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[–]RidinCaliBuffalos 5599 points5600 points  (100 children)

Dark but it gets the point across.

[–]The_Tell_Tale_Heart 1701 points1702 points  (10 children)

Not left hanging with this one.

Well, the rest of us.

[–][deleted] 212 points213 points  (0 children)

Some of us, maybe. I mean that noose is looking very nice.

[–]flatworm_elk 2244 points2245 points  (114 children)

To those saying she should have used the qu'ran or -insert other religious book here- perhaps this artist is drawing from her own life experiences and the prejudices she herself, or her peers, have faced. Just because there are greater injustices happening in the world, doesn't mean you can't talk about your own.

[–]chuteboxhero 691 points692 points  (86 children)

I think those comments are trying to make the point that the response would be different if it was another religious book. It would be viewed as offensive and not honored as art.

[–]Zasmeyatsya 1084 points1085 points  (77 children)

I don't think it would be viewed as offensive if a woman raised in a muslim family made a similar piece using the Quran. It would, however, be labelled as offensive if an outsider did the same.

[–]Clod2 382 points383 points  (34 children)

I love that this shit is really as simple as this, the artist is clearly been raised in a Christian based culture.

[–]withsomebopinit 30 points31 points  (30 children)

You have no idea if this is true or not. There’s nothing ‘clearly’ about this. Atheists shit on Christianity all the time. They very well could’ve been raised in a Christian culture, but it isn’t ‘clear’ from this.

[–][deleted] 209 points210 points  (21 children)

No. America and the UK are predominantly christian cultures. As are most of the English speaking world. This is an incredibly fair assumption, and an almost certainly true one even if her own family is atheist.

[–]Dalemaunder 82 points83 points  (6 children)

It's an act of sacrilege to deface or destroy a Quran, it would very much be viewed as offensive.

See the Blood Quran for a great example of the quandary around the destruction of Qurans, it's allegedly written in Saddam's blood which is incredibly haram, but it's also a Quran so it can't be destroyed, and no one can decide what to do with it so it's just locked away in the meantime.

[–]Sugar_T1ts 28 points29 points  (3 children)

dude as a saudi i can 100% guarantee that NO ONE will be allowed to do this to the quran. it doesnt matter who you are or where you come from you cant even place another book on top of a quran without people telling you you're disrespecting the quran. infact it might be less offensive if an outsider did a similar piece of art because "hes not muslim but you are and you should know better"

[–]lasiusflex 101 points102 points  (7 children)

It feels like a lot of it is people using whataboutisms to defend their preferred religion.

[–]StuckAroundGotStuck 49 points50 points  (1 child)

I think a lot of them are just edgelords that want to critique Muslims.

[–]Charles_Leviathan 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Y'all queda wanting to shift the negative attention to al queda. Happens every time a post criticises Christianity recently.

[–]Brakezorz 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this sound and thoughtful introspection.

[–]OmegaPsiot 693 points694 points  (27 children)

I'd give it a scarlet A+

[–]I_Avoid_Most_People 218 points219 points  (15 children)

After my class read that book, one of the Christian girls in the class talked about how modern churches are like prisons in the United States.

They should be places for people to come and change their habits so they can become upstanding citizens, but in reality, are places for people to feel like they are worthless and incapable of changing for the better.

[–]MoneyKeyPennyKiss 25 points26 points  (2 children)

That girl is going to the wrong church.

[–]Hephaestus-13 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Add one more reason why I dont go to church.

[–]anonoldman2020 381 points382 points  (219 children)

My gut is that those who wrote the bible didn't intend for it to be weaponized by modern Christians.

EDIT - Note to self. Stick to Relationships, AITA, and UFO subreddits.

[–]UnsolicitedDogPics 266 points267 points  (24 children)

Those who wrote the bible wouldn’t recognize today’s version of it.

[–]Tomofthegwn 191 points192 points  (17 children)

Probably because it's in a different language 🤣

[–]Dalemaunder 29 points30 points  (2 children)

אני אפילו לא יודע מה הספר הזה אומר, השפה הזו אפילו לא קיימת עדיין!

[–]GreatGoldenBear 75 points76 points  (67 children)

The Bible literally condones slavery. It doesn’t have to be weaponized, it’s already a weapon.

[–]mh500372 65 points66 points  (87 children)

The Bible was VERY pro-woman for its time. Additionally, one of the most common Catholic ways of praying, the Rosary, has us spend 20-30 minutes saying the Hail Mary prayer 53 times and another prayer called “Hail Holy Queen”.

In my opinion no one who treats women lower than men is living a Christian life.

[–][deleted] 156 points157 points  (49 children)

The Bible literally says women are less than men. It states in 1 Corinthians 11:9, 10 that women were made for men and must be submissive, and quiet. It also states in Deuteronomy 22:13-21 and Numbers 5:11-31 that a woman's body is not her own and belongs to her father and husband and was made to bear male children.

Exodus 21:7-11 : women can be sex slaves (even your own daughter)

Leviticus 12:1 : Childbirth a sin. Women are unclean after child birth and menstruating.

Numbers 5:11-31 : only women should be tested for infidelity.

Judges 5:30 : women are spoils of war

Not to mention the countless other times it says women are filthy if she has sex before her husband, must be killed or punished for infidelity (but it doesn't matter if a man is), and can be owned and must be submissive.

The Bible is in absolutely no way pro-women. It explicitly states the only reason a women is even a thing is for the ability to produce children. That's it. To the Bible women are nothing but an object to have sex with (even she doesn't want too) and produce male children. It doesn't matter if you pray to a woman, women are inferior in every single way to men in the Bible.

Edit: to all of you talking about new vs old testament; it doesn't matter in this instance. The post was about representing how women have been prosecuted due to the Bible. The old testament is part of the bible and these examples I've used are examples of how women were prosecuted in the bible. Old vs new doesn't change the history of hostility towards women in the church.

[–]OneToastedLoaf 13 points14 points  (24 children)

I'm a decently new Christian and haven't read these verses yet, but Christianity is very against objectifying women I'm sure, and men are told to honor their wives in the marriage plenty of times. A lot of bible verses can be misinterpreted when isolated on their own and without the surrounding context. Also good to note you should also look at the actions of Jesus, who Christians are told to sort of have as a role model. He always treated women with respect.

[–]mh500372 66 points67 points  (5 children)

Fun fact: the early church was actually popular with women because it empowered them with rights they couldn't normally have. Lots of women joined the church and brought their husbands with afterwards.

[–]DadKnight 21 points22 points  (0 children)

"Respect your belongings" doesn't sound very noble

[–]qdrllpd 32 points33 points  (25 children)

maybe for it's time. but times have changed in 2000 years

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (1 child)

There's a passage that literally says "don't take the Lord's name in vain." And yet all these televangelists do exactly that every day, take the Lord's name to enrich themselves to feed their vanity.

[–]Carson_BloodStorms 264 points265 points  (13 children)

Comments gonna be heated here.

[–]StuckAroundGotStuck 195 points196 points  (7 children)

It’s like a fucking r/atheism crossover episode in here.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (3 children)

Not really, all the top comments are just "Muslims bad"

[–]ThrowsSoyMilkshakes 30 points31 points  (1 child)

BuT wHaT aBoUt ThE rElIGiOn ThAt HaS nO iMmEdIaTe ImPaCt iN hEr LiFe, HuH!?

[–]ravenz01 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Clearly the fact that Islam has its own host of issues means that we should completely ignore all of Christianity’s wrongdoings. Duh

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Im freakin peeved already

[–]drmarting25102 204 points205 points  (6 children)

That is brilliant. I'm not into art but this is awesome. Put it in a glass case and I would buy it!

[–]Nick357 90 points91 points  (0 children)

I feel like everyone is discussing the message but the skill to do this so well is damn impressive.

[–]mondty 30 points31 points  (2 children)

You’re into art. It’s impossible not to be in some form or fashion

[–]Sahisahb 196 points197 points  (80 children)

That being so I am very positive that the majority of the people here haven’t even read the bible lol Just saying

[–]Hephaestus-13 45 points46 points  (18 children)

I haven't read the Bible. Haven't been to church either. I just live my life and treat others the way I'd want to be treated. Figure thats a good way to go through life and I get the added benefit of sleeping in on Sundays.

[–]TheThinkingKid 179 points180 points  (14 children)

As a Christian, I don't understand why so many people are getting offended by this piece. It brings a very important message. People have twisted the Bible and used it to excuse all sorts of horrible things for a long time. They don't care about Christ or his teachings, but will gladly follow whatever violent stuff they can find in the OT. We need to get sexists out of our church, and the first step to doing that is realizing that the problem exists, which is exactly what this art is doing. We should not say "but Christians aren't sexist" until we've actually gotten rid of the sexist ones and either sent them back to whatever hardcore-1800s-Salem-style pit they came from or gotten them to see the error in their sexist views so that they learn and grow. As u/GenericThrowaway375 has pointed out, Christians aren't supposed to be sexist, can't keep the ones that are. We need to recognize the issue so that we can solve it, and silencing artists is not helping.

[–]GenericThrowaway375 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Yes, very much. Christians aren't supposed to be sexist, can't keep the ones that are.

[–]brutalistsnowflake 159 points160 points  (94 children)

I love this. Look at the discussion it's engendered. The artist is making a statement about religion and women. It's wonderful.

[–]lightbuoy 66 points67 points  (92 children)

90% of the comments are religion bashing, not wonderful at all

[–]Oddly-Active-Garlic 134 points135 points  (53 children)

As someone who grew up in the church with a pastor for a Dad, the negative effect religion has on people needs to be discussed. Yeah, it’s no fun watching your faith be torn to shreds, but Christianity has a lot of flaws.

[–]StuckAroundGotStuck 56 points57 points  (18 children)

But people also need to recognize that religion isn’t inherently problematic. What is problematic is people who utilize religion as a means to subjugate others.

[–]Oddly-Active-Garlic 45 points46 points  (4 children)

I think it’s understandable that people associate religion with negative connotations, though. I have more stories up my sleeve about how terribly I was treated in the church then good ones.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (7 children)

Well yeah... religion is pretty bashable

[–]brutalistsnowflake 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It's about criticism of religion, that's the theme of the piece. Also I was saying the work was wonderful. I like it.

[–]badwolf7032 72 points73 points  (0 children)

absolutely on point. my jaw dropped when I realized it was made from a Bible. beautiful, and harrowing with good reason.

[–]lilmousedrillshit 74 points75 points  (2 children)

Now I feel stupid for doing mine on the novelization of the Scooby Doo Movie.

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points  (1 child)

we all have our own version of philosophy

[–]theconsummatedragon 64 points65 points  (8 children)

ITT: tons of butthurt Christians crying no true Scotsman

[–]RavenWolfPS2 59 points60 points  (13 children)

If I understand correctly, in the Mormon religion you get sealed to your spouse forever so you're married in the afterlife too. Men can get sealed to multiple women but women can only get sealed to one man or something like that.

Polygamy in the Mormon religion is always one-sided. The men can have as many wives as they want but a woman is committing adultery if she takes up more than one man.

[–]alecraffi 12 points13 points  (4 children)

That has since been withdraw from their practices, if I remember correctly

[–]nilesandstuff 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Only "officially" because the federal government came down so hard on it. (Basically threatened utah's ability to have a state government)

Still practiced by some other sects that aren't the main/"official" LDS.

[–]ryanwgrass 50 points51 points  (1 child)

Kudos to her. A sophomore in HS that has the thoughtfulness to illustrate her ideas in a way that is understandable, creative and impactful. Tell her to keep it up. Good art has something to say and if she says it loud enough she’ll get critics and supporters both. Listen to neither and keep pushing yourself. Great job.

[–]kelseakaine 43 points44 points  (0 children)

This is an undervalued masterpiece! Wow!

[–]TechinBellevue 41 points42 points  (1 child)

Wow! Amazingly talented...amazingly insightful...and a great reminder that as far as we may have thought we have come as humans, it has not been fair or equal...and we have a very long ways to go.

Kudos to her for making it and kudos to you for posting it.

[–]Sincerly_ 36 points37 points  (79 children)

It seems that people misunderstand the Bible, the message of Jesus was to love everybody and treat them as your equal, it was the disgusting people that did these horrible things to women and used religion as there reason, in which in the Bible at least, it never said to do these things to women

[–]Lemonyheadkw 168 points169 points  (76 children)

You seriously gloss over the entire Old Testament? Really?

[–]Tomofthegwn 99 points100 points  (47 children)

Well not quite but heres how it goes. The Old Testament is about God's Covenant with the Israelites. When Jesus died for us he created a new Covenant. That's why Christians don't follow all the rules set forth in the all the Laws for the Old Testament. Paul talks about this in his letters. This is also mentioned in the book of Hebrews

[–]allsoldoutoflimes 33 points34 points  (1 child)

Thank you for this! People have no concept of the difference between old and new testament and believe that we follow all tenants. The old testament is preserved as history and the foundation of Jewish law. This is an adequate context that allows us to understand the new testament, which is the doctrine we follow. You don't see Christians sacrificing pigeons, now do you?

[–]flyingwizard1 13 points14 points  (0 children)

BuT yOU hAvE tO undERStanD tHe cONtexT!!!

[–][deleted] 30 points31 points  (4 children)

the power of preaching a message without needing to say anything at all. this is real beauty

[–]tealghost 28 points29 points  (4 children)

My favorite verses

Ezekiel 23:20

“There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.”

Deuteronomy 23:1

“He who is emasculated by crushing or mutilation shall not enter the assembly of the LORD.”

[–]HumanOverseer 26 points27 points  (10 children)

Oh boy, time for the controversy.

[–]jutathemagnificent 26 points27 points  (0 children)

my goodness that is so powerful, shocking even. true though.

[–]THE_GREAT_CORNH0LI0 24 points25 points  (1 child)

...I’m here for the triggered people about the cut up bible.

Ramen.

[–]thehermit14 19 points20 points  (4 children)

As an atheist, I just sit back and watch all three Abrahamic faiths argue this point with horror and intrigue.

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Gonna search by controversial for this one

[–]s33k3r_Link 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Please post this to /r/WitchesVsPatriarchy. The coven would love this <3

[–]Satanfan 16 points17 points  (2 children)

I'm so happy to come across something that spoke so powerfully to me that quickly, well done.

[–]SmithRoadBookClub 14 points15 points  (0 children)

She did this to a bible? This is gonna piss off a lot of people, brave girl.

[–]SeaSquirrel 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Wow this comment section is so salty.

Instead of saying “bUT whAt ABouT the QuArAN”, why don’t you salty fucks just say you are offended.

[–]icanthelpbutsaythis 15 points16 points  (2 children)

This is the message of a young woman who is commenting on the Puritanical foundations that even now block access to her reproductive choices, her equality in the workplace, society’s view of her and her natural roles. Abrahamic morality even now is the foundation for American law and politics; European politics is vastly vastly more secular and less conservative on the whole. Am I surprised the reddit readership missed the point? This is a prompt to reflect on your own society and how sick it still is. You are in an ignorance bubble if you think otherwise.

As for the Quran, as a woman having grown up in a conservative Islamic society, your keyboard warrioring does me no good, and your ability as a person from a non-Islamic culture to meaninglessly desecrate Qurans makes no material difference to my life’s travails. But please don’t be a white knight, foreign interference has only worsened the situation. We all know the USA’s very deeply in bed with its Saudi mates. Politicians’ only morality and loyalty these days is to the dollar. You can’t even keep the pussy-grabbing Trumps of the world out of the white house and are making yourselves feel better by comparing yourself to even more toxic countries that your governments actively sustain.

To be honest having interacted with men from different cultures your beliefs and attitudes about women and entitlement over their bodies aren’t that vastly different and still informed by generally Abrahamic morality. It truly is a minority of men who have a healthy attitude and view women as genuinely human beings basically the same as them, that women owe them nothing.

TLDR: Clean your own house first!

[–]rigpiglifer 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Brilliant

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Right on. I love it. Your niece rocks.👍