A discussion around family table.

[Scented Nectar]

It says thou shalt not murder without cause. Clearly being gay, or another member of a different tribe is not a just cause for murder.

According to your bible, they ARE just causes for death sentences, one cause is that being gay is an abomination according to god, and the god-ordered punishment is death (an exile only, instead of death is allowed somewhere in the bible too, so maybe with a bit of mercy your god will just make gays homeless in a foreign country). Same with many many instances of slaughtering other tribes, except for the little girls who they were told to keep alive and rape. Nice god you follow.

but we've been around since 1880. Official lutheran stance = "Hell is conceived as the place of the dead and the lost who are separated from the presence of God." For the Orthodox, Heaven is not a place in the sky, it is being with God.

Even if you believe that the punishment is milder than the bible actually says, it is still something that is supposed to be unpleasant. Why does your god bring the hellbound back to life to make them go through that? Why doesn't he just let them die, like the puppy he's just kicked to death?

May I ask if you've read the bible?

Sure thing, ask away, but only after you have reassured me that you, an actual christian, have read the whole thing at least once completely. Oh yeah, you haven't read the thing.

If you have specific laws which you feel threatened by death-stonings for, I'll be happy to address those.

How about the many examples I already posted? You came back with a tale of self defence. That's not what I'm talking about. You know that. Stop avoiding it.

What exactly has God done to you, or anyone else now/recently living that you consider evil?

God has done nothing. He doesn't exist. It's you believers who are the problem, forcing your immoral theocracies on other people, including death sentences.

Homosexuality is a great example. It's a 19th century word, what is it doing in a 2000 year old book? If there was an original Greek word for homosexual as we see it today, why didn't they use that instead?

Some day, if you actually READ the bible, you will see that it doesn't use the word homosexual. It describes the sex itself, as a man laying with a man the way they do with a woman or something like that. Then your god says to kill the ones doing it. You should also research your holy book. It's been retranslated a bunch of times, and even when they got to the English, over hundreds of years, wording and content changed. Also, there are many document sources that the bible was compiled from, and no one has the originals. Did you know that? It is a complete mix of many authors of course as well. You knew that, didn't you?

Here's a little something from Dprjones on YouTube, that tells a bit about the bible in general. You might want some background on the book, in case you ever decide to actually read it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFDwK5ko7sI

And just to warn you, and prevent any confusions over the zillions of contradictions you will see in the bible, don't worry too much. This video is Quiz Show (Bible Contradictions), by NonStampCollector:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB3g6mXLEKk