I know it’s a timely tongue-in-cheek meme but this has always been a real concern for me with the Christmas story. A virgin birth? No way did Mary and Joseph get jiggy with it before marriage? As the meme goes on to say, Joseph didn’t ask questions about three foreign dudes showing up to “pay child support”?
Isn’t it more reasonable that Joseph and Mary were imperfect humans? Why the need for some ridiculous story that violates all precepts of the time and today? You see this same stuff today. People suddenly get married and, shock of shocks, they announce being pregnant in what is clearly less than a 9 month timespan. News flash. We, the friends and family, know what happened. We’re not stupid. Why not be honest? Whom are you trying to protect?
Or when someone on Facebook suddenly stops posting about their spouse and the profile name suddenly changes to just their first and middle name (generally specific to women). Again, we’re not stupid. It’s obvious what’s going on…
Ok, I got a little off track there with some personal pet peeves. Let’s get back to Mary. I remember discussing this in a Dr Haar class back in college. To me, the simplest explanation is that there was never an intention to claim Mary was a virgin. The word used in the original text was likely better translated as “young unmarried woman” but virgin was the word chosen. And now here we are thousands of years celebrating it as fact… I think what bothers me the most in the story is, as the meme implies, Mary was seemingly violated if we believe the official narrative. The various translations tend to use “wrestled” with God but that seems to me to be thin innuendo. Why not “roll in the hay” or “horizontal Mambo”. Each is as ridiculous.
I always picture it like the scene from Star Trek Nemesis where Riker and Troi are “wrestling” and Shinzon via his Viceroy invades her thoughts so she’s essentially raped by Shinzon. It’s a minor scene in the entire movie but it always disturbs me. Shinzon didn’t need to do it. It was just seemingly for sport. Now, swap Mary for Troi, Joseph for Riker, God for Shinzon, and the Holy Spirit for the Viceroy and you see how my brain works eh?
I frequently don’t voice my personal views on these biblical specifics as I never know who in my family/friends I’ll end up alienating, freaking out, inviting evangelism from, beginning a non-productive conversation with, or just giving fuel to the rumor-mill passive-aggression machine. Or, maybe my avoidance of discussing such topics openly is part of the problem? Is there a problem?
But if I may be some bold as to actually write and discuss on these topics (kinda feels like my college days studying/discussing religion, and I kinda miss it).
I’ve shifted between several versions of Christianity and “spiritual worldviews” as I’ve immersed myself, studied, learned, talked, met people, been exposed to other worldviews/religions, etc.
I no longer think of humans as perfect/imperfect, or behavior as sinful/good. These are descriptions of actions handed me by some worldview that I’ve since found does not adequately encompass existence-as-we-see-it and our lives-as-lived. I no longer use these words in my language/thinking.
Further, as far as these miraculous things happening like virgin birth, and 3 men seeing a “fancy star” and then feeling the “urge to follow it with gifts”. I try not to knock it as some people, including people very important to me, hold these beliefs dear. In fact, many think they *must* believe this or they are not Christian. And being not Christian is..? going to hell? alienation from family, giving up a comforting worldview, being rejected by your community/family/town?
For me, anyhow, I say “who cares, why waste our time discussing?”. (truth be told I do enjoy discussing as I am doing so now, but I refuse to “debate” it, as typically the players in these debates are not open to discovering new things). There are a lot of ways to follow Jesus’ example and make the world a better place in the here-and-now, these interest me, these signify material changes we can cause and see happen. “Altering religious belief in certain truths” is a mind-game and I find it does not inspire me as it doesn’t deal with anything but our thoughts.
If you pinned me down and made me bet on these miracles having actually happened. I’d first had to ask what difference my opinion on the matter makes, to anything now or real in the world? But, ultimately I’d say no, they “miraculous” parts didn’t happen. Perhaps something very “normal” did happen, we will-never and can-never truly know. But, as you suggest, Mary & Joseph were normal and Mary conceived Jesus in the normal way with the virgin-birth story attached to the incident later as would be consistent when passing down stories of famous gods, kings, etc.
The more interesting thing for me is? There will still be a divide among those who hold these miracles being true as a matter of their identity and of utmost importance, and those of us who have moved to a different view of the world/religion. What is fascinating to me is – how do people land in each of these camps, and why? And, when people shift from one to the other, how? and why?
I often wonder what that strict level of adherence/belief has done to us as a society. Don’t you think we’d be a lot further along with out all that baggage?
At the same time, I can’t jump ship entirely because the universe has to make sense and I firmly believe in the “unmoved mover”.