Darya: DDN it seems as if you are very misinformed although you quote the Bible frequently. Here are some things you should realize:1. The Bible was written by HUMAN BEINGS inspired by God. Please keep in mind the prejudices of the people in the time in which the Bible was written. So the Bible is not the absolute direct word of God, because it was not written by God himself.
DDN: 3 points to make:
1) Christianity touts the Bible as “the WORD OF GOD”, not the word of PREJUDICE HUMAN BEINGS WHO WERE INSPIRED BY GOD. Are you again saying that you are in discord with Christianity? Are you saying that Christianity is misrepresenting the Bible?
2) If the bible was not written by God and reflects the flaws of prejudice mortals, then how is it more significant than, say, the thousands of books in the local christian bookstore? Weren’t these books also written by prejudiced mortals that were inspired by God?
3) If the bible is flawed, then how do you know which parts are flawed and which aren’t? Maybe, for example, when Jesus told Satan to “get behind him”, he meant that he was sexually aroused by Satan’s words and wanted Satan to sodomize him, and the prejudice human authors neglected to bring this out. While we’re on that track, maybe where Jesus is quoted as saying “you must come through me to get to God”, what he REALLY said was “You must come ON me to get to God” and the shocked and confused authors changed “ON” to “THROUGH”. Maybe the whole damn bible is really a god inspired porno epic and the sexually inhibited authors changed it to suit their delicate libidos.
Darya (cont):…..2. Yes some churches did exploit people. Did GOD do it? No. Guess what? It was PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE. People exploiting other people for their own benefit in God's name!!!!!!!!!!!!
DDN: 2 points
1) Ok. Fine. So the Bible inspires people to do lots of evil shit. I have no beef with you there.
2) Shaun recognizes that some people can’t understand the bible when they first read it and says that such people are to ask other PEOPLE PEOPLE PEOPLE for help in understanding it. Question: What PEOPLE am I supposed to go to for help if PEOPLE are going to use it to exploit me?
Darya (cotn):….3. Speaking of exploitation, during the Crusades the Pope interpreted the Bible to mean that we should reclaim the holy land. He twisted the words of the Bible to mean what he WANTED them to mean. Guess what, dear DDN? You are doing the same thing, attaching your own interpretations of the Bible to mean what you WANT THEM TO MEAN.
DDN: Yes, you’re probably right. I think that’s partly why I’m repulsed by Christianity as a religion: because the bible lends itself so damn easily to misinterpretation. For example: Somehow YOU (Darya) have read the Bible and come away from it thinking that Jesus was here to bring peace and harmony even though Jesus clearly states that he came here to pit us against our own family members.
Darya (cont):….4. Remember again that the Bible was written by people for this next one. You say that God hates other religions. Yes the old testament does preach of a violent God, but remember the time in which this was written, a violent time indeed....people thought that God was violent so they wrote it that way. My religion teaches tolerance and acceptance, forgive and forget, and the like. Please do not inform me that my system of beliefs is wrong because I believe in God.
DDN: Yes, you’ve said this several times now and I’ve pointed out each time that the intolerance is a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith because the bible, the church, and individual christians proclaim that all other systems of belief are invalid and therefore unacceptable and that followers of these other belief system are bound for hellfire eternal. But you mysteriously disappear whenever I bring up this FACT FACT FACT. What is your reply to this?
Perhaps I should ask: What exactly constitutes your “religion”? Didn’t you say you were a Christian? Isn’t the bible part of christianity? Do you belong to some denomination that doesn’t depend on the Holy Bible?
Darya (cont):…..5. You seem to believe that Christians and followers of God are all snobbish and stuck up....hmmm it seems to me that we aren't the ones who are so hell bent on demeaning anything and everyone that has anything to do with God and Christianity. …….
DDN: “…anything to do with God”? You mean “Jehova”, right? ……the guy in the Bible that you arrogantly ASSUME is “GOD”, the almighty creator of the universe? You seem to believe that it is impossible to criticize Christianity without criticizing God himself as if these two things were synonymous. And yet there are many other religions on the planet that speak of God (“Allah”, “Buddha”, “Shiva”, etc.) and they don’t mention a damn thing about Christianity. Sounds pretty snobbish and stuck up to ME.
Darya (cont):….So I forgive you for your comments and would like to debate with this on a more civil level, maybe it would be for the best for EVERYONE to open up the railways of the mind and operate on just more than one track.
DDN: A civil discussion about how I’m going to burn in hellfire eternal? Ok, I’ll try.
Darya (cont):…..DDN I can see your points but please try to switch tracks once in a while, that is where the quest for true knowledge can begin.
DDN: “Switch tracks”? You mean “let you off the hook on hard questions that challenge your faith”? Ok, look…I’ll try to be more polite if you’ll start responding more directly to my points. Deal?
None.
