The (im)purity of having your period...I just don't get it

On a funny side note: When I had got a 'rishta' from an orthodox family to which we said no, naturally; I had many friends tease me saying "Arey, you should have said yes. You get to do 'aaram' for a whole week once a month. You can escape from all the boring work you don't want to do." :rotfl

 

Most exaggerated topic of the week :rotfl

If there is 'crowd' to jump up and down for women rights :rant, there will be another group to support religious beliefs.

It is not bad as it used to be, say 30 years ago. Most understand, 'it' is a natural thing. But, there is a psychological factor associated with it. It is like, washing hands over and over again.

I don't force my religious beliefs on my family. But, if I don't like it...will not hesitate to walk away, just like Shanvy's FIL skipping a meal.

Say for example, as a vegetarian, I do have some tolerance level. I don't hesitate to sit down with a person having a sandwich. But, I will not sit with person eating Chinese fish meal :eek (stinks ).

My religious belief exceeded it's tolerance level or it is a psychological factor? :shhh:

 

As long as it doesn't smell, it's fine. Mostly, my cafeteria serves roast beef/turkey like sandwich;

Honestly, I don't want puke.....in front of my peers. It never happened; it's that fear I have.

 

Now I don't know about others, but i needed some proof for my statement that it was not just hinduism that had these restrictions.

surprising to read leviticus. and though i am not well read, from what i have gathered there are sometimes those striking similarities in the culture, the cuisine,who influenced whom??

 

Now poovai, where did i say it was my fil. mine is closer to turning 80, and really adjustable on this issue. he drinks and eats food served by my DD when she has her p, if he comes to know. she just refused to help him sort his pooja things when she has one. Just because i said i fought the system does not mean that whatever i write here is about my in-laws or my people. i write in general from what i observe.

It is just a psychological factor. and no offence to the cooking, i believe it is something to do with the sauces and the dried fish or something. yes sometimes the cooking smells too bad.. but then it is their food. one thing that my kids and my husband have learned from me, is to respect other's food habits.

 

Exactly. some of the things that were asked not to be done did have even scientific reason. for example let us think about the four days where the ladies did not take bath. the reason could be during those days, they used to take bath in the common tank (in most villages). they used to ferry water for drinking purposes and household work from the well in the village.it was the same in my grandma's home atleast my initial memories..later they did get a well of their own in their backyard. so imagine taking a bath in the common tank when you are bleeding..a big no-no due to contamination and also embarrassment.

yes. the temples were not just places of worship. they were actually built as places of refuge shelter, place where you get food (anna danam), place where cultural activities and education happened. only slowly the caste system, the banning of people entering and things started happening. the subsequent rules happened later.

Agreed. but not all temples were on hill-top. but i am not going to argue on this.

poovai, you know the circus that happens if a child was to go to her mother,when the mother has her periods. i don't want to discuss much.

the question i present is not about mahaneivedyam. after the neivedyam, she is not fed immediately. ofcourse today there are families that give her food simultaneously. there are also families which feed the lady the last. don't you think that is unfair to the lady who waits with hunger pangs that die waiting...

.i still know of husbands who cook a meal before leaving and come back and make dinner..but the number can be counted on my fingers..

whose convenience (I know it is the lady's family but still). tell me honestly, if you were given those 3 days rest, with the freedom to do what you like, would you not grab it.

we are almost on the same page, only your thinking process is different. if it was just thinking about the female's health and other issues, why the cowshed and why not the muthram (the internal courtyard, the central focus to all rooms)instead of the thinnai (the place outside the main door, that we call foyer today, with seating arrangments.).even if there were space constraints for argument sake...


For every explanation we can counter argue for pages.but let me stop.

 

Sorry, Shanvy. I may have misunderstood.

 

An additional fact: Levites are the priests in Israel. They are the only ones who could go into the inner sanctum to offer prayers on behalf of common people.
(Saying the next line based on my VERY VERY limited knowledge) I usually felt that the rules they follow were quite similar to the ones followed by Brahmin priests.

But thank God :bowdown:, Christians are freed from all these laws of the old testament after the crucifixion. Now it is all by grace and grace only.

But to be honest some Christians do follow those even today probably because of society or to earn a few brownie points from God. Some even force these on others. :rant

Even when religion doesn't demand certain rituals, humans like to control others.:biggrin2:

 

Anita - Didn't Paul The Apostle preach and proselytize a form of Christianity which radically differed from church sanctioned 'Early Christianity' that converting into a Christian need not be a two-step process Gentile->Jew->Christian? Ergo, some of the rituals and traditions observed in Judaism like circumcision and dietary restrictions were forsaken. We talk of similarities in religion but when a schism is initiated, to widen the gap - religious laws are twisted, anodised, annealed or sometimes abandoned for suitability. There may or may not be scientific/rational bedrock for lot of these religious code but a great chunk was codified based on what appealed to the public mass.

There you go!