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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 1:39 pm
(This post was last modified: February 1, 2014 at 1:43 pm by Chad32.)
(February 1, 2014 at 12:17 pm)Drich Wrote: (February 1, 2014 at 11:06 am)Chad32 Wrote: I always kind of took it as this. Surely there weren't people mutilating themselves all the time at some point in history.
It would have been a death sentence. either through infection or not being able to work.
Can you imagine someone trying to explain "No, I'm not a thief. I just gave into temptation and groped a woman, so I cut my hand off myself.".
Jesus didn't seem to know anything about germs, I guess. I once heard a jew say that the whole washing your hands wasn't actually in the torah anyway, and it's more like rinsing than washing anyway. Just pouring water over your hands.
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 4:17 pm
If the bible can't be taken literally then it is just a bunch of nonsense. Basically it doesn't matter what is written because anyone can say it means whatever suits them.
Also, anyone that talks in parables all the time is nothing but a bullshitter that has nothing real or with substance to talk about.
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 4:27 pm
(January 31, 2014 at 8:41 pm)BrokenQuill92 Wrote: Matthew 5:29
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. The JWs see it as an allegory, where the "eye" or "hand" (Mat. 5:30) refer to a particular desire or activity that would result in condemnation by god. Much of the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus telling the crowd that they must not see righteousness as the rote act of following rules to the letter, but they must understand the intent of the law. Hence the stuff he says in verses 21, 22, 28, 33-47 and probably some others. The idea was to stop trying to achieve spiritual perfection via a system of brownie points, but to see spiritual perfection as a way of thinking before you acted.
If you think about it, Jesus was codifying thoughtcrime beyond the stuff about "not coveting" from the old law. Now god could accuse you of murder if you were angry enough to insult a person. Now god could accuse you of adultery if you had a lustful thought. Now god could accuse you of false witness if you swore an oath, whether you were true to the oath or not. Just imagine the mental and emotional pressure that this would put people through!
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 4:35 pm
You can't take it all literally, and I'm sure not all of it is meant to be taken literally. Unfortunately this does cause problems about what is and isn't meant either way.
Thought crime is a big issue too. Thinking something should never be considered equal to doing something. Otherwise I'd have to turn myself in for raping, killing, and a bunch of other things, despite not actually raping or killing anyone.
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 8:48 pm
(January 31, 2014 at 8:41 pm)BrokenQuill92 Wrote: Matthew 5:29
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Ahh...since this is obviously an "allegory" or "metaphor", and subsequently open to "interpretation", allow me:
The correct interpretation is:
And if thy right nut offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast if from thee: for it is profitable for
thee that one of thy blue balls should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
Jesus was not allowed to refer directly to testicles.
"If there are gaps they are in our knowledge, not in things themselves." Chapman Cohen
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 10:15 pm
(February 1, 2014 at 12:17 pm)Drich Wrote: (February 1, 2014 at 11:06 am)Chad32 Wrote: I always kind of took it as this. Surely there weren't people mutilating themselves all the time at some point in history.
It would have been a death sentence. either through infection or not being able to work.
Having a job is more important than going to heaven?
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 10:21 pm
(February 1, 2014 at 1:40 am)Drich Wrote: (February 1, 2014 at 1:21 am)Minimalist Wrote: Once again Drippy, why is your 'god' such an inept communicator that he needs a nebbish like you to speak for him? Who better to speak to the nebbish than a nebbish person?
Pretty piss-poor excuse for a 'god' you have there.
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 10:22 pm
Yeah, if you actually want to live a decent life. I would assume. It kind of goes into "Why don't christians just commit suicide right after accepting Jesus?". You still have a life to live.
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 10:26 pm
(February 1, 2014 at 11:44 am)Tea Earl Grey Hot Wrote: Pirates were the most Christian Christians I guess.
Indeed.....
![[Image: a_spagnostic_pastafarian_by_unded-d3bo63m.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=fc01.deviantart.net%2Ffs70%2Ff%2F2011%2F074%2Fb%2F8%2Fa_spagnostic_pastafarian_by_unded-d3bo63m.jpg)
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RE: Shouldn't there be more Christians with eye patches?
February 1, 2014 at 11:43 pm
(This post was last modified: February 1, 2014 at 11:48 pm by Ryantology.)
(February 1, 2014 at 10:22 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Yeah, if you actually want to live a decent life. I would assume. It kind of goes into "Why don't christians just commit suicide right after accepting Jesus?". You still have a life to live.
I think it's a valid question, actually. This life is meaningless and this world is ephemeral according to their belief system. It's all about the supposed afterlife and the mansions in heaven. What's the point in hanging around?
I think, deep down, it indicates that even the most faithful don't trust God's promises enough to proactively find out if they are legitimate. In this sense, Islam is at least somewhat more credible.
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