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ronnywhite
SFN Regular
501 Posts |
 Posted - 03/03/2002 : 07:29:13 [Permalink]
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RE Jesus in bed, with all of the incest and other sexual oddities in the Bible, I guess speculating about Jesus is fair game (after all, they set the example, and the extent of sexual harping of all types in the Bible exceeds the average Hustler magazine subscriber's appetite, and my attention span.) RE Nazis, It's all in the interpretation, I suppose, yet it seems a lot of the Christian-types are big on adherence to laws and leadership. The Mormons (who I find more commendable than most) are big on military service. I guess had I been unfortunate enough to have found (their) God as an adolescent in late 30's Germany, yea, he'd have wanted me to join the SS, or wuddever, if so called upon. God works in strange and mysterious ways, indeed. I'd feel safer checking them out in the here and now.
Ron White |
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ktesibios
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2002 : 18:01:58 [Permalink]
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[quote]
RE Nazis, It's all in the interpretation, I suppose, yet it seems a lot of the Christian-types are big on adherence to laws and leadership.
[/quote]
You might find Bob Altemeyer's research into the psychology of right-wing authoritarianism interesting. He found a strong correlation between a fundie upbringing and high levels of authoritarian attitudes. He also discovered that his students' RWA scores tended to drop as they proceeded through their college educations- not so much because of their academic work as because exposure to people of different backgrounds and beliefs undermined their preconceptions about the "evil other".
His most recent book, "The Authoritarian Specter", was published by Harvard University Press in 1996. You can usually find a copy online. It's a very good, though scary, read.
Boris Karloff died for your sins. |
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Espritch
Skeptic Friend
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2002 : 21:21:02 [Permalink]
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You know, this Fair Game fellow makes a lot of sense. If I don't get right with his loving God, his loving God is going to toss me in a fire pit for all eternity. Well I obviously can't argue with his iron clad logic, so I guess I'll just have to convert.
O.K. So where do I get my frontal lobotomy?
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ronnywhite
SFN Regular
501 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2002 : 22:50:23 [Permalink]
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His most recent book, "The Authoritarian Specter"
Thanks for the suggested read... sounds interesting. A little free thinking usually does more good than harm, and as one aquires a larger knowledge base through life experience, that tends to become more evident. How that applies to the leadership of religions, who include many sophisticated, knowledgeable, and educated people, I don't know how that applies (assuming they really believe what they preach.)
Ron White
Edited by - ronnywhite on 03/03/2002 23:16:38 |
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Wolfgang_faust
Skeptic Friend
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2002 : 14:29:13 [Permalink]
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I really wonder if Fair Game has read the whole bible. I was a liscenced Baptist minister who after reading and studying the Bible for so long, began to realize how inconsistant it really is. I would suggest that Fair Game check out a web site www.skepticsannotatedbible.com It actually goes through the Bible verse by verse to point out all of the contradictions, violence, intolerance, sexism, and "family values". It would make for an interesting read for any of the fundamentalist out there who claim the Bible to be the infallible word of God. The problem I think the church faces many times is that skeptics and atheists read the Bible more than their members do. The churchies just go with what the preachers tell them, never opening it to see what it actually says.
Add value to every day, Sharpen your skills, your understanding |
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ronnywhite
SFN Regular
501 Posts |
Posted - 03/12/2002 : 17:01:57 [Permalink]
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quote:
The churchies just go with what the preachers tell them, never opening it to see what it actually says.
I'd be interested in what it actually says, but with all of the contradictions, etc. it's impossible to know (or, I'm not smart enough to make sense of it, anyway.)
I mentioned this to a friend who was a fundie-variation, and he said that his Faith studied and took the Bible literally... asked what one does with the contradictions and elements that simply don't make sense, he responded that one just ignores them. Kinda' like pearls of wisdom buried amongst lotsa' gravel, I guess, but I just can't buy that. Possibly I'm just too rigid in my thinking to adapt to such a fuzzy context within which one has to work (admittedly, this may be a human frailty) or maybe with all of the violence, exploitation of membership, and other injustice associated with (modern?) religion I've just become too colored in my attitude to give it all a fair shake, but for better or worse, I'm afraid my attitude stands- I just can't buy any of it.
Ron White |
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Wolfgang_faust
Skeptic Friend
USA
59 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2002 : 08:47:23 [Permalink]
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Hey Ronnie,
That is exactly the answer that I got when I would ask questions about the problems with the Bible. I was told that there are some things we may never know until we get to heaven. The problem that I had with that is that The Bible says, if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of God and he will give it. It also says that God is a god of peace and not chaos, so why did he leave so many unanswered questions that cause chaos within the church. Some people tell me to keep looking for the answers, but I don't intend to spend my life looking for answers that aren't there.
Add value to every day, Sharpen your skills, your understanding |
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ronnywhite
SFN Regular
501 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2002 : 15:58:18 [Permalink]
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quote:
It also says that God is a god of peace and not chaos, so why did he leave so many unanswered questions that cause chaos within the church.
I read Hume basically said that if there's a God we should take seriously, His messages and Ways should be obvious to the average, intelligent person. Else, if He exists, His Ways and Word are so far beyond application to the world we have to deal with, and comprehension with the intellectual tools our biology limits us to, that we shouldn't bother with it. That I could grasp, and it made sense- it pretty much settled the matter for me.
Ron White |
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NubiWan
Skeptic Friend
USA
424 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2002 : 22:15:57 [Permalink]
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Wow! This has got to be some kind of record, huh? One post and three pages of replies. *L* Has anyone else here, ever heard the expression, "Preaching to the choir"..?
"If we believe absurdities, we shall commit atrocities." -Voltaire |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 03/13/2002 : 23:14:29 [Permalink]
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And did anyone else notice the name is actually fairgame 666? Ah well, we had fun. Even if I do have to replace my lampshades.
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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lpetrich
Skeptic Friend
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2002 : 10:58:36 [Permalink]
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Let's see about the Bible:
Nazism: the conquest of the Promised Land, which featured what might be called the Final Solution of the Canaanite Question -- genocide.
Abortion: there is something in Numbers about giving certain bitter herbs to a woman suspected of having gotten pregnant from an affair; the action of this herb suggests that it causes abortion.
Pornography: The Song of Solomon; notice its references to women's breasts.
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Kaneda Kuonji
Skeptic Friend
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 03/16/2002 : 12:02:09 [Permalink]
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Where is the guy who started this topic, anywho? I guess he fled when we started saying Jesus was gay! XD
Rodney Dean, CI Order of the Knights of Jubal
Ivbalis.org
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