Hergest Ridge

Judges 19:24 Behold, my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.

Judges 19:25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine, and put her out to them. They wantonly raped her, and abused her all through the night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.

Such was a catechism lesson I received before age ten. A stern nun was in charge of leading the lessons, in a building who’s window overlooked the cobblestone courtyard, with the beautiful old church on the other side. If there are any positive memories of the these lessons, they mostly have root in my appreciation of architecture of many days passed.

There was one part of catechism I enjoyed, and it came when the nun would attach pictures to a canvas, while telling the story they represented. It was the only time her voice didn’t strike fear in the hearts of those present, myself included.

I cannot recall any other lessons as vividly as this one. Maybe this is a result of having found the direct verse used in catechism, and the scraps of memories I have of other lessons would come to equal clarity with the rediscovery of their own representative verses.

The education was a crude kind at best, where no thought is spared to the victim of rape, humiliation and violence. The verses had been portrayed as a beautiful tale of the lengths we all should go to when protecting god’s messengers. What a wonderful sacrifice the owner of the house was making, by offering his own daughter to the wolves!

Times have moved on, and women in religion have finally reached the status of disobedient children (with benefits). No longer treated like cattle, women now have some begrudged rights. Blame their new found freedom on the feminists and TV. Of course, the penis trumps all and the quickest way to wipe out half your sins is through a sex change.

Having experienced such awful lessons of the bible as a boy, I can only speculate what the day in reference did to the psyche of little girls, my sister included. Anyone viewing the bible as the values of a loving god is definitely confused, and when walking, most likely experiences a swinging sensation between their legs (else, the belief might have something to do with taking on the missionary position, in God’s name).