In this third instalment, Patrick Laure turns his gaze to religion and desire, probing how aesthetics, power and provocation have long shaped the way faith speaks about bodies, women and responsibility…
Aesthetics, or religion when you provoke us.
This is one of the problems with religions, especially Christianity with its paradoxes. It is the place of aesthetics, not to say eroticism, that this religion offers its believers. The beauty of women, and especially men – Jesus seemed to be a handsome man, and most of the women who gravitated around him, according to historians, were prostitutes.
So apart from Buddhism, where Bodhidharma is ugly, fat, unattractive and asexual, this brings us back to the paradox of the Christian religion, where everyone is beautiful, but abortion is impossible, it is forbidden, even in Monaco where prostitution is regulated, and why not, Omar and Fred’s after-sales service is non-existent.
Salvator Mundi remains the most expensive painting in the world. Is it because it is Christian? Perhaps, but mainly because Jesus is beautiful; and Leonardo da Vinci is the author. Its female counterpart? The Mona Lisa, although here again the discussion remains open. Perhaps it is a man? No comment…
When we enter St Peter’s Basilica, we are struck by the subliminal statues of men, with Greek beauty, visible muscles and veins, carved in marble, with divine proportions, but with a small attribute.
Respectable intimacy barely veiled, we all fall under their spell, but they are men, God, Jesus, the prophet.
“They wear black jackets, they smoke cigars, sometimes have a child, by chance, and as soon as evening comes, they run into nothingness, towards temporary pleasures“.
Where are the women? sang Patrick Juvet.
Mary Magdalene – Prostitute, Apostle?
What if abortion had existed in Mary Magdalene’s time? Although abortion was already practised long before (see Hammurabi’s code below).
Assuming that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ mistress and that he fathered a child with her, as Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code suggests, which is not a bestseller for nothing, and imagining that the medicine of the time knew how to perform abortion, a question deserves to be asked.
Would the clergy have refused Mary Magdalene’s request for an abortion, given how stressed she was about bearing the weight of such a responsibility, a child of Jesus, the son of God, which is no small matter?
It is highly likely that the clergy would have granted her request, in the name of the Holy Spirit. Was Mary Magdalene more pagan than Christian in her possible request?
Mary Magdalene was beatified by Pope Francis in 2016, so it would seem that she was a true Christian, despite the initial judgements that were made about her.
Sex is mentioned more than 900 times in the Bible, and less than 10 times in the Koran. But the Koran promises men of faith paradise, surrounded by 12 women, to thank them for their unwavering love of God throughout their human existence.
So if abortion were necessary, it is clearly in the Bible that it could be useful, whereas in the Koran, resorting to abortion is a problem for paradise, which brings us back, as simple Christians in the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre, back down to earth.
King Solomon, the great seducer before the Lord.
The Song of Songs is attributed to the great King Solomon, whose power is symbolised by his 700 wives and 300 concubines, or nearly 1,000 romantic relationships.
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!
Your caresses are better than wine, your perfumes are pleasant to breathe, your name is like oil that spreads, which is why young girls love you!
Lead me, we will run after you!…
When the king brings me into his chambers, we will rejoice and be glad because of you, we will remember your caresses, which are better than wine.
It is with good reason that we love you!
I am black, but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the pavilions of Solomon. Do not mind if I am tanned: it is the sun that has browned me. The sons of my mother are angry with me: they made me tend the vineyards, but I did not tend my own vineyard.
Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest thy flock, where thou makest it to rest at noon; lest I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions.
If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow the tracks of the sheep and feed your goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
I compare you, O my companion, to my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Your cheeks are lovely among the necklaces, your neck among the pearls: we will make you necklaces of gold with silver tips.
While the king was in his court, my nard spread its fragrance: it is a sachet of myrrh, my beloved, for me, it rests between my breasts; it is a cluster of henna, my beloved, for me, among the vines of Engedi.
How beautiful you are, my companion; how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves!
How handsome you are, my beloved, how gracious!
And our bed is green, the beams of our houses are cedar, our panelling is cypress.
(The Bible, Song of Songs)
Upon reading King Solomon’s Song of Songs, Michel Tournier, in his novel “Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar”, has Balthazar say, “I am black, but I am king“;
Michel Audiard will write a dialogue along the lines of: “He seduces me with his flats, mystifies me with his arpeggios“;
And Julien Clair sings: “Women, I love you.”
On responsibility and choices.
• Georges Clémenceau said, “War is too serious a matter to be left to the military.”
We are in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, confined to our homes, under house arrest. In his speech on the 8 o’clock news, President Macron used the word “war” five times in reference to this crisis, this pandemic that we are all going through.
The stupidity of our society, which borders on cynicism, means that every evening, the daily death toll is broken down into deaths in hospitals and deaths in nursing homes, as if we were in the habit of putting our elderly in nursing homes on a temporary basis, as if to say, “Look, Grandad is back with us, he’s cured, we’ve taken him out of the nursing home.”
Observing this pathetic societal behaviour, to paraphrase Clémenceau, I thought to myself that pandemics are too important to be left in the hands of doctors. Besides, which doctor has captured our attention during this pandemic, if not Professor Raoult, who will be banned by his peers?
As for the other star doctor, Dr Martin Blachier, he has written a new book with a title that makes Ancient Greece and Jean-Jacques Rousseau look like small fry. “The 12 Labours of Hippocrates, Towards a New Social Contract“, no less, published by CERF, 216 pages and £18. No comment.
Creation, life, seems to be subject to the same metaphor used by Clémenceau. It would appear that, for men, the creation of life is too important to be left in the hands of women.
It is such an important subject that God will give King Solomon the task of deciding this issue, after Eve and before Mary.
Patrick LAURE
Secrétaire Particulier
+33 6 35 45 27 02
laurepatrick@wanadoo.fr
**The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and regulations vary by jurisdiction and may change over time. Readers should consult a qualified legal professional for advice specific to their situation. The author and publisher are not responsible for any actions taken based on this information.