Intelligence is a Curse

[Erinome]

Could you elaborate further on what you meant here?

Sure, no problem. Aleialoura said, "If Christians are going to defend and claim to live by the Bible, then they should invoke all the laws in the Bible," which I understood from the context of her post to mean also those laws found in Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc. But to do this would require the Christian to toss biblical exegesis right out the window, ignoring the structure, form, context, themes, soteriological paradigms and so forth contained in the text. It is quite absurd to expect Christians who defend and claim to live by the Bible to do so while ignoring what it says. In other words, those who defend and claim to live by the Bible must do so with the tools for understanding what it says (biblical exegesis)—and what it says is precisely why Christians do not invoke the laws found in Leviticus and so forth. (This gets into covenant theology, the structure by which the biblical text organizes itself, which is both deeply involved and outside the context of this discussion.)

The entire bible is filled with contradiction. Why anyone as smart as you seem to be would pour that much energy into biblical nonsense is beyond me. To each their own, I suppose.

Fundamentalist young-earth creationists are a minority? Where are you from? They're everywhere. It's unfortunate.

I do not need to be from anywhere in particular to understand that the vast majority of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants reject young-earth creationism. It is a minority of Christians—typically Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pentecostal and so forth—who subscribe to that unbiblical, illogical, and unscientific view. (And I say this with a heavy burden on my heart because I am Baptist myself. But I have a glimmer of hope because there are a few in my church who express a willingness to reconsider their view if shown how to understand Genesis rightly, which I am quite happy to help with.) True, these fundamentalists are everywhere, but they still represent a (very vocal) minority of Christianity. I would recommend to you Ronald L. Numbers, The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design (Harvard University Press, 2006).

Unbiblical? The bible is unbiblical now? Blow that smoke up someone else's ass, please. It's charming that you hold on to a glimmer of hope, but unless you and those in your church are going to forgo your bible completely and side with science, I think you should just scrap your hope and focus on how to cope with your own delusions.

Science and religion don't mix. They have absolutely nothing in common. I'm sure you and Ronald L Numbers put a lot of thought into the whole Intelligent Design theory, but until you have any evidence to support your thinking, you've got nothing. I applaud anyone for ditching the ignorance of biblical creation, but to put some other unfounded ignorance in it's place is just redundant.

It seems like people who are willing to accept science, as long as it doesn't step on the toes of the bible, are just terrified to live in a world where this one life might be it. It reminds me of a child not wanting to let go of it's blanket... except the god blanket is invisible.

That statement was in regards to cherry-pickers. I was denoting hypocrisy.

And what hypocrisy was that, exactly? (See my response to Faith No More above.)

Christians are the biggest hypocrites ever. In Exodus/Deuteronomy, for example, Mr. God writes a list of commandments for Moses. One of them says that killing is bad. Moses and his band of former "El" worshipers go on to slaughter masses of innocent people, because God commands them to do so. God himself is a hypocrite.

I feel like it's a great waste of time to going on about the billions of examples of biblical hypocrisy. It's your beloved book. You read it. I did, and that is one of the many reasons I am a happy, unapologetic atheist.

Have you read them [Deuteronomy and Leviticus]? If so, I really don't understand why you need evidence.

You said that the reason why Christians "selectively disregard Deuteronomy and Leviticus is because it's no longer a part of our culture." Please cite the evidence which shows that this is their reason for disregarding old covenant laws, rituals, and practices (e.g., books or articles where Christians say this), so myself and others can verify your claim.

Are you telling me that Christians find stoning naughty children acceptable? Give me a break! I'm starting to think you've never even thumbed through the bible. How is this practice remotely regarded as acceptable in modern civilization? Yet, it is the word of God. Understand? I'm not sure how I could be more clear.

I was using the word 'daft' in the [sense of] "mad, insane."

Is this a clinical diagnosis, or just you hurling gratuitous invective at people who believe differently from you?

I don't have enough information about salty to make a clinical diagnosis, but from what I do know, "daft" fits. It's not insulting if it's true, and if she believes in god wholeheartedly, as she claims, it is accurate.

I'm sure whatever the inane point, it was inspired by Jesus. I'm sure he is so proud of you—wherever he is.

So I was right. Color me underwhelmed.