Women in religion - Lilith

biko

Not that I put any cred in the children's stories that are the Bible, Talmud or Koran etc but others do, which means we should address how the three most common religions around us perceive and project their message about women.
First out, Lilith - Adam's first wife.

Background
When God created Adam, he was lonely, so God created Lilith from the same dust from which Adam was molded. But they quarrelled; Adam wished to rule over Lilith. But Lilith was also proud and willful, claiming equality with Adam because she was created from the same dust. She left Adam and fled the Garden. God sent three angels in pursuit of Lilith.
They caught her and ordered her to return to Adam. She refused, and said that she would henceforth weaken and kill little children, infants and babes. The angels overpowered her, and she promised that if the mother hung an amulet over the baby bearing the names of the three angels, she would stay away from that home.

So they let her go, and God created Eve to be Adam's mate [created from Adam's rib, so that she couldn't claim equality]. And ever since, Lilith flies around the world, howling her hatred of mankind through the night, and vowing vengeance because of the shabby treatment she had received from Adam. She is also called "The Howling One."

You can see how this legend could lead to various interpretations, depending on whether you think she is noble (in rebelling against male domination) or evil (in vowing vengeance against innocent babies.)
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1513/whats-the-story-on-lilith-adams-first-wife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3NiAOuZdeI

Morag

The stories of Lilith is the root of the slant/prejudice against strong independent women in the Judaic religions. As for the killing babies it's said that when she left Adam she took up with some of the angels but the children were considered to be abominations and the other angels would kill them, even to the point of hanging around to do so as soon as she gave birth to them. That would piss anyone off.

She is also considered to be the first succubus as it was she who 'seduced' the angels.
That she would come in the night with sexy dreams and drain a man's strenght/lifeforce.
As with anything I guess it depends on the cultural back ground and what stories you hear first as to what you think of her. I do know that for a lot of people the discovering of her story opens the intrest in goddesses and so called 'dark' ones at that.


As for Adam and his wifes in one retelling of the store Eve as the 3rd wife and Lilith the 1st. Yahweh is said to have made a second the nameless wife, and this time created her in front of Adam so that the would be less curious and pester her less with questions then he did with Lilith. But watching the process of her creation and seeing the flesh going on over her bones freaked Adam out so much so that he could not look at her and Yahweh returned her to the dust and she did not even get a name. So maybe men are not meant to know everything about women as it ruins the mystery :P

WindSock

How come he didn't freak out when he saw a chick emerge from his rib? He's a bit of an oddball. An easily led one at that.

Emme

WindSock wrote: »

How come he didn't freak out when he saw a chick emerge from his rib? He's a bit of an oddball. An easily led one at that.

I think he did with the second nameless wife. Then he got nice subservient Eve who let him go on top all the time (apparently Lilith wanted to go on top and that was a no no!!!:D)

byhookorbycrook

Ok, Adam, Eve, two sons..sooooooo....where did the next kids come from??

Logical Fallacy

WindSock wrote: »

How come he didn't freak out when he saw a chick emerge from his rib? He's a bit of an oddball. An easily led one at that.

Even then, is physical relations with a woman built from his own rib not just masturbation?

Adam : "I just got laid!"
God : "No you didn't"

moomooman

Lilith was based on a mythological character called Lilitu, half woman/half bird that preyed on the unborn. Pregnant women around the middle east of various religions/backgrounds would wear charms and amulets to ward her off. She was such a well known figure that she/it got a shout out in the judaic tradition as they were working out the "official" religious texts.

Morag

WindSock wrote: »

How come he didn't freak out when he saw a chick emerge from his rib? He's a bit of an oddball. An easily led one at that.

Yahweh put adam to sleep and then did the removing a rib and making eve.

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

Ok, Adam, Eve, two sons..sooooooo....where did the next kids come from??

Adam and Eve were the people of Yahweh but they were not the only people.
There were others.

http://www.paganlibrary.com/fundies/other_people.php

At several point they are mentioned in the bible, from Cain marrying one of them to do Yahweh saying 'don't do as those people do'.

Also it never says they only had two children, 3 are named in Genisis Cain, Able and Seth.
(Gen. 5:4) Adam lived for eight hundred years after the birth of Seth and he became the father of sons and daughters.