01-20-2022, 08:40 AM
There is a trend among Christian Men's Red Pill teaching to which I take exception, and I felt the need to explain myself, since I'm the odd one out. I'm referring to the strong note of repulsion for women during their monthly discomfort. Some go so far as to say, "Don't touch her!"
It does seem to be a major issue in the Old Testament, in particular. It's mentioned in the prophets and arises from two chapters of Leviticus, 15 and 18. If you take the time to read them carefully, you'll notice two distinctly different attitudes in each of those chapters. In 15, the whole thing is merely a matter of ritual purity. Sex with a woman in menses means you have to wait until tomorrow to go to worship in the Tabernacle. Yet, in 18 it suddenly takes on a much stronger tone. That's because the chapter itself stands in a different context referring to pagan worship practices.
It comes as a surprise to many Westerners that in the Ancient Near East, all kinds of normal human activity can take on a pagan taint. It's not just the worship of Baal and Astarte, but a whole range of weird pagan beliefs that we find hard to imagine. Yes, sex with your spouse during menses could be a pagan religious ritual. It could also just be ordinary love making. That's why those two chapters in Leviticus take on a different tone. The question becomes one of motives, not the act itself.
So, with all those comments from the prophets about this subject, I take them to be references to the pagan ritual sex, not the ordinary behavior of couples in private. I noted this when I wrote my study guide on the Law of Moses. Having a strong attitude of repulsion is one thing, but to misuse Scripture to justify it is wrong, and I see this common teaching as an abuse. Sure, avoid it for the 24 hours prior to formal worship with others, but I don't believe the act of sex with a woman in menses is some kind of primal sin in itself.
It does seem to be a major issue in the Old Testament, in particular. It's mentioned in the prophets and arises from two chapters of Leviticus, 15 and 18. If you take the time to read them carefully, you'll notice two distinctly different attitudes in each of those chapters. In 15, the whole thing is merely a matter of ritual purity. Sex with a woman in menses means you have to wait until tomorrow to go to worship in the Tabernacle. Yet, in 18 it suddenly takes on a much stronger tone. That's because the chapter itself stands in a different context referring to pagan worship practices.
It comes as a surprise to many Westerners that in the Ancient Near East, all kinds of normal human activity can take on a pagan taint. It's not just the worship of Baal and Astarte, but a whole range of weird pagan beliefs that we find hard to imagine. Yes, sex with your spouse during menses could be a pagan religious ritual. It could also just be ordinary love making. That's why those two chapters in Leviticus take on a different tone. The question becomes one of motives, not the act itself.
So, with all those comments from the prophets about this subject, I take them to be references to the pagan ritual sex, not the ordinary behavior of couples in private. I noted this when I wrote my study guide on the Law of Moses. Having a strong attitude of repulsion is one thing, but to misuse Scripture to justify it is wrong, and I see this common teaching as an abuse. Sure, avoid it for the 24 hours prior to formal worship with others, but I don't believe the act of sex with a woman in menses is some kind of primal sin in itself.