Christ's Lamb
Junior Member
I think his point is that using the bible as the basis for your moral compass is a pretty flawed way to live.
There are a number of reasons why people (myself included) think this way, so I'll only share a few:
Deuteronomy 23:2 said:"A bitched shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord."
A bitched is someone who was born outside of wedlock, which makes you filthy, apparently. So filthy in fact that it takes ten genetic steps down the line to wash how filthy it makes you.
Wait, but what if your dad abandoned you and your mom after she had given birth to you... That means you're going to be held responsible and deprived of God's love...
So wait, does this mean Christian orphanages are hypocritical institutions if they're taking these kids to church?
The bible also specifically prohibits the following:
Sexual acts
(All of these merit death)
Food and drink
- Homosexual intercourse between men (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13).
- Adultery (Leviticus 20:10-12, man and woman).
- Lying about virginity. Applies to girls who are still in their fathers' homes, who lie about their virginity, and are presented to their husband as a virgin. The accused is guilty until proved innocent. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)
- The daughter of a priest practicing prostitution (death by fire — Leviticus 21:9).
- Rape of a virgin who is engaged. If she is not engaged you only have to marry her and give her father 50 shekels. No mention is made of the girl’s opinion, and no punishment is specified for raping a single non-virgin female. (Deuteronomy 22:25)
- Being the victim of rape, if one is an engaged female virgin and the rape occurs in a city. If it takes place in a field, the victim is spared because nobody would have heard her screams. (Deuteronomy 22:23-27)
- Marrying a woman and her daughter. Mother, daughter, and husband are all burnt to death. (Leviticus 20:14)
Idolatry
- Consuming blood; blood in meat is not exempt (Genesis 9:4).
- Eating a cheeseburger (or anything else that mixes meat and dairy — Exodus 23:19).
- Eating fat (Leviticus 3:17).
- Eating pork (Leviticus 11:7-8).
- Eating a fellowship offering more than three days old (Leviticus 19:5-8).
- Eating aquatic creatures lacking fins or scales (Deuteronomy 14:9-10).
- Eating any meat not killed according to the kosher practice (Deuteronomy 12:21).
Daily life
- Consulting a psychic or spiritualist (Leviticus 19:31).
- Being a psychic or spiritualist, punishable by death (Leviticus 20:27).
New Testament
- Performing any work on the sabbath (Exodus 20:10).
- Planting more than one kind of seed in a field (Leviticus 19:19).
- Wearing clothing woven of more than one kind of cloth (Leviticus 19:19).
- Cutting the hair on the sides of your head or clipping of the edges of your beard (Leviticus 19:27). This commandment is the reason why Orthodox Jews often sport sidelocks and big beards.
- Touching the dead carcass of a pig (Deuteronomy 14:8).
- Cross-dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5).
Although the New Testament largely served as an abrogation of the stricter forms and practices of the Mosaic Law, it did codify a few new prohibitions unstated in the text of the Old Testament.
Slaves
Women
- Disobedience (Ephesians 6:5).
- Speaking in church (1 Corinthians 14:34-35).
- Homosexual intercourse between women (Romans 1:27)
....And it goes on and on and on... And this is just the stuff the bible says isn't okay. The stuff it DOES say is okay include classics like slavery and much else.
At this point you're saying "But some of those things are okay! We know the difference"... Well, that's great - but where do you draw the line? Being able to pick and choose between what the bile says is okay and not okay means your moral code and understanding of right and wrong stems from somewhere else.
If it stems from somewhere else, then you obviously already know how to be a kind and loving person.
Why alienate people by speaking like you just walked out of the Old Testament and quoting scripture all the time? Just be a good person.
I have nothing against religion at all. While it's not for me, my father is a Christian and I happily go along with him to Easter and Christmas services because it's important to him and it's a positive experience. He uses religion as a means to access a community of like-minded people who want to better themselves, as it should be.
He certainly doesn't walk around proclaiming to be "the water bearer", either. That's either an act or there's some kind of insecurity, instability or self-loathing behind that.
The Old Testament was for a different time and place, although still very, very useful, most people cant understand why it says some of these things. You must understand that when it was written it made total sense and was not taken to be cruel or mean, but to the benefit of the people who it spoke of. People did not understand what it meant anymore when Jesus' time rolled around (speaking about the average peasant), thus God incarnated on this Earth as the person we now know as Jesus to established the "new covenant" or a new connection between Heaven and Earth.
Age of Aries - Establishment of connection between Man and God (Prophet/Teacher: Mosses)
Age of Pieces - Establishment of connection between Heaven and Earth (Messiah: Jesus)
Age of Aquarius - Establishment of Unity and Brotherhood of Man (Teacher: Myself)
For the "rules" about food, Jesus said, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." (Matthew 15:11)
For slavery,
"He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death" (Exodus 21:16)
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
"And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him." (Ephesians 6:9)
"a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11)
Slavery was different back in Ancient Israel. In ancient Israel, people who could not provide for themselves or their families sold them into slavery so they would not die of starvation or exposure. In this way, a person would receive food and housing in exchange for labor.
*Disobedience goes for all people. If a slave punches his/her master, then it will only hurt the one who is doing the punching. Same if the master punched the slave.
I will provide a link that covers the rest because "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself." (Proverbs 26:4)
*Also - You cant quote the bible and only put half of what it is said in the quote so you can bend the quote to make it something you want it to say. The bible gives explanations for everything its says and why it should be like that.
Does Deuteronomy 22:28-29 command a rape victim to marry her rapist?