Discussion for Monday 11th September at 6.30pm led by Ruth Hennell

 Ruth Hennell writes: 

For Monday's Bible Discussion Group we will be using the Barbie movie to help us discuss the story of Adam and Eve, conceptions of paradise and gender and whether ignorance is bliss or knowledge and free will are an essential part of what makes us human. Hopefully we will be able to combine fun with depth, just like the film does. Feel free to wear pink or not! 

Bible passages: 

A gender flipped and Barbified version of Genesis 2:18‭-‬22 (GNBUK)

Then the LADY God said, “It is not good for Barbie to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help her.” So she took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then she brought them to Barbie to see what she would name them; and that is how they all got their names. So Barbie named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help her. Then the LADY God made Barbie fall into a deep sleep, and while she was sleeping, she took out one of Barbie's ribs and closed up the flesh. She formed a Ken out of the rib and brought him to her.

Genesis 3:16‭-‬23 GNBUK

And he said to the woman, “I will increase your trouble in pregnancy and your pain in giving birth. In spite of this, you will still have desire for your husband, yet you will be subject to him.” And he said to the man, “You listened to your wife and ate the fruit which I told you not to eat. Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse. You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you. It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants. You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.” Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings. And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them. Then the LORD God said, “Now the man has become like one of us and has knowledge of what is good and what is bad. He must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it, and live for ever.” So the LORD God sent him out of the Garden of Eden and made him cultivate the soil from which he had been formed.

If you aren't aware, the director of the Barbie movie Greta Gerwig is a Unitarian Universalist and has spoken about how she drew on Biblical stories and ideas for the film. Ruth Handler, the inventor of Barbie, was Jewish. As I understand it the film seems to reflect a more Jewish understanding of 'the fall', although perhaps it's Unitarian too!

Join Zoom Meeting Monday 18.30 (London time) 

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82378042367...

Meeting ID: 823 7804 2367

Passcode: 460019