Posted on 03/07/2002 6:07:31 AM PST by iav2
Of course, ridiculing Mad Mo could lead to your death in a country controlled by the Islamaniacs you desparately try to whitewash.
A quote from the book of Joshua regarding the Canaanite genocide commanded by God:
"And that day Joshua took Makkedah, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof he utterly destroyed, them, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain: and he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jerico. Then Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto Libnah, and fought against Libnah: And the Lord delivered it also, and the king thereof, into the hand of Israel: and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the souls that were therein; he let none remain in it” (Joshua 10:29-30)
Or, how about this beauty:
"Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Samuel 15:3)
While I'm sure that you wish for a Jesus who was ridiculing someone by infering their participation in homosexual acts (as you did in your two posts which were removed by the moderator), I can assure you that isn't what Jesus was about.
I am attempting to help others understand that the communistic atheist butchers of the 20th century, and the theologically oriented butchers of the middle ages didn't share a faith... but they shared one common trait which allowed them to brutalize their fellow men in unspeakable ways. They shared a fundamental disregard for the rights of their fellow men.
I had to reply to this one. If you look at the cultural and geopgraphical millieu that produced the philosophical emphasis on an individual actually having intrinsic value, you would find that Northern Europe was the location for this idea's origin. The primary philosophical underpinnings of Northern Europe in the 1500 and 1600's, when the Age of Enlightenment and the Age of Reason were in their infancy was the teachings of the Reformed Church.
If you examine the root message of the Gospel, this makes sense. The message there was that each person is so important to G-d that He gave himself up to save us, one lost sheep at a time. We are called to follow His example, care for each and ourselves the way that G-d in the flesh did (and does).
Just as this milleau produced scientific advancement (in studying the wonder of G-d's creation), so too did it produce political and economic freedom for all, on a scale unseen anywhere else at anytime.
I would go so far as to say that Biblically Fundamental Christianity is inseperable from respect for every individual as a beloved creation and child of G-d. That includes people that do not believe what is contained in G-d's word.
The Albigensian Crusade was a war against heretics. It existed soley because of the Church's insistence that all Christians follow it's theology! Who's ignorant of history?
And to say that those Christians of history that committed atrocities are "not really Christians," well I don't know what to say about that. Perhaps we should start insisting that abortionists are not "really" American? It would certainly make me feel better about my country. Who's argument is weak?
My apologies then...my bad
FreeGards
If you truly understood what Jesus was about you would not be an atheist so spare me your thoughts of what he might have meant.
I'm not sure if I understand you correctly.
Are you suggesting that "Biblically Fundamental Christianity" is a set of ideas which is requisite to respect for individuals?
If so, I would disagree. I would recognize a true understanding and adherence to the teachings of Jesus as compatible with the concept of individual rights, and in fact I would recognize the existence of rights and respect for them as the ONLY conclusions which could be drawn from his teachings. (in spite of the fact that all too many people claiming those teachings as a central influence in their lives, profoundly miss this point)
But I want to make it clear that I do not recognize the teachings of Jesus as the ONLY means by which this understanding may be derived. I hold no beliefs in any supreme being whatsoever, and yet I recognize rights as an objective moral truth, derived by reason.
No confusion.
Your posts 79 and 82 of this thread were removed by the moderator, for precisely the reasons specified.
No, and I'm sorry that I did not make it clearer. It would possible for a non-christian to have a respect for the rights of individuals (for example, an uncommonly well self-disciplined Objectivist). There may be other ethical systems that come to the conclusion that a Man, as an individual, is an end and not a means. I'm not aware of them, but I not a Cultural Antropolgy expert, either.
The point that I was really trying to make, is that if one were to call Jesus of Nazareth "Lord", that a requirement of that is love and respect for everyone individually, as a creation made in the image of the G-d you worship.
To act otherwise is a negation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ahhh... dementia.
Now I understand your confusion.
I recognize that my moral claim to act in accordance with the dictates of my own will, is predicated upon my willingness to respect the same ability in others. Hence I recognize the initiation of force or fraud as immoral under all circumstances.
What reason do you have not to go out and kill some little girl?
If the only reason you don't kill little girls is because God says it is against his rules and he'll punish you... I'd suggest that your moral sense is shallow indeed.
Youre just a good person not to kill..how nice... I would hate to meet someone like you who wasnt nice and had no respect for the law because it was derived from men who looked at a greater being as a guide.
Yes.... I'm sure that's exactly what you meant with your smear.
Apparently you place the same level of emphasis on honesty as you place on the teachings of Jesus.
The reason you don't kill little girls, is because it is against the law?
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