Actually, the doctrine of Immaculate Conception is the Roman Catholic doctrine that Mary herself was born without sin, thus preparing her to be mother to the Christ. It does not refer to the doctrine of the virgin birth itself. (Many of us atheists know more about Christian and other religious dogma than many religious people do).
Karen
Thanks for the link, Meg. Some funny stuff there!
Annie
Thanks, Meg! I love Etsy. The whole card collection is hilarious.
Bullshit! The did not have typewriters in Mary’s day.
Pixie Song
Dear Joseph,
Are you out of your freaking mind? Do you have any idea what they do to so called “harlots”?? Getting killed for doing the “shameful” is the least of my worries.
Anonymous
I also like “Christianity: a woman’s lie about cheating on her husband that got away out of hand”
Anonymous
so why isn’t a virgin male desirable? in gawd’s eyes, for the sake of Purity? i’ve always wondered about that. shouldn’t Jeebus, after all, have two virgin parents, pure and clean and all that? i guess joe got to fuck around for a few years, and that’s totally OK. or something.
Erp
Actually from various New Testament bits, male virgins were desirable. For example:
Revelation 4:1 Then I looked, and there
before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000
who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2
And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and
like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists
playing their harps. 3
And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living
creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000
who had been redeemed from the earth. 4
These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they
remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were
purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the
Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.
From the standard Christian point of view, Joseph had no involvement in Jesus’s parentage so his status did not matter. At most he was a guardian. Legend has him as an elderly widower with children who probably wasn’t up to ever having sexual relations with Mary. However the Catholic church considers him to have never previously married (though this is not dogma) and that Jesus had no brothers or sisters.
When I first saw this I thought I was still on PostSecrets.
Raquel
Personally I would prefer a note from Mary that read “Dear Jesus, please stop telling people you were sired by god. It’s giving your father an inflated idea of his skills in the bedroom.”
Anonymous
It was never about sexual desire, but making sure that the woman didn’t have children from other men. It’s all about continuing the family line
Ian
It’s strange that it’s all based on a mis-translation. From the ancient Greek it should have read ‘young woman’ and not ‘virgin’, and so the entire death cult of Mary is based on a scribal cock-up (figuratively speaking, this is ;o))
There is a story that ‘daddy’ was called Pantheras, a Roman soldier, and it was he who done the dastardly deed.
I’ve passed this link on to Hemant and it’s well worth a good look. It’s very comprehansive and in places a bit dry but it’s a gold mine if you plough through. Bearing in mind that reading about the bible may not be your thing:
If you want to find out about role models for present day RC priests you only have to read the section on ‘Origin of the Priesthood’. It nails the lie from the Vatican that its troubles are caused by pressures of the modern world.
The Other Weirdo
You know what they say.
Christianity: one woman’s lie that got complete out of hand.
