Religions Without Men

[cardero]

In the DC/Vertigo comic series Y: The Last Man an unknown plague has wiped out the male populace leaving only the women in it's wake. Yorick Brown, college student, amateur magician is the only male left alive in the world. Brian K. Vaughn explores this possibility and weaves a wonderful story of survival and reconstruction for a world that is not used to living without men.

In issue #26 Yorick Brown stumbles upon a church where a young girl is hiding out to use as sanctuary. The following sample page is a moment of their conversation.



If there were no men left in the world would religion cease to exist?

Would women pick up the holy torch and claim authority and divine inspiration and continue to lead with the myths of men?

Would they be better at it then their male brethren?

BONUS QUESTION: Would a world without men and the women left behind be the rapture that some religions had eluded to?

[arthra]

Cardero:

"Holy Molly Batman" I have not seen many comics about religion these days except maybe some very crude ones.

"If there were no men left in the world would religion cease to exist?

Would women pick up the holy torch and claim authority and divine inspiration and continue to lead with the myths of men?

Would they be better at it then their male brethren?"

I'm from the old school where the word "men" included women as well...and my assumption is that men and women are going to both be around for awhile...one can'tgo very far without the other...but I like the sense of the question and being Baha'i a few quotes resonate that might have application here to your point:

"..in the sight of Baha, women are accounted the same as men, and God hath created all humankind in His own image, and after His own likeness. That is, men and women alike are the revealers of His names and attributes, and from the spiritual viewpoint there is no difference between them. Whosoever draweth nearer to God, that one is the most favoured, whether man or woman...."

And maybe even more to the point about the "feminine influence":

"The world in the past has been ruled by force, and man has dominated over woman by reason of his more forceful and aggressive qualities both of body and mind. But the balance is already shifting; force is losing its dominance, and mental alertness, intuition, and the spiritual qualities of love and service, in which woman is strong, are gaining ascendency. Hence the new age will be an age less masculine and more permeated with the feminine ideals, or, to speak more exactly, will be an age in which the masculine and feminine elements of civilization will be more evenly balanced."

(From a talk by Abdul-Baha, cited in Baha'u'llah and the New Era, 5th rev. ed. (Wilmette: Baha'i Publishing Trust, 1987), p. 149)

[Lightkeeper]

Would there be any need for religion without men?

[RevKathyV]

There are many women now leading the world in a spiritual manner...just because women cannot be Catholic priest do not mean they are not ordained. The Bahai Faith does recognize men and qomen as equal...different but equal...like two wings of a bird. Women cannot serve on the Universal House of Justice which is the main governing body of the Bahai faith.....I think a world run by women would be more peaceful...just because of womens nature....but it wouldn't matter because eventually there would be men again any way...they have already found a way to produce offspring without sperm....Not all religion is based on myth of man...there are spiritual truths! Yes men can be just as peaceful as women...and men are becoming more spiritual all the time according to things I have read....

[Tonyamendola]

I see men and Women as perfect equals so dont see what difference it makes

[Asimov]

Originally Posted by cardero

If there were no men left in the world would religion cease to exist?

I don't see why, women are just as religious as men and just as rational or irrational as men. I read a statistic which showed that men are more likely to be atheist than women.

Would women pick up the holy torch and claim authority and divine inspiration and continue to lead with the myths of men?

Why not?

Would they be better at it then their male brethren?

Do you think that women are better?

BONUS QUESTION: Would a world without men and the women left behind be the rapture that some religions had eluded to?

Um...no.

[vivamis123]

For many years I thought that this world would be a better place without men. I saw that men went to war, men had a hard time sharing with those in need, men raped, men robed...men...men...men. Not until I met a man that was different (he was sensitive & backed the best cookies LOL) did I change my perspective. This man confronted me and my perspective on men.

I changed my beliefs...and in effect I started to meet "nice" men and see "nice" men all around me (even on this forum : )

My point is...as long as we believe in differences...we will continue to see them.

[Tonyamendola]

Amen Viv

[Rev. Kelly]

Religion is not a man vs. woman thing, even though more than a few make it that way. Religion in some form will continue even if men vanished from the face of the earth.

I can't find a link but I know of a few Pagan congregations where women are leaders and men are not allowed to be. This might be a local phenomenon in response to the mostly Catholic churches in this area.

[ad_iudicium]

If there were no men left in the world would religion cease to exist? I think it would, in some cases it would be very different to the current form it takes.

Would women pick up the holy torch and claim authority and divine inspiration and continue to lead with the myths of men? Maybe, maybe not - if it is a religion that keeps women at a different status it would have to change, others might not.

Would they be better at it then their male brethren? I'm not sure that leadership roles etc would be markedly different.

BONUS QUESTION: Would a world without men and the women left behind be the rapture that some religions had eluded to? In some cases I think it would!