In articles/forums where groups like the kkk and Westboro Baptist Church are brought up, I often hear "they aren't true Christians." Do you think that this line of reasoning really holds true? What authority does someone have to say that somebody isn't really a member of their group just because they have different opinions? I'll write more later when I'm not tired I just wanted to start this thread before I forgot.
no the westbro interprets the bible more literally "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him." What did Ham do? Did he just look at his naked father or was there something more to it than that? Some commentators have suggested that Ham committed homosexual rape on his drunken father, and that this was why Ham's descendants were eternally punished with slavery. 9:24 This verse doesn't say what the Sodomites did to make them such exceedingly great sinners, though most bible believers equate "Sodomite" with homosexual. The two angels that visit Lot wash their feet, eat, and are sexually irresistible to Sodomites. 19:1-5 God kills everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah. 19:4-5, 24-25 Homosexual acts are an abomination to God. 18:22 If a man has sex with another man, kill them both. 20:13 God says not be bring any whore, sodomite, or dog into the house of the Lord. For "these things are an abomination to the Lord." Sodomites and dogs are biblical names for homosexuals. 23:17-18 These are from pro Christan sites and they are quotes from bible so that tells me that the Christan god hates gays and most churches hate gays too
That's what everyone says. Shame the muslims that say the extremists are 'no true muslims' aren't more vocal. And the people who say the Nazis were no true fascists. etc etc
Watch out if you site the bible because there’s a lot of weird shit in there. But I do have some biblical questions I need cleared up. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians? I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die? I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves? My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
The point with quoting the bible is that it has been changed a shitload of times since ancient times when it was first compiled, not the less by medieval monks who before the invention of the printing press viewed it as a sort of meditation to copy the bible or any other book by hand and often changed stuff intentionally or not throughout the copying process. Not to mention the changes that are made when translating or updating the new bible versions (a few years ago I actually heard about the new dutch translation changing the word virgin into the word girl), so I think it's fair to say that the bible we read now isn't the bible we are reading now isn't anything like the original stories as written by whomever wrote them. And so what if some odd stuff is in the bible, it's a book that is compiled from a bunch of stories that are each thousands years old. People just want to see the best things of any ideology they like and tend to ignore the parts that are less fun from our modern viewpoint.
what would jesus do: say a bunch of things that get misinterpreted and are used as an exuse for future war, injustice, and persacution
People tend to forget that the old testament is a collection of oral history, its bound to have some strange details and out-dated laws, the new testament is a collection of 2ndary sources written after the fact. I've spoken to a few Catholic priests who all pretty much admit that its the gist of it that matters, not to be taken literally.
Exept with gays and where ever else it supports your world view. When liberals make an argument for social justice you will see them quoting scripture but ignore all passages about gays. and vise versa with conservitives
Dunno about that, it seems like people who don't try to enforce centuries old Hebrew law on modern society are probably getting the point slightly more.
A large portion of us like to be told what to think. Appealing to 'human nature' is like relying on 'common sense', most people don't have it. Its pretty hard to be a well informed athiest/agnostic with your own self-constructed world-view without reading different religious/philosophical texts. Anyway, the book has some nice stuff in it.
My favorite bible quote... When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property. (Exodus 21:20-21 NAB) So yea, if we're operating under the word of the bible then we're going to come out with a pretty f'ed society... Here's another douzy where Lot's two daughters have sex with him... And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
