I would accept that answer as an explanation but how can you have faith in something that is written and so utterly repugnant?

Also, are religious people allowed to ask questions in church and why dont you ask about any of these issues? If you do, whats happens?

Morningsong said:



For those playing along at home, it was another case of the “no true Scotsman” fallacy that Christians are so fond of because it allows them to easily dispose of anyone that doesn’t meet whatever criteria they currently decide to use for Christianity. Child-molesting Catholic priests? No, they’re not real Christians. Bloodthirsty, murderous tyrants? Nope, they’re not Christian either. What constitutes being a Christian, you might ask? Why, whatever the person making the claim believes at the time, of course!

If that is so, then tell me: Why would someone, calling himself a Christian, spout out that a certain part of a certain other religion should be wiped out, men, women and children. Why would the same person call people idiots, demented, bigot and hypocritical beside other things? Isn't it because he thinks belonging to his religion makes him/her better? And is he/she?
I do know that there are others, but they seem to be far and between.
It makes me sad to listen to people like those I described, they are making Christianity look bad, and in turn pull real Christians down with them.

You can ask questions (I'm guessing here and probably depends of the religion)) but the answers you get will probably be something like (guessing again)"Let God in your heart and you will know the answers to your questions"

Also, it would appear that in both the OT and NT there is a certain level of hatred and intolerance for people who would "worship false idols or deities". Most Christians have interpreted that to mean that anyone who will not convert to Christianity, should just go away They are not brethren and therefore a threat.

Worse, they need to be burned on the stake, or stoned, and nowadays it's even more simple: Just nuke them.

I have niether hatred, or intolerence for those that believe differently than I...In fact, I have a certain kind of admiration for anyone seeking connection with with a higher spiritual power, be it Buddhism, Hinduism, or even Satanism. It's not for me to judge anyone or "throw stones" and besides, if you accept there IS a higher spiritual plane, you're at least attempting to understand what spirituality is about.
My own belief relies on the premise that God works in mysterious ways. For all I, or anyone else knows, through your personal journey, you may just end up questioning or re-examining the whys and wherefores of a system that fails to enrich your soul. Of course the opposit is also true but the main thing for me as a Christian is that I adhere to Christ's teaching to love my enemies (in essence, to not see his Children as my enemy) and to love my nieghbor as I love myself.
Zen teachings state that truth is parodox, which is in line with that concept.
Hinduism accepts life after death, which is in overall agreement with my beliefs.
Even Satanism accepts that God exists, though I believe they're rooting for the losing team.
I can't know or explain the contradictions in the Bible. I'm not sure that anyone can do that to everyone's satisfaction but when I do meet my maker, I might just ask that he reveal what was hidden from me in life, but then again I believe that I'll more likely be way too distracted from even concerning myself with worldly puzzles by his glorious light, love and radiance to even care...

Satanists are basically Christians anyway. It would appear if they in fact worship Satan, the Christians believe in Satan and accept him as a real being that personifies pure evil so they are half way there. I know nothing about Satanism however. Ive never even bothered to look it up.

Well if God says we are to kill those who commit these crimes against His laws, then maybe that's an indication of how seriously we should take His word. Unfortunately all too many people have moved away from the seriousness of the cost to moving away FROM His word in regard to life & living. I'm going to be honest & say I even have a hard time with fighting the constant bombardment of secularized mindsets. I have to constantly be aware of how the world desensitizes me to the purity of God's word.

Maybe it was that society was that depraved to the point of such destruction & tragedy that God wanted people to understand WHY that was so. The wages of sin IS death.

Nonetheless, the first 10 commandments can be summed up as loving others as you love yourself. "Not coveting" means putting others first.

Is that a threat you are making?

You mention: God says we are to kill those

I hope god doesn't say this

Well I was referring to the utube presentation. All too many use the word of God in such a twisted way...they forget that there was a "societal condition" that needed to be addressed.

They forget that even tho Jesus has compassion, He in no way excuses sin.

The yutube (its Yutube by the way) takes direct passages from the scripture. How was that twisted in any way, shape or form?

well said...

So name some behaviors that are not present today in some part of the world that where then. Tell me what should be done to these people to follow the word of god . . . . it sounds like you are suggesting we should commit genocide to take care of these people . . . .

I can think of no human behavior that is not present in some form somewhere in the world. I can think of some human behaviors that people will work out as they get older, but if you KILL them they will never learn.

I can think of only a handful of behaviors or acts that would be so heinous that even discussing the death penalty would be appropriate.

Yes well many have the same mindset of looking at everything in such a physical way that they miss the spirit message all together.

I don't make decisions in life based on fear, period. Some folks will need to fear a god to do what is right. That works for them, it does not for me.

I prefer to do what is right because it's right, not because I fear the wrath of a god.

I agree...fear never movitated me either. I think doing things in love is the best way... not because you have to but because you want to.

"covet"
verb long for, desire, fancy (informal) envy, crave, aspire to, yearn for, thirst for, begrudge, hanker after, lust after, set your heart on, have your eye on, would give your eyeteeth for
Collins Essential Thesaurus 2nd Edition 2006 © HarperCollins Publishers

How does/did God's wrath produce love? No, it was the "Fear of God" that produced any respect, love was never in the equation until the appearance of Christ... in other words this "God" failed miserably and used Christ as a means of showing Love... the problem with this is that it can be seen as absurd to use one's offspring as a sacrifice. Christ then appears to have been a scapegoat.