[extropy-chat] Way, way, way over the edge...

[BillK]

On 4/19/06, Darin Sunley wrote:
> Christians will frequently disagree on how much emphasis to place on
> varoius verses. While there is a tendency in certain denominations to
> torture certain verses into meaning the opposite of what they actually
> say, this is the same kind of postmodern sillyness that we see in
> secular society, e.g. the Supreme Court deciding that "right to
> private property" is consistent with "we can get more property taxes
> from another owner, so we can seize anything we want with emminent
> domain." Postmodern sentence-torturing is ridiculous no matter what
> the context is, and the Bible actually speaks out against it
> specifically. "Woe to them who call good evil and evil good."
>

It is not just a difference in emphasis between denominations.
You trivialize the actual positions. Different denominations believe
that the same verses have completely different meanings.

Quoting from <http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bibl.htm>

How religious conservatives and liberals interpret the Bible:

Conservative and liberal Christians interpret the Bible in very
different ways. This leads to two distinct and contradictory sets of
beliefs within Christianity on just about every conceivable topic.
Homosexuality is no exception.
Conservative Christian theologians generally:
	Believe that the Bible was written by authors who were directly
inspired by God. Thus their writings are seen as inerrant --
completely free of error as originally written.
	The Bible is regarded as the actual Word of God. Thus whenever the
Bible and science disagree, the former must be right.
	Most interpret the Garden of Eden story in the book of Genesis as
indicating the fall of humanity into sin. They view homosexual
behavior as one evidence of that sin.
	When they study the Bible for guidance on homosexuality, they
generally look for proof texts -- passages that clearly and directly
deal with the topic.

Liberal Christian theologians tend to:
	Interpret the Bible as having been written by authors who were intent
on promoting their own religious and spiritual beliefs. The writers
lived in a pre-scientific age, which treated slavery, genocide, mass
murder, and the oppression of women as acceptable.
	Since meaningful scientific study of sexual orientation did not begin
until circa 1950 CE, biblical authors had no awareness of the topic.
When the Bible and science disagree, we have to give greater weight to
the recent findings of human sexuality researchers.
	Most interpret the creation story in Genesis as composed of myths
derived from Middle Eastern pagan religions. Many do not accept the
reality of the fall of humanity.
	When liberal theologians study the Bible for guidance on
homosexuality, they generally look for applicable biblical themes,
like those advocating justice, love, monogamy, caring, commitment,
etc.

Since the two groups approach the Bible with different assumptions,
and look for different content, one can expect that their conclusions
will be very different. They are.


Rigidity of beliefs:

We have exchanged Emails with hundreds of visitors to this web site
about the Bible and homosexuality. Most fall into one of two groups:
	Religious liberals promote homosexual ordinations, same-sex marriage,
civil union ceremonies in the church, equal protection under
hate-crime legislation, protection against discrimination in
employment, etc. as fundamental human rights issues.
	Religious conservatives feel that the Bible teaches that homosexual
behavior is always a serious sin. Allowing sexually active gays and
lesbians to be ordained, or to have their committed relationships
recognized by the church would involve a drastic and unacceptable
lowering of church standards. The church would be condoning sin. They
also oppose including sexual orientation in hate-crime and
anti-discrimination legislation.

End Quote
-----------------------

Re your other comments:

The book of James is a hangover from the Jewish sect that were
followers of Jesus, based in Jerusalem, exterminated around 70 CE. It
was written for Jewish followers of Jesus. James was the leader of
this sect and believed that only Jews could be followers of Jesus and
his teaching was to Jewish communities spread around the
Mediterranean. Paul strongly opposed this original Jerusalem sect as
the whole point of his preaching was to get *everyone* to join his new
religion. That's why he added all the Greek philosophy and bits from
the 'mystery' religions to get his Greco-Roman audience to move over
to his new 'improved' religion.


> The Old Testament lays out God's laws, and shows us how terribly short
> of moral perfection we all are.


If the Old Testament lays out God's laws, then we are dealing with an
insane God. Better call in the God strait-jacket quick.



BillK