Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage

[crystal_pidgeot]

It concerns me that most of the discussion here regarding the Bible seems to be based off Google searches of small portions rather than any actual understanding of the text. It's a massive book and the easiest thing in the world (apparently) to misinterpret. I know that Christians you've hypothetically gotten into arguments with on the Internet before probably blabber on and on about 'context' and it sounds like a weak argument, but seriously, there comes a point where you actually have to give the Bible the benefit of the doubt and try to look at the big picture.
I'm going to be honest and say I don't have as much knowledge of the actual text as I ought, but... even I cringed at all the misinformation I saw last time I read through here. I would try to remedy that, but despite the amount of time I'm spending on this post I actually have other things to do. Yes, I realize that's kind of hypocritical; I'm sorry.

Oh, and as for this-


First, Hell is never mentioned by name, but- actually, it is; there are several references to Hades. Also a lake of fire Satan gets tossed in and, in one of several 'heaven-as-wedding-feast' analogies, the darkness outside God's 'house' that many are left in because they all were "busy" that day. Sounds like hell to me.
Second, that's what the Bible is for. Yes, there are plenty of nuances that people disagree over, but I think the basics are quite clear- at least when people aren't preoccupied with mastering the form of religion rather than its substance. "Love your neighbor as yourself", anyone? To paraphrase (and add to) C. S. Lewis, we don't necessarily feel any love for ourselves, but we (generally) forgive ourselves, look out for ourselves and try to improve ourselves. We can also acknowledge that we are not always good people but (generally) not hate ourselves. I suppose not even that is readily apparent- I hadn't really thought of it that way until I read Lewis' Mere Christianity- but even if you don't think through every implication, "love your neighbor as yourself" sounds like having a great amount of patience, forgiveness and good intentions.
On that note, I apologize if this post tends towards being inflammatory at one point or another. I don't know if it shows, but I got a bit worked up while typing this.

The thing is the bible is quite clear. The only misinterpretation comes from those who try to justify text to fit whatever or read into way too much to find a hidden meaning. What exactly does it mean when God sent bears to kill the children that made fun of a persons bald spot means? Thats quite clear to me, just like when it says gays should be put to death. The misinformation comes when people try to change the text to fit the times when the bible still states it.

As for Hell, its been proven (there is evidence to support this) that the bible has been copied from the many past religions before it. The first draft never mention Hell but a place call Sheol, where all the dead goes, no matter how evil or good the person was. To be clear, there is a big difference between Hades and Satan. The Greek religions predate Christian based religions so its understandable where the idea of Hell came from. Humans by nature want to be rewarded for good acts and expect those who do evil to be punished, thus Heaven and Hell were created, after all you cant sell a idea if a murderer is treated the same as a righteous person.

I find it important to tell the right information. I'm not bible expert but I know a lot about it and a lot about the worlds religions. Everything I have said can be looked up and research but you have to do the work, if you want to have a honest discussion about this.

 

[Gentlefish]

The thing is the bible is quite clear. The only misinterpretation comes from those who try to justify text to fit whatever or read into way too much to find a hidden meaning. What exactly does it mean when God sent bears to kill the children that made fun of a persons bald spot means? Thats quite clear to me, just like when it says gays should be put to death. The misinformation comes when people try to change the text to fit the times when the bible still states it.

I'm not entirely sure if we're saying the same thing here or not, but I think I agree. But keep in mind that (in my understanding) there's a difference in the objectives of the commands in the Old and New Testaments, which is why going from the NT to the OT is rather jarring.

As for Hell, its been proven (there is evidence to support this) that the bible has been copied from the many past religions before it. The first draft never mention Hell but a place call Sheol, where all the dead goes, no matter how evil or good the person was. To be clear, there is a big difference between Hades and Satan. The Greek religions predate Christian based religions so its understandable where the idea of Hell came from. Humans by nature want to be rewarded for good acts and expect those who do evil to be punished, thus Heaven and Hell were created, after all you cant sell a idea if a murderer is treated the same as a righteous person.

No, not exactly proven. And when I say 'Hades' I mean the place; by the time of the New Testament's writing it had become one of several names for the underworld. I agree that humans by nature want to be rewarded for doing good (as if that can make up for all the not-so-good works) and expect punishment for evil, but I disagree with the idea that we necessarily reject unjustly equal treatment. The dominant ideology today denies life after death; and if there is no life after death, no one is punished or rewarded. And honestly, I would say God's justness is the cause of our sense of justice, rather than the other way around. A fish lives in water and doesn't think anything of being wet (do we find being dry all that fascinating?); why does a man live in a broken world and realize something's up?
As for the function of Sheol... I can't outright dismiss your point, but I don't think it's as simple as you think.

I find it important to tell the right information. I'm not bible expert but I know a lot about it and a lot about the worlds religions. Everything I have said can be looked up and research but you have to do the work, if you want to have a honest discussion about this.

Well, you're in luck, because there's a good chance I'm somehow less of an expert than you- my reading has mainly been in areas that are at the moment unhelpful. But, as you can see, I did the work- whether it was truly enough work is a question I have some reservations about, but I would like to believe it was enough for honest discussion.

Edit: I apologize for prolonging the derailment, Shining Raikou. In my defense, the traditional Western view of marriage is very much linked to the Bible, and if we remove the Bible from the discussion (by, say, denying the possibility of its authenticity) there's suddenly a lot less of a discussion.

 

[Shining Raikou]

You guys are still off topic, I'm done.

*locked*

P.S. @ some of you guys - live and let live, calm down, be happy.