[CyberCowboy777]

I do not care what is sounds like, that has no bearing on the question, only your bias.

The question is relevant and possible, especially when there is history of those women in the world.

I do not claim that it is the case for certain in the story, that is prudent.

You refuse to accept a known behavior for fear of harming your bias, that is weak.

[najida]

~~sigh~~

The my first statement (read back please) was that since childhood (yeppers, I am an escaped bible baby) I have found this story repulsive....for lots of reasons....

Everytime I mentioned that 'gee, this is a creepy story', (and it ain't the only one in the bible) it was met with a '...gods will, different time, have faith...now get over it' answer....

Can a woman want a man for power? Of course! There are gobs of stories of women who set out to lay with men for gain of some sort.

Do I believe it happened here? No, in my gut, I don't think she had much choice in the matter....

[msdrby]

I am sorry. I fail to see where this relates to having a fornicatorium or whatever it is called. We are talking about Summer Solstice, fertility rites, and pagan rituals. It is not Christianity, nor is it Islam, or Judaism.

My original post on this forum was tongue in cheek, but seriously, the Christian church has no fertility rites, that I am aware of. In addition, while fornication may be a sin in the eye of a Christian, it clearly is not sinful to these people in the sense that it is going to be performed (in the guise of) during a religious festival.

I am not up on my British law, but last I checked, here in the states, we do have freedom of religion. While I do not necessarily condone what a person believes, it is not my job to condemn for what is believed or how people practice their faith. Period. (I leave that to the authorities :)