takumsaw
Dolphinback
I am Wind in His Hair! Do you see that I am not afraid of you? Do you see?
Posts: 14
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Post by takumsaw on Jul 12, 2006 20:05:35 GMT -5
I found this disturbing also. If you look at Genesis, you find that a literal interpretation is impossible. God didn't make the sun until the fourth day. A real, literal, 24-hour day is measured by the sun. How can the other days even be possible? I stated this before in Morality and religion: Genesis is can only be true if it is looked at metaphorically or allegorically. Otherwise, it makes no sense. I think Genesis, like Jesus' parables, had morals they were trying to teach. In Genesis, it teaches us that God made the world, and that sin cuts us off from God. The Bible is not a textbook to tell us how the world was made, it is a book to guide our souls.
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Post by Vorchia on Jul 13, 2006 12:08:12 GMT -5
That article is just plain freaky... And yes I'm still with Aric on these matters. Is it necessary to insist to point of fighting that this or that interpretation of the bible is correct? How many subdivisions of the church are there? Hundreds? Thousands? Then how can anyone have the arrogance of claiming to have the 'one true way'? The bible, for the first millenium of its existence could only be HAND copied by people who didn't have access to coffee or personal computers. Mistakes slipped in. If you pick up a book from say 1300 then compare it to a later copy of it, say after five or six copy rounds you WILL find little differences. The bible is older then that, how many changes did IT suffer, I wonder? Evolution works the same was as copying books, the DNA copying mechanism of the cell is but 99% perfect. Kids need to be taught science, including evolution, they have a right to a complete education. Evolution plays an important role in modern day science and the understanding of the world. Genesis offers another point of view about how it is, the Silmarillion offers another point of vieuw too. The world wasn't created through music nor was it done in six days, sometimes things are meant metaphorically. Here's one quote from Mark 4 "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead don't you put it on its own stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought in the open." I think that can be applied to education. Why deny kids education? When ever did it do any good to keep education away from kids, be it history or our case biology? Knowledge is important, a child who gets an incomplete education will be hindered by it later on. If the child decides to reject evolution, let it, but let it be the child's own choice, as a free person. Does Jesus want his followers to remain stupid and unaware of how other people think the world works? I hope so not. Creationism and fundamentalism continue to exist because they are right. Oh really... It was right for Osama Bin Laden to fly an airplane into that building? The inquisition subsequent muder on thousands of 'sinners' was all okay too? And its ok for innocent children to die of minor causes because the parents think God would not want them to have the life saving vaccine? Fundamentalism, in any religion, is dangerous. There's no justification for fundamentalism. The world religions all preach peace and love of LIFE, they shouldn't be abused and twisted to justify violence or other unhealthy practises in any way. I shall be hiding somewhere now, from our board owner's wrath. I don't want a Holy Handgrenade in the mail.
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aric
demi-admin
I drink your milkshake!
Posts: 989
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Post by aric on Jul 15, 2006 5:22:15 GMT -5
I found this disturbing also. If you look at Genesis, you find that a literal interpretation is impossible. God didn't make the sun until the fourth day. A real, literal, 24-hour day is measured by the sun. How can the other days even be possible? I stated this before in Morality and religion: Genesis is can only be true if it is looked at metaphorically or allegorically. Otherwise, it makes no sense. I think Genesis, like Jesus' parables, had morals they were trying to teach. In Genesis, it teaches us that God made the world, and that sin cuts us off from God. The Bible is not a textbook to tell us how the world was made, it is a book to guide our souls. Yeah. And how is it that Noah found all the world's animals within walking distance of his house? A lot of the allegorical stuff in Genesis doesn't make sense if people actually think about it critically. And that's just the parts where creationists are trying to mine "evidence" to support their position. Try looking at other parts of the Bible. Talking bushes? Come on. That article is just plain freaky... Wanna hear something REALLY freaky? Half of all Americans agree with Ham. BOO! And you wanna hear something even freakier? I believe that much of the other half believes in evolution simply because science says so rather than having thought it through themselves... Boo. The bible, for the first millenium of its existence could only be HAND copied by people who didn't have access to coffee or personal computers. Mistakes slipped in. If you pick up a book from say 1300 then compare it to a later copy of it, say after five or six copy rounds you WILL find little differences. The bible is older then that, how many changes did IT suffer, I wonder? Why concentrate on just the accidental changes? Stouthorn and I were talking in another thread about the major differences in the Gospel of John from the other Gospels: namely that it's the only one where it portrays Jesus as being divine. It's also the one farthest from the point of Jesus' life. I'm not inclined to think that "mistakes" like that happen on accident. Not within one hundred years. To me, and some Biblical scholars, this strongly indicates the deliberate construction of Jesus' divinity by early Christian leaders. Of course, that would require some knowledge of the historical development of the Bible and God. I think literalists tend to dismiss that kind of analysis. At least for their own religion. IIRC, Azonthus had quite a few laughs (rightfully so, though one could say the same about similar approaches to Christianity) at the expense of the Scientologists and the science fiction basis for their beliefs in the "Chronicles of Xenu" thread I created. I think that can be applied to education. Why deny kids education? When ever did it do any good to keep education away from kids, be it history or our case biology? Well, for one thing, it keeps them from straying from the One True Path.... You're coming from the position of "knowledge as power." They're coming from the position of "Glory be to God." Creationism and fundamentalism continue to exist because they are right. Oh really... It was right for Osama Bin Laden to fly an airplane into that building? The inquisition subsequent muder on thousands of 'sinners' was all okay too? And its ok for innocent children to die of minor causes because the parents think God would not want them to have the life saving vaccine? You could apply Azonthus' logic to a lot of bad stuff and, if her reasoning is correct, it would be okay. For example: "Racism continues to exist because it is right." "Murder continues to exist because it is right." "Bigotry continues to exist because it is right." Ad Infinitum. Not that I think Azonthus would actually support that kind of stuff, but it does show how wrong the "<Insert idea/phenomenon here> continues to exist because it is right" logic is. - Aric
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