Until I saw this I never realized that before the Flood it never rained and there was a water canopy surrounding the Earth. I guess P.T. Barnum was right.
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#121 – Mr. Mustard,
So far, that hasn’t been the case. It’s been more of a peace, love, and understanding kind of thing.
I already knew that about you. But, we were talking about the bible, not the voices in your head. The bible really is that violent. And, not just if you’re a literalist.
#122 – Scottie
I have no voices in my head. If you don’t get the positive aspects of spirituality, that’s fine. Just don’t tase me, bro.
How good can a good book be if you have to reject 99% of it to get the 1% that is good that you can get without the 99% somewhere else?
In short: “Be nice.”
You don’t need to believe anything else.
Oh, fuck off, Bobbo.
Why don’t you try reading the Bible. At least Scottie seems to have done so.
You’re just brabbling.
Now Mustard, where is all that good Christian spirituality? You must be pulling from the 99% to be so mean.
Why are you so Mean Mr. Mustard?
I challenge you MM:
1. Whats wrong with being nice?
2. What else does the bible have to teach us that is valid and universally applicable?
heh, heh.
#126 – Bobbolina
Oh, fuck off, Bobbo.
Why don’t you try reading the Bible. At least Scottie seems to have done so.
You’re just brabbling.
Your “99%” bullshit is starting to wear thin.
Read The Book, then get back to me.
TIA
#126–Mustard==I have tried reading the bible, but its 99% bullshit, and the remaining 1% is somewhat tainted as a result.
But I’m game. Read the bible for what? History? Who cares what tribe went where and who slept with whom way back when?
For morality? HAW!! Kill everybody for minor offenses. Yea, sure.
For religion?==I’m an atheist.
For literature?==Outside of 5-6 parables that are done much better elsewhere, no go there.
What is your favorite passage in the bible and why? I will read it as fairly as I can and give you my report.
bobbo, Mr Mustard,
Of course it’s not 99%. That would imply far too much self-consistency for the bible. The bible is far more self-contradictory than that. There’s a lot of good in the bible and a lot of bad in the bible. It’s probably 60/40 one way or the other.
Of course, the ability to choose which is which p[roves that morals don’t come from the bible, but instead comes from our evolution as a moral species.
Anyway, we know Mr. Mustard is capable of choosing the right bits. Theo problem is the number of people that can’t tell the difference on their own. Even though they’re a minority, they’re a significant enough force that it makes religion a huge problem. But, that’s not Mr. Mustard’s fault.
#129–Scott==well, we have agreement that from 40% to 99% the bible is basically unreadable.
Long diatribe cut short. I wonder how many people actually read the bible, or just tell other people to do it?
#130 – bobbo – I wonder how many people actually read the bible…
Just like you have the choice between reading Lord of the Rings books or watch the movies (which are interpretations of the books), the religious folks has the choice of reading the book or getting it spoon fed by their religious leader (their interpretation).
@128 – Bobbster
Start here:
http://www.rwf2000.com/2000/23pslm.htm
#132–Mustard. Thank You.
Yes, very nice poetry that. Read as poetry, lyrically that passage is good literature.
Maybe its me. I can’t read poetry without also asking what it “means.”
The translation on the same page says: “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!” Well, that simply isn’t true is it. People who believe in their sheperd still need food, water, clothing, shelter, medicine etc. Actually, analytically, not trying to start an argument==just THINKING about it, the sheperd provides nothing of a material nature==just comfort if you take comfort there.
Maybe I’m just not poetical enough a person to get much pleasure from the bible.
What about the other 99% outside of the Psalms? I did some googling just to provide some examples of how difficult the bible is to read, begat this, smite that. Not very readable for anything.
Mustard, do you actually read the bible much, outside of psalms? Do you gain any insight into life and its challenges or is it just something nice to slide into, like visiting an old friend?
bobbo:
I scanned the messages above and it was an interesting observation about the sheep and flock. It’s funny how the Christians don’t mind being compared to sheep, but has a hard time to be compared to our nearest animal ancestor… the ape. Perhaps it has something to do with intelligence?
#132 – Mister Mustard,
I don’t know about that psalm. I’m not much for poetry, so don’t care much about whether the iambic pentameter is nice or the rhyming good or anything else about it. I read the message.
So, the 23rd psalm to me just reads as a total abdication of responsibility. Tell me how that psalm does not say fuck the planet, god will make everything OK.
It’s simply not true.
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
Unless we fuck up so badly that no green pastures are left.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
Still and polluted waters that one may not drink and survive if we keep going as we are. But don’t worry, god will fix whatever we fuck up.
He restoreth my soul:
My what?
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’ sake.
Why not just because behaving righteously is the right thing to do, by definitionm and we are moral animals, at least most of us. If you wouldn’t do it for your own sake, why for god?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Not sure what the hell this means. Surely Christians do not believe in death. So what is the valley of the shadow of death?
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Semantically null.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Blah blah blah … if I believe in crap I don’t have to face mortality. Yadda yadda yadda … living in a fantasy land is nice ’cause ignorance is bliss.
Sorry. I’ll stick with reality.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/qa.asp
I have to weigh in… it’s just too tempting.
I find it amusing that some creationists are saying, “This isn’t what I believe, those guys aren’t part of my *much more enlightened* (select one) [religion | sect | delusion]”.
So you’ve got the less enlightened ones who are seen by their immediate betters as being a bit cuckoo for believing that stuff… you don’t have to wait around to see the next stage of the thought processes.
I see a trend occurring here…
We started out with many gods – sun gods, moon gods… lots of god varieties to choose from… then someone got a little worried that it might be all a bit to difficult for the lower IQ peeps (otherwise known as believers) to grasp so now we only have one god…
Polytheism to Monotheism… you have to admit, you’re on your way to being an atheist without even knowing it… (maybe not you, but the more evolved, better built version of you – your child or his/her children). It’s like proving evolution (albeit anthropological evolution) by being religious! I love it.
Start – 2 or more gods
Middle – Only one god now
End – Oops, I’m sure I’ve lost some dead-weight around here somewhere. 0 Gods.
Although I put that across in a bit of a rant and with some dash of sarcasm, can’t you creationists see what I’m talking about? You don’t have to shed your years of indoctrination to accept the premise.