fact, most hospitals shunted their infected patients with syphilis off to the stables and slept with the animals. Some believed that God has risen up new illness against the wickedness and the medical authorities agreed. Even the greatest surgeon announced to the public that syphilis is evil and horrible, troublesome and dangerous, above all, a notable testimony of the wrath of God. However, in relation to belief, the Christian tradition speaks unexpectedly to new situations. It implies that if these people believe that the illness is a testimony of God’s wrath, and then they should consider not condemning the infected ones since God heals the sick. In addition, discernment functions by exploring interpretive possibilities in relation to the world that is changing constantly. It argues that judging the sick is the worst thing done by surgeons or hospital authorities, thus, syphilis is just a part of the changing world.
In the religious view, it only implies the illness is God’s punishment for people who are involved in the negative sexual behavior and only God can cure the illness. Some physicians feared the hands of God of what they witnessed of the illness. A famous anatomist announced that God has sent the French scab to teach the people to beware of His wrath and people should abandon venereal lust. On the other hand, in the European public view, the experiences of discrimination encountered by some infected individuals need some equalized protections in accordance with their religion and belief. It describes that faith of one’s religion view things in terms of humanity, compassion, and forgiveness as justified in the willingness to engage with their fear of God’s wrath. On the other hand, the conservatives claim that Christians have unanimously condemned venereal lust throughout Christian history. To give thanks upward to God for all the good and evil in life, be grateful for the mercy of God by granting the happy remedy. Thus, only God can provide the cure that the syphilis bodies need purification, but need a lesson as a better way as agreed by medical authorities.
Conclusion
Women scents produce a sinful thing and are dangerous in the society, specifically, it focuses on the female bodies as a sexual liberation. Indeed, the sexual behavior and homosexuality in religion described the rules and expectations on sexual deviancy and celibacy with the strong disciplinary monastic codes. It is argued that the monastic rules are provided to ensure the proper public performance of monks and securing the new monks as well. Evidently, the monks are highly forbidden to act against the monastic religion, particularly the acts showing the desire, lust, and passion wherein specific prohibitions are presented such as kissing children, holding children or unsupervised activity with children. On the other hand, the complementarity is a concept; the women are partners with men. However, complementarity has its biological component supported by the opinion that both men and women fit together and influenced the cultural relationship. The complementarity is embedded totally in the structure of biblical and ancient Judaism. In fact, some women in the Jewish culture identified themselves as Jewish lesbians and they performed the role in leadership rituals, role models, and challenging discrimination. Thus, the Jewish law designated strict categories for everything in the world, especially the relationship between men and women, as men as the central category. All other considerations of women in the Rabbinic Judaism reinforced the existence of the centrality of the heterosexual relationship. Moreover, syphilis provoked the extensive moral panic in the society and the infected individuals are condemned from different places. In the same way, some physicians judged the infected individuals instead of assisting them to cure the illness. Motivated by fear of infection, the public has resulted in panic and hospitals barred the infected individuals of syphilis. As a religious belief, generally, people need to thank God for everything, and grateful for the mercy of God to grant goodness of this changing world.
Bibliography
Allen, Peter Lewis. "The Just Rewards of Unbridled Lust: Syphilis in Early Modern Europe." In
The Wages of Sin: Sex and Disease, Past and Present, 41-60.
Alpert, Rebecca. "Challenging Male/Female Complementarity: Jewish Lesbians and the Jewish
Tradition." In People of the Body, 363-375. Albany NY: State University of New York Press, 1992.
Holt, Cimminnee. "Blood, Sweat, and Urine: The Scent of Feminine Fluids in Anton Szandor
LaVey’s The Satanic Witch." International Journal for the Study of New Religions 4, no. 2 (2013): 177-199.
Jones, Katherine. "Children of Christ and Sexual Beings: Sexuality and Gender in an Evangelical
Abstinence Organization." International Journal Of Religion & Spirituality In Society 3, no. 2 (2013): 1-14. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2016).
Newheiser, David. "Sexuality and Christian Tradition." Journal Of Religious Ethics 43, no. 1
(2015): 122-145. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 22, 2016).
Powers, John. "Sex and the Single Monk." In A Bull of a Man: Images of Masculinity, Sex and
the Body in Indian Buddhism, 67-111. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.
Schroeder, Caroline T. "Queer Eye for the Ascetic Guy? Homoeroticism, Children, and the
Making of Monks in Late Antique Egypt." Journal Of The American Academy Of Religion (University of Pennsylvania Press) 77, no. 2 (June 2009): 333-347. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed April 23, 2016).
Valentine, Gill, and Louise Waite. "Negotiating Difference through Everyday Encounters: The
