tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post112826923585790723..comments2023-11-05T02:42:05.343-05:00Comments on Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Nachos: Church Chat - Mark 13:24-31Studiodavehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16784469805972410740noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128365158234854682005-10-03T14:45:00.000-04:002005-10-03T14:45:00.000-04:00Studiodave, where did you move to?? I'm from NC an...Studiodave, where did you move to?? I'm from NC and while religion was far from swept under the rug, I don't recall things being quite so laced with brimstone all my life. Not even now when I go back to visit. And mine was a childhood of Jesse Helms...<BR/><BR/>As for just how evangelicals manage the whole literal vs. clearly hasn't happened yet (i.e. 2000 AD in which the Messiah was supposed to return, didn't and yet people went right on thumping that Bible) well, people will make all kinds of excuses up for something they love and believe in. <BR/><BR/>Take, for instance, a woman who's husband is beating her. Why do most battered women come to believe it's acceptable? Well, "because he loves me. He doesn't know he's hurting me and this is how he shows his love." Ahh, yes, the dispensing of black eyes, an even better way to say you care than sending a Halmark card. <BR/><BR/>My point is that people believe what they want to believe and are often deaf to anything that contradicts or weakens their argument (i.e. my husband beating me is violent and illegal) (see also: www.godhatesshrimp.com). Furthermore, the Bible itself is rife with contradictions and was also "written" in a time when no one could have possibly anticipated a) the influence it would one day have and b) the confluence of cultures and technology that would seek to co-opt it. Religious groups recognize that they have to take a stand SOMEWHERE, so they do and then hope that enough people will buy into that stand that they are afforded some legitimacy in their faith. <BR/><BR/>Most people in the world need to believe in something in order to understand their mere existence. So, they take what they want from religion and put the rest in the attic and hope no one reminds them that there are dead bodies up there.ORFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05889154291548101387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128341683976529202005-10-03T08:14:00.000-04:002005-10-03T08:14:00.000-04:00Reverend Lovejoy summed it up for me: "Have you ac...Reverend Lovejoy summed it up for me: <BR/><BR/>"Have you actually read this thing? Technically, we're not even supposed to go to the bathroom." <BR/><BR/>A few years ago I decided to be all pious and read the Pentateuch. What a bunch of smut and violence! Don't get me wrong, there's lots of good stuff, but damn there's a lot of incest and murdering going on. I don't know exactly what Ham did to Noah, but I get the general sense that it wasn't pretty.Thrillhoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03082092153634900636noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128287238103780022005-10-02T17:07:00.000-04:002005-10-02T17:07:00.000-04:00Why is it that people who claim to read the Bible ...Why is it that people who claim to read the Bible literally never seem to get the message that Jesus was preaching? The Bible has about 3,000 messages about helping the poor, as opposed to one on homosexuality, and yet that's the part they hone in on.Otto Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14051682366565874144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128284024046695672005-10-02T16:13:00.000-04:002005-10-02T16:13:00.000-04:00Or manufacture the world's largest needle.Keith Ri...Or manufacture the world's largest needle.<BR/><BR/>Keith Richards would invest.Studiodavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16784469805972410740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128282218252287082005-10-02T15:43:00.000-04:002005-10-02T15:43:00.000-04:00It's especially bewildering when you take into acc...It's especially bewildering when you take into account that the entire book is full of proverbs and metaphors.<BR/><BR/>"So, what Jesus is saying is that a rich person can get into heaven if he can just breed a camel small enough to fit through a needle's eye, right?"InanimateCarbonRodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247895134217919954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13930960.post-1128271621847506782005-10-02T12:47:00.000-04:002005-10-02T12:47:00.000-04:00This is sort of how the Scopes monkey trial ended ...This is sort of how the Scopes monkey trial ended up. In his cross-examination of fundamentalist leader William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow -- who was <I>not</I> the black guy from the Mod Squad, Mr. Hutz -- got Bryan to admit the six days in which the universe ws created might not have been normal 24-hour days. Once he'd admitted to that, the whole argument seemed laughable.Otto Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14051682366565874144noreply@blogger.com