(February 19, 2012 at 9:16 am)Carnavon Wrote:(February 16, 2012 at 9:56 am)RaphielDrake Wrote: If theres any religions philosophy that deserves respect it is buddhism, Abracadabra is right.Hi RaphielDrake. You pose relevant and thought provoking questions.
Carnavon, how do you explain all the killings in the Bible decreed by God? Sodam, Egypts first born, the Amalekites... Do you think "the good lord" as described in your book considered everyone equal? Do you think individuals found at the hands of those who were filled with righteous fervor were thankful for Gods mercy? What of the chosen who will supposedly emerge from the prophecy of the Book of Revelations in paradise while non-believers are left to suffer? Is this not a separation?
If you believe the message of the Bible, of your "God" is one of peace then you have obviously not read it thoroughly but rather had people quote cherry picked verses that you have adopted and looked specifically for on occasion. Make no mistake; the message of the Bible is one of fear and control not of morality.
If you want to form an actual perspective on it you should read it all.
It would seem to me that the questions have one common aspect to them - punishment by a "good god" of "innocent" people.
That God is good does not mean that God accepts evil. To the contrary, God executes his wrath - not only in the present but also on "judgement day". The idea that God is a real nice person who would not hurt a fly, may be the picture that some would like to paint - as it falls really nice "on the ear", and hence many preachers only emphasize the grace of God to the exclusion of the judgement of God - as God's righteous judgement aspect will not "attract" people to the Gospel. So they present an incorrect picture.
We are all sinners and worthy of judgement. But then: Rom 5:8 but God commends His love to us in this, that we being yet sinners, Christ died for us. So even in our state of rebellion against God (and we all did or do) God shows his mercy and love by sending his Son to pay the penalty for our sins.
I agree that one might seem to "cherry pick" some verses to the exclusion of others. It would seem to me that there are certain basic principles that will as a matter be more often quoted than others.
You will notice that my initial response was to "[i]Abrahamic religions that renounce anyone who refuses to climb on board as being a 'worthless heathen' unworthy of respect[/i] and although I will be happy to discuss other issues from time to time, maybe we can limit ourselves to that aspect and get some facts supporting that view or disagreeing with that? Your views on the issue?
I would like to reply to that first statement before I state my views on the other issue.
I can't help but feel if this God cared about whether who he was killing was evil or not he wouldn't kill "Egypts first born". Little bit near the knuckle don't you think? Its not even the only example of its kind. Do you honestly think thats "righteous wrath"? Take away the divine powers and its just Kim Jong-Il on Red Bull.
As for Abrahamic religions renouncing anyone who doesn't agree entirely, I think those religions just take their holy book literally to the nth term and refuse to cover it up. Its not like it isn't authorized by The Bible if you read it, infact being renounced is getting off lightly if you go by those standards.
Take it literally then Fred Phelps was well within his rights to do what he did. In his distorted view he was saving people from going to hell and there was nothing in there to say otherwise. On the contrary, he found plenty to support him. Of course most of us know he was a deeply vile individual but its not hard to see where he got his ideas from.
