God is a major bigot, the Archie Bunker of mythical superbeings. Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." KJV
an abomination punishable by death (levit. 20:13) leviticus 20 is a probably the most insane chapter in the bible. death for homosexuality, adultery, talking to spirits, children who curse their parents, banishment for having sex during your wife's period etc.
And it's the old testimate. I tend to put my faith mainly on the new testament, since this is after Christ.
People can't affect you with their beliefs unless you let them affect you. Unless the Inquisition is still going one somewhere, I suppose. Or the Holocaust.
As I understand modern Christianity (post -Leviticus/New Testament), that punishment is for their God to decide, and not for them to judge as practioners of that religion. I'm not sure what you guys are trying to prove with your quotes from the Bible. I guess I'm just at a different level of understanding faith, while not having it myself, than you guys are at this time. If your issue is with Christian Fundamentalists, I don't think ABM is in that group, unless I'm wrong.
oh yeah? i can't take more than 3 oz of toothpaste on an airplane because of someones not-so-benign religious faith.
i'm not trying to prove anything in particular at this time. just pointing out the obvious - that christians necessarily have to selectively interpret what is written in the bible to shoehorn it into modern notions of morality and culpability. i assume that is the gist of why eric started this thread.
I tend to think after Jesus came and died for our sins, it didn't become a religion but a relationship. We all have the holy ghost, which is our cellphone to Christ, who is the bridge to heaven. I believe that no religion is right, but our soul is. No person can judge, only god can. So all of this is between you and god.
Not exactly sure what you mean by that My belief is based upon absolutes in the Scriptures that have nothing to do with shoehorning into modern notions of morality and culpability. They're timeless. OTOH, rationalism and moral relativism are moving targets. Always will be.
What's you point? The Old Testament had all kinds of fun things. The New Testament (Covenant), along with the arrival of Jesus covered them all...once and for all. That's where my belief system begins and ends.....with Jesus. It was God's plan/promise back then and nothing has changed since.
Ah. I could have sworn that earlier in this thread you were saying you tried to obey the ENTIRE bible. barfo
Not really. There is an Old Testament and a New Testament. Most Christians I grew up around base their beliefs on the New Testament. I never once heard a reading from Leviticus in Catholic mass when I was an altar boy or was sitting in the pews. I just never developed faith, which is why I left the church, because I didn't see the point in spending my Sunday mornings praising something I didn't know was real. Others I know have faith. It's not a big deal to me.
I did. Adam & Eve rebelled against God in the garden, He had to change some things. The short of it is, virtually the entire Old Testament is a history lesson pointing out that, no matter how hard he/she tries, mankind will always fall short of God's commandments and laws....and sacrifices for sin. Also within the Old Testament, though, is the foretelling of Jesus, who would come to earth, live the perfect life none of us could, then take on all the sin sacrifices for all mankind, then and evermore. It was a gift to us. A free gift.....only received through faith in Him. It then becomes a "relationship" not "religion", which is nothing more than checking off a list of rules and regulations. Oh, God's standards/absolutes still apply, but Christ is now there as my advocate...though His Holy Spirit who resides with in me. It's the coolest thing in the world! In regards to your comment, though, here's one piece of Scripture which is helpful to me....
