Just a historical aside....  where and why did the Mary Cult arise?

From his book, Jesus Wars, by J. Philip Jenkins:  Jenkins is describing the violence employed by good xtians against other good xtians in the early 5th century in the absurd battles over the "nature of jesus."

Quote:In more recent times, fictional portrayals of a too-human Christ ignite furious responses from those reluctant to imagine a figure too involved in worldly concerns. In the 1980s, the image of a Jesus married with a family stirred worldwide cries of blasphemy against the film The Last Temptation of Christ. So many bristled at any suggestion that the founder of the faith might have experienced any human passions or weaknesses, any doubts or qualms about his mission. Human sexuality apparently represents a stain that can in no way be associated with a purely divine being. Christ moves among humanity like a divine tourist.4

And yet, through the centuries, other Christians have fought to preserve the human face of Jesus, placing him firmly on earthly soil and in human society. Partly, the idea arises from the common human need for an accessible divinity, a figure who shares our experience and can hear our prayers. Even the societies that pushed Christ so far from human reach created a substitute in the form of the loving Mary, virgin and mother.

So, like so much of the horseshit put out by the church, this was just another ad hoc solution to a corner they had painted themselves into.

BTW, The Last Temptation of Christ would have been a fairly good film except Willem Dafoe can't act his way out of a paper bag.

(November 20, 2017 at 4:31 pm)Minimalist Wrote: BTW, The Last Temptation of Christ would have been a fairly good film except Willem Dafoe can't act his way out of a paper bag.

...except for being 4 hours long with no intermission.

(November 20, 2017 at 10:47 am)alpha male Wrote:

(November 20, 2017 at 10:15 am)Shell B Wrote: Really? I don’t “dish out” anything in terms of starting threads about religion and drew a line at a user calling other people’s children stupid. Think harder.

You called a generally very level-headed poster a cunt for a one-off insult.

Well allow me to double up: you're a cunt.

(November 20, 2017 at 5:13 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote:

(November 20, 2017 at 4:31 pm)Minimalist Wrote: BTW, The Last Temptation of Christ would have been a fairly good film except Willem Dafoe can't act his way out of a paper bag.

...except for being 4 hours long with no intermission.

I saw it on VHS.  "Pause" is a wonderful thing when you have to take a leak.

(November 17, 2017 at 8:35 pm)SteveII Wrote:

(November 17, 2017 at 8:16 pm)Bow Before Zeus Wrote: I can see it as the news headlines some 2,000 years ago!

But seriously, both my daughters went to Anglican-based very expensive private schools. Ok, don't ask questions it just happened, ok? There were secular options but I blame myself for not enrolling them there. It is what it is.

Anyway, this particular school had sex education classes for the students but also had religious classes as well - of course. Some of the brighter ones put 2 & 2 together and since the "immaculate conception" was in fact a non-consential impregnation of a woman, the logical conclusion is that GOD RAPED MARY.

I don't see much discussion of this issue on atheist or xtian forums so I thought I would raise the topic in the religious section of an atheist website for the obvious reasons that I would probably get banned for discussing it on a xtian forum.

I was actually quite proud of my daughters for coming up with this conclusion together with their friends. It is particularly relevant at this time with all the sexual misconduct allegations that are arising in Hollywood and many other industries.

Does anyone else see this as rape?

Welcome. You will fit in well here: you and your equally stupid children can't even get the definition of rape right. Critical thinking skills are on the decline. I blame vaccines.

Is the reception any good when you have your head that far up your ass or do you have to squeeze those old foil bunny ears in there?

(November 21, 2017 at 12:02 am)Minimalist Wrote:

(November 20, 2017 at 5:13 pm)Neo-Scholastic Wrote: ...except for being 4 hours long with no intermission.

I saw it on VHS.  "Pause" is a wonderful thing when you have to take a leak.

I saw it in the theater when it came out. First time I ever had to walk through a crowd of protesters to do something. A little uncomfortable...and the book was better anyway.

If they'd been protesting his wooden acting I could have understood that.

I remember protests over Life of Brian when that came out.

The book was better than the movie as was the Life for Brian. Life of Brian was banned from Queensland, one of the states in Australia. Fun times!

I hope that by now you have seen it.

Oh yes, I don't live in Queensland, thankfully. I've seen it a number of times. The thing that xtians don't get is that it parodies so many things, not just christianity.