Kooky Bible schtuff

[-Metablade-]

Warning..
extreme viewpoints not necessarily my own ahead...

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~slocks/babble.html

[fivedragons]

One thing jumped out at me.

And Jesus said, "For judgement I am come into this world." (John 9:39)
"I came not to judge the world" (John 12:47)

Not really a paradox, if read as "I come not to judge, but be judged on the world's behalf."

[mhosea]

Since I'm not a biblical inerrantist, I'm not very interested in the the site. But I am curious about the thought process is behind wanting to post this? Why do atheists find it worthwhile to think about religion so much? Just irritated by it?

[fivedragons]

Strictly regarding written history, I thought you might get a kick out of this, Meta. Thinking of a thread from a while ago. Enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... inai&hl=en

[-Metablade-]

Since I'm not a biblical inerrantist, I'm not very interested in the the site. But I am curious about the thought process is behind wanting to post this? Why do atheists find it worthwhile to think about religion so much? Just irritated by it?

I assume you by athiests, (which I am not) you mean the writers of the site?

Why did I post this?
One reason only: For your amusement, of course!

[mhosea]

Why did I post this?
One reason only: For your amusement, of course!

OK, well, I guess it's the thought that counts.

I realize that you may not be able to help me, not being one, but I really don't understand why so many atheists devote time and energy to being against religion rather than simply aloof from it. I think astrology is ridiculous, but I wouldn't consider spending 5 minutes debunking it or trying to get the horoscope out of newspaper (if indeed it is still there, which I honestly do not know).

[benzocaine]

The problems with these contradictions are that

1) They do not let you see the context in which the statements are written.

2) These are english translations of hebrew and greek texts. We can see how, say, a spanish website can be tranlsated to english, and be nearly impoossible to understand..... unless someone adds there own interpretation to it... thus adding there own prejudice to the meaning of the text translated.

[IJ]

Religion has some meaning even to atheists and they had better understand at least religious motivations since religion is behind:

Efforts to keep restricting abortion access and eventually eliminate it even in cases of rape or incest or mother's health.

Efforts to keep same sex marriage banned and gay/lesbians second class citizens

Drunken ramblings of Mel Gibson, and his cinematic efforts as well.

Efforts to blow you up, if you are american targeted by islamonuts, or israeli; counterattacks are blowing up far more arab and other civilians. Bush afterall is our first president to state his belief God willed his election and called his actions in the mideast a Crusade...

Efforts to downplay environmental concerns, because the evangelicals think we are going to be judged in a week (it's always a week, you see) anyway.

Efforts to prevent psychiatric care and revamp drug addiction therapy to focus on vitamins and e-meters (if you happen to believe $cientology is a religion).

Efforts to cult-ivate interest in what may be your friends and loved ones, on behalf of a variety of organizations.

Lots of other sillyness, and....

a long series of important and meaningful charitable organizations that offer relief, support, and counsel to the hungry, unsheltered, abused, and so on, many of which I support in a variety of ways.

Not that we need to quibble over silly Bible phrases, however.

[chef]

Ben, you stated the same things I was thinking.

There is the 20/20 rule when trying to understand a scripture: read the 20 verses before it and the 20 verses after it to better understand the context of which it was spoken.

Any scholar can take scripture verses out of context to make his point and another can pull out a scripture to disprove it. I have heard so many people say that 'money is the root of all evil' (which should really be the love of money). Based on that alone, you would think that anyone rich must be evil. Lot of faulty generalizations going on in how we pick and choose what we want to validate a point.

Same goes with the language it was written in. If in Hebrew, certain words have a connotations of their own and there is not the exact definition to convey the intended meaning.

Some day I would love to learn Hebrew and then go back and reread the Bible again from a different perspective.


Vicki

[benzocaine]

Vickie,

The big wig theologians break out with a Hebrew and Greek lexicon when trying to find the original intent of a word in the Bible.... and even then they can come up with different interpretations I had a New Testimant Survey professor constantly spitting out Greek words when ever it was convenient. His favorite was telling the auditorium of 250 students that the Greek word for Submit was Hupataso.. and it specifically meant that meaning when the Bible says wives submit unto your husbands. Then in the next breath always said that men should always be respectful of there wives.

[dejsis]

I realize that you may not be able to help me, not being one, but I really don't understand why so many atheists devote time and energy to being against religion rather than simply aloof from it. I think astrology is ridiculous, but I wouldn't consider spending 5 minutes debunking it or trying to get the horoscope out of newspaper (if indeed it is still there, which I honestly do not know).

You cannot stay aloof of people that want to regulate what you can or cannot do or what you can or cannot think based on scriptures. That would mean religious theocracy and before you know you'd find yourself living in ... er I dunno Iran?
Many stayed aloof of fascism 'cause they thought it was ridiculous. They ended up dying in a concentration camp.
And correct me if I am wrong but the astrology guys don't tell you that you have to go out and kill the infidels if Mars happenes to be aligned with Pluto (or wait, that's not even a planet any more is it?)
Faith is a wonderful thing as long as you don't try to force your interpretation of it on everyone else. Unfortunately, religion, by it's organized nature, usually does just that.

[-Metablade-]

That brings up a good question.
If Pluto is no longer a planet, then this sort throws off every "calculation" Astrologers have made since it's discovery, doesn't it? That is, unless now Astrology must take into account every one of the trillions of objects and debris in our solar system in their predictions?
How does a "dwarf planet" or an "oversized asteroid" depending on one's view, influence our fates?

[mhosea]

You cannot stay aloof of people that want to regulate what you can or cannot do or what you can or cannot think based on scriptures.

I meant to be aloof of the religion per se, not of religious people and religiously motivated political activities. I certainly agree that theocratic political movements must be confronted and resisted politically.

However, it seems common that atheists are interested enough in religion to publish logical arguments supposedly presented within the framework of a certain religion in an effort to show that the system is internally inconsistent and therefore ought to be abandoned for that reason. This is an academic exercise, not a political one. The problem with it is that atheists tend to be sophomoric in their exegesis. Assuming they are trying to convince someone who does not already agree with them, it is counterproductive, as it fails to impress.

Note that I am not talking about archaeological and historical studies, rather purely argumentative behavior.

[-Metablade-]

Allow me to translate into the lingo of we working schmoes that last post for all of us unwashed vernacularly maladroited masses:

"Worst Episode Ever!"



Lighten up, you guys!

By the way, isn't Natick the home of the world's largest Twinkie Factory?



Edited to say:
Nope. There's a Mall there now.
LOL

[mhosea]

By the way, isn't Natick the home of the world's largest Twinkie Factory?

Nope, but I hear there's a Carvel factory in Framingham.