I just tore up my Bible and threw it away.

[Jack Schitt]

It was a teen study bible. I was just looking through it to see what it says on issues such as abortion, homosexuality, sex, etc., and there were these little footnotes on the side of the page that details a particular issue.

So I went along and read them, and basically every one of these little footnotes said that if you're homosexual, have an abortion, engage in promiscuous sex, have sex before you're married, get drunk, and/or gamble, you're going to hell because they're all serious sins.

:wtf:

This is why I'm agnostic. If I were to believe in God and/or Jesus, I wouldn't buy the crap the Bible is teaching. I honestly think most of the Bible was written by men who wanted to control society by making up these stupid rules.

Anyone else agree with me?

Aye aye aye.

[gpandas]

1. aye, aye, SIR!

[PROGRESSIVE1]

2. kick

[yardwork]

3. Get another version of the Bible

Those little footnotes were added by people who interpret the Bible to suit their own agenda.

The Bible was written over thousands of years by many different people. It's been translated into every language on earth and every edition is a little bit different.

Even so, it is an important spiritual document with a lot of truth in it. Get another edition without the little sidenotes.

[yardwork]

6. P.S. I'm a Pagan, not a Christian, but even I see some worth in the Bible

My point is, don't let other people's manipulations destroy something for you.

[LDS Jock]

8. I agree completely

don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Not that you can't get frustrated with the bible on its own merits, but those footnotes are little more than propoganda.

[yardwork]

9. Exactly! There's enough to get irritated with in the Bible without adding

on footnotes and sidenotes and other extraneous details!

[Jack Schitt]

13. No...

the footnotes were propaganda. They tried showing me these couple of Bible verses on where it's wrong to be gay, and the verses they provided didn't even mention homosexuality. :grr:

[MemphisTiger]

4. The study Bibles amaze me...

The Bible does not mention the word abortion and mentions homosexuality I think only once. If you want to read the Bible just buy a regular one. It's much cheaper and you'll get more out of it if you interpret it for yourself. that's my 2 cents

[LibertyorDeath]

5. This is obvious to anyone who does not go thru life using

Faith based magical thinking as their core belief.

"I honestly think most of the Bible was written by men who wanted to control society by making up these stupid rules."

[On the Road]

7. Well, That's Pretty Much What the Bible Says

with the exception of abortion, which was condemned by the community that wrote the Bible. That's one reason I'm not a Christian.

[Jack Schitt]

15. Yeah!

I read up on the abortion issue, and there was not one mention on how abortion was murder! Not one!

[LDS Jock]

19. some excellent info on this site

http://www.elroy.net/ehr/fighttheright.html including on abortion

[On the Road]

26. That's True, But It's Difficult to Think Abortion Was Accepted

in light of all the proscriptions in the Bible.

The Apocalypse of Peter mentions women who have abortions being tortured in hell. It was widely read along with a lot of other early Christian writings. I doubt the Christian or Jewish communities in Jesus' day would approve.

I'm not arguing the merits of abortion, just on whether they were condoned.

It's not surprising to me that many modern churches condemn abortion. Once you believe in a soul, that soul has to come into being at some time, and that any time after that it's a human being who dies. Conception would seem to be the natural moment to pick, no matter how silly it seems to think of a fertilized egg has a human being. Hey, the soul is separate and comes into being fully formed, so it doesn't depend on physical characteristics.

It's not absolutely necessary for a Christian to take that view of abortion -- after all, it's not mentioned in the Bible -- but it follows naturally.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with gradualism. I think it's necessary to select a point where the fetus has the biological characteristics of a human and allow abortion up to that point. But no one seems to take that tack.

[eataTREE]

10. There was this little matter called the Protestant Reformation

...some 500 years ago. It was over whether or not ordinary people had the right to interpret the Bible for themselves, or whether the Church had to do it for them. The former view won, but I guess it was a temporary victory.

My advice would be not to take anyone's word for it when they say "The Bible is for/against (insert modern political issue here)." The Bible says many things, all of which are open to interpretation.

My further advice would be to stay the hell away from "Teen Study Bibles", they sound horrid.

(P.S. Not a Christian; I just like the Bible.)

[LittleClarkie]

30. I am always amused

sometimes also appalled when others use the Bible to condemn homosexuality. If you look at the list in Galatians, it includes gossiping and other things along with homosexuality etc (abortions is in the list?)

I took that to mean that we are all sinners, everyone one of us. No one can claim to be any better than anyone else in that regard. You could be the most pure seeming person on the outside, but if you're even thinking this crap on the inside, you're no better. The point was that we are all in need of redemption.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm seeking the earliest translation I can find, ie the least altered by translations and such.

I'm also interested in the notion that Jesus's original teachings went through a pagan filter at one point, combining his history with that of Mithralism. I've got a book called "The Q Gospel" which is a collection of Jesus sayings that it is said was the basis for Matthew Mark and Luke's Gospels.

I may be a Christian, but the brain still gets aired out on occasion.

[eataTREE]

31. I love the Synoptic Gospels.

The Christ they depict seems so much more real than the exalted, unworldly Jesus that appears in John.

[tjdee]

36. That's because John was writing for the Romans.

Romans believed in Jupiter, Mars, etc., so John wanted to emphasize the otherworldly Jesus so he could compete.

The original "Mine is better than yours" argument.

[Chomp]

11. I used to think I was an atheist...

...until I heard you could be an antitheist!

My basic understanding of this is that not only do you reject the notion and existance of God, you actively believe that religion is such an impediment to the development of humanity, that you actually oppose its very existance! It's like hardcore atheism!

Of course an antitheist world might mean no Carravagio. Maybe no Elvis Presley. No Notre Damme cathedral. Hmmmmmm....

Oh well, I'm still considering adopting it as my default primary belief system!

[LittleClarkie]

28. Never could quite grock atheism

agnosticism, maybe. But logic theorems aside, it always struck me as it's own belief system.

Even though you're under no obligation to prove a negative, and the burden of proof is on me as the one making the assertion that something exists, I still have this urge to say, "Prove that there is no God."

Agnostics, on the other hand, give you the big "I dunno." Seems the more honest approach to me.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. Well, first of all, God hates the sin, loves the sinner.

These fundies forget that. The bible is a nice book about how someone should live. I've been taking catacism classes, and even the catholic church admits they don't know exactly where it came from, so that we should use it as a tool, but not take it literally. And you're right. Men wrote the bible. And those men wanted to control the common person in society. Today's version of the Protestant bible was interpreted by a wacked out inbred king named James. He was a homosexual, and he was so inbred his brain was = <--that close to oozing out of his head. There is a horrible amount of bias in that book. So, don't take it literally, and don't give up on God and Christ because of the misguided idiots doing this stupid shit in his name. Because he told us that people would come saying they were doing this crap in His name, but in reality, they are controlled by demons.
Duckie

[Jack Schitt]

16. It's not just the misguided idiots that turn me away...

there's many reasons why I'm turned away from religion/Christianity.

There's so many inconsistencies w/in the Bible it's even hard to believe that God and Jesus exists.

[Robeson]

27. Good Book on this is...

...Prof. G.A. Wells' "Did Jesus Exist", in which he basically comes to the conclusion that there was no historical figure named Jesus, and that he never existed. Prof. Wells postulates that "Jesus" was an amalgamation of several ancient and contemporary-to-the-times Jewish philosophies, such as the Wisdom Cults, etc. Furthermore, he goes on to theorize that the Paulician Letters, which are the nuts and bolts of Christianity, actually preceded the first 4 books of the New Testament, i.e. the biographical books, thus, early "Christians" had no knowledge or concept of an historical Jesus. Its a good read.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

32. I understand.

It is, of course, your choice.
Have a nice day. :hi:
Duckie

[exJW]

14. I think the bible is the biggest load of horseshit

ever foisted upon mankind.

It's not so much that the bible writings are any worse than other writings from those times, it's just that the bible has been given an air of "holiness" and "truth" that it does not in any way deserve, and has thereby lessened, and sometimes destroyed, the lives of everyone who falls for it. And I do mean everyone.

Unfortunately, I "fell for it" for 36 years of my life.

[NewJeffCT]

17. Keep this Bible handy...

This is always a good one for me - the Skeptics Annotated Bible:

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

[Jack Schitt]

21. Dayum...

that's a good link.

[dolo amber]

18. Jack Schitt, eh?

I don't believe I know you...

/giggling hysterically :D

[Jack Schitt]

23. Well...

you'll be getting to know Jack Schitt in the next......four years or so. :)

[Sequoia]

20. Your teen bible was wrong

The Bible does not say you will go to hell for what?...drinking and gambling! Jesus drank wine, everyone did and beer too back then anyway. (Same for the other "sins"..lies and more lies) Mastrubation is sinful too according to those teen controler types.

But don't tear up your real Bible, the book of Psalms is quite lovely. And the story of Daniel and his friends is good with the firey furnance, the statue with the feet of clay, and the king going mad and eating grass in the field. Hollywood can't top that.

[Jack Schitt]

25. Too late for that.

I threw that away too.

Oh well. It's online.

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. You're going to Hell.

Meet me by the pool. :hi:

[Jack Schitt]

24. Bring sunscreen!

:hi:

[hunter]

29. WTF is a "Teen Study Bible?"

For the Love of God, it probably belongs in the trash.

[Tafiti]

33. "They want you to think that someone's watching you...

...so they can make up a set of rules for you."

[Lerkfish]

34. there's very little in the bible regarding homosexuality...

about 3 verses...two of which are in the old testament, and all of which are misinterpreted by anyone with an anti-gay agenda.

Less than 0.0001% of the bible has to do with homosexuality, but you'll note fundies make it 90% of their focus.

someone has let their personal bigotry influence how they interpret the bible. Don't let their biases become yours -- just read the bible, its a wonderful book, when taken in total.

[GreenPartyVoter]

35. Come on over and see what progressive Christians think. We don't believe

the Bible is inerrant or infallible, but that it has been influenced by the cultures in which it was written and rewritten.

------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/

[the Princess]

37. Oh I agree

I'm Agnostic too. I believe in a higher power than me - but not a grouchy old man in the sky who thinks everything is dirty and bad. I also don't beieve in sin. It's a man made concept.

If there is a god and he made us - and he doesn't want us to enjoy sex except to make babies (which is what I was tuaght as a young girl) then why is it so damn pleasurable? :)