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Bible Forbids Use Of Bathroom

Not exactly new but Robert Graves, in the introduction to his versions of Greek myths and legends, goes into great detail about this.

His hypothesis is that the myths and legends explain how early societies went from being matriarchal to patriarchal. They're still in print, I recommend the unabridged version.
Graves was only quoting established theory, although he went into more detail on what he considered the implications for poetry. He did not come at it from the point of view of scholarship, although he would have been huffy at this suggestion. He wrote a thick book The White Goddess on the subject, which is fun but speculative. Any origins of religion book will give the same info.
 
I have been known to take Robert Graves' Greek Myths or White Goddess on holiday with me, as they are densely written books that I cannot read in a single sitting, and also they make me look intellectual on planes. :p
 
Yeah, the Scripture in question is Deuteronomy 23:12-13, which reads "You shall set off a place outside the camp, and when you go out to use it, you must carry a spade among your gear and dig a hole, have easement, and turn to cover the excrement".
Excellent idea, and not only for those days. If only people would do it today! By burying solid waste, it breaks down with bacterial action in the soil, enriching and fertilizing the ground. Unfortunately a lot of people in poor countries tend to leave their solid wastes on the surface, where it attracts flies and disease organisms.
Do I do it myself? Well, I live in a block of flats, & have no land, so it's not possible for me to practise what I preach. However, if I had a plot of land on which I had to grow my own food, then of course I would.

Bill Robinson
The problem here is that burying human waste in a place where crops are grown is likely to introduce parasites into the food chain.
I was taught about this at school and it's about the most disgusting subject you could imagine.
 
Urgh. It makes me so angry that this sort of thing is still such a part of culture today in some places.

Sure maybe there was a degree of logic about it during the bronze age- the materials available to use to keep herself from leaking everywhere were limited, and dry menstrual blood smells. There would have been a hygiene issue.
But several thousand years later there are many many clean options that could and should be available even to the poorest girls and women, but instead they are banished to dangerous shacks or at best forced to stay home meaning they miss out on schooling and working- two things which improve their lives and make them more able to afford sanitary protection.
Fkn religions!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-46823289
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/banished_for_bleeding
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-42652314
Very belatedly: sources as promised

Leviticus 11:1-15:33...

A Christan View of menstruation and sexual activity during a period

The text: 19 "`When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.20 "`Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.21 Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.22 Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening.24 "`If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.25 "`When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period.27 Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.28 "`When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.
 
Very belatedly: sources as promised

Leviticus 11:1-15:33...

A Christan View of menstruation and sexual activity during a period

The text: 19 "`When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.20 "`Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.21 Whoever touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.22 Whoever touches anything she sits on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.23 Whether it is the bed or anything she was sitting on, when anyone touches it, he will be unclean till evening.24 "`If a man lies with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.25 "`When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period.26 Any bed she lies on while her discharge continues will be unclean, as is her bed during her monthly period, and anything she sits on will be unclean, as during her period.27 Whoever touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.28 "`When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean.
I read all that during a spell of curiosity as a teenager. My response: fuck off.
 
Isnt that part of meditational practices?

Sorry, the Hindus got there first.
 
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