Seriously, Skip, have you ever had any reason to fear for your life from any Christian?
I won’t even begin to try and explain those verses from Deuteronomy because you’re really not interested in an explanations and also because I couldn’t explain them if I wanted to. You’re such a typical agnostic/atheist – you all pull the same verses out to discredit Christianity. It still comes down to – “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
I would suggest that you read and concentrate on the message in the New Testament if you want to spend time reading the Bible. Then tell me what Jesus said to the people who were going to stone the sinners.
And another thing, you’re always whining about theocracy this, theocracy that and about the “domininists” taking over – and your own sources admit that it is a very small minority of Christians who hold to that view point.
So be honest and face the fact that you just want to be your own person and not be accountable to anyone.
Skip August 26, 2006 7:59 pm
Oh yes, I forgot my favorite:
If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whom you embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries to secretly seduce you, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” unknown to you or your ancestors before you, gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near you or far away, anywhere throughout the world, you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare him or conceal his guilt. No, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following. You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God. . . .
(Deuteronomy 13:7–11)
Skip August 26, 2006 7:54 pm
Are you talking about the “living god” of the Salem witch trials, or of the Inquisition? Face it. Religion is just another political force that uses fear to obtain its goals: money/power. Or as L Ron Hubbard, the creator of Scientology, put it (I’m closely paraphrasing): If you want to make a lot of money, start a religion.
I see no basic difference between the cult in San Diego that castrated themselves (analogous to Catholic celebacy), and then committed suicide when a comet flew by, and the fundamentalists/rapturists, who can’t wait to die.
Beyond the Horror
Is nature telling us
this is the death of the human race,
or a rebirth,
or both?
Is this the end of time,
or a transformation
to a new beginning?
Is the earth trying to teach man
the lesson of humility
he can’t learn for himself?
Can we lay down our anger long enough
to feel simple gratitude for life
and assume a new serenity within us,
transcending these painful rites of passage,
and yield to the will of forces more powerful,
that would have us love,
if we are to survive?
Can we see beyond the horror
to an aura of inner peace;
and cast that as a destination
for which to strive?
The failing empires fail because of their failure to acknowledge the God of the Bible. So yes America is going right down the tubes along with the rest of them – because America is becoming less and less “acquainted” with the living God.
A Washington Post article predicted that just this year, Americans will spend $22 billion on luxury bathrooms alone – that’s ten times what America will spend on AIDS research! This trend reflects a phenomenon author Gregg Easterbrook describes as the “progress paradox.” He explains that Americans are wealthier, healthier, and safer than they were fifty years ago.
But here’s the catch – the number of people who say they are “very unhappy” has risen 20 percent since the 1950s. And rates of depression are 10 times higher than they were fifty years ago.
In another Washington Post article, Interviewer David Segal interviewed Woody Allen and Segal writes that Allen’s worldview “is so bereft of meaning, so godless and absurd, that the only proper response is to curl up on a sofa and howl for your mommy.”
Early in the interview, Allen compares life to a “concentration camp.” And it only goes downhill from there. “It’s very hard to keep your spirits up,” he tells Segal. “You’ve got to keep selling yourself a bill of goods, and some people are better at lying to themselves than others. If you face reality too much, it kills you.”
The ancient Greek philosophers and our American forefathers understood this, but modern Americans seem to have forgotten it. We’ve forgotten that we obtain happiness by living out the paradox Christ lays before us in Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
Scoff if you wish, Skip but be assured the Rapture as taught in the Bible will happen as will the Armageddon as described there as well. When? I don’t know. We’re just told to be ready.
The Big Lie
The illusion takes many forms,
it tempts us
to be what we aren’t.
We worship for release
as it holds us
within its withered grasp,
squeezing our dreams.
We wait,
blin... More >>
Vicky August 26, 2006 9:19 pm
Seriously, Skip, have you ever had any reason to fear for your life from any Christian?
I won’t even begin to try and explain those verses from Deuteronomy because you’re really not interested in an explanations and also because I couldn’t explain them if I wanted to. You’re such a typical agnostic/atheist – you all pull the same verses out to discredit Christianity. It still comes down to – “Let God be true and every man a liar.”
I would suggest that you read and concentrate on the message in the New Testament if you want to spend time reading the Bible. Then tell me what Jesus said to the people who were going to stone the sinners.
And another thing, you’re always whining about theocracy this, theocracy that and about the “domininists” taking over – and your own sources admit that it is a very small minority of Christians who hold to that view point.
So be honest and face the fact that you just want to be your own person and not be accountable to anyone.
Skip August 26, 2006 7:59 pm
Oh yes, I forgot my favorite:
If your brother, the son of your father or of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the spouse whom you embrace, or your most intimate friend, tries to secretly seduce you, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” unknown to you or your ancestors before you, gods of the peoples surrounding you, whether near you or far away, anywhere throughout the world, you must not consent, you must not listen to him; you must show him no pity, you must not spare him or conceal his guilt. No, you must kill him, your hand must strike the first blow in putting him to death and the hands of the rest of the people following. You must stone him to death, since he has tried to divert you from Yahweh your God. . . .
(Deuteronomy 13:7–11)
Skip August 26, 2006 7:54 pm
Are you talking about the “living god” of the Salem witch trials, or of the Inquisition? Face it. Religion is just another political force that uses fear to obtain its goals: money/power. Or as L Ron Hubbard, the creator of Scientology, put it (I’m closely paraphrasing): If you want to make a lot of money, start a religion.
I see no basic difference between the cult in San Diego that castrated themselves (analogous to Catholic celebacy), and then committed suicide when a comet flew by, and the fundamentalists/rapturists, who can’t wait to die.
Plato McSmith August 26, 2006 9:35 am
Beyond the Horror
Is nature telling us
this is the death of the human race,
or a rebirth,
or both?
Is this the end of time,
or a transformation
to a new beginning?
Is the earth trying to teach man
the lesson of humility
he can’t learn for himself?
Can we lay down our anger long enough
to feel simple gratitude for life
and assume a new serenity within us,
transcending these painful rites of passage,
and yield to the will of forces more powerful,
that would have us love,
if we are to survive?
Can we see beyond the horror
to an aura of inner peace;
and cast that as a destination
for which to strive?
Vicky August 25, 2006 6:37 pm
The failing empires fail because of their failure to acknowledge the God of the Bible. So yes America is going right down the tubes along with the rest of them – because America is becoming less and less “acquainted” with the living God.
A Washington Post article predicted that just this year, Americans will spend $22 billion on luxury bathrooms alone – that’s ten times what America will spend on AIDS research! This trend reflects a phenomenon author Gregg Easterbrook describes as the “progress paradox.” He explains that Americans are wealthier, healthier, and safer than they were fifty years ago.
But here’s the catch – the number of people who say they are “very unhappy” has risen 20 percent since the 1950s. And rates of depression are 10 times higher than they were fifty years ago.
In another Washington Post article, Interviewer David Segal interviewed Woody Allen and Segal writes that Allen’s worldview “is so bereft of meaning, so godless and absurd, that the only proper response is to curl up on a sofa and howl for your mommy.”
Early in the interview, Allen compares life to a “concentration camp.” And it only goes downhill from there. “It’s very hard to keep your spirits up,” he tells Segal. “You’ve got to keep selling yourself a bill of goods, and some people are better at lying to themselves than others. If you face reality too much, it kills you.”
The ancient Greek philosophers and our American forefathers understood this, but modern Americans seem to have forgotten it. We’ve forgotten that we obtain happiness by living out the paradox Christ lays before us in Matthew 16:25: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
Scoff if you wish, Skip but be assured the Rapture as taught in the Bible will happen as will the Armageddon as described there as well. When? I don’t know. We’re just told to be ready.