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Until his followers later tossed almost all of the Jewish aspects of the religion away as the new religion adapted to more easily fit with Roman culture.

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18 NASB)

Christians kept the religion while removing cultural traditions. Blood sacrifices were no longer required, because Jesus fulfilled that part through his atonement.

https://www.bible.com/bible/1/...

35Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Note that this general theme concerning law is expounded and detailed throughout the epistles, along with the necessity of salvation, and the sufficiency of Christ's blood to secure our salvation.
"The old testament is the new testament concealed, and the new testament is the old testament revealed." -Chuck Missler

The fix is for people to deal with it, like grown-ups. Office romances happen across the entire working population. If people are idiots there's fallout. So far the world has survived, and nothing needs to be done to fix this.

Significant enough numbers of grown-ups are sufficiently unable to act like grownups that yeah, the rest of us really do need to fix it.

More importantly, this is not new. Interpersonal struggles and conflict are as old as humanity itself, and we've discovered, as a species, that we really do benefit from having rules, laws, guidelines, and social norms to help us navigate these choppy waters.

"Just deal with it like grownups" is a cop-out philosophy of managers not wanting to do their jobs and employees not wanting to grow beyond what they already are. "Just deal with it like grownups" means nothing more than "I don't like dealing with the strife and drama that is the human condition, therefore I'll pretend that MY employees/co-workers are somehow magically above all that."

Lastly, if you think that the world has survived without people having done anything to fix this, well, you haven't been paying any attention at all.

It won't work. Genesis 6:3 - Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal ; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

http://www.ratical.org/renewables/hempseed1.html
https://www.bible.com/bible/1/gen.1.kjv (see vs.11-12 and 29)
Too many human beings are fairly ignorant( https://www.bible.com/bible/111/hos.4.6.niv ). The leaders of humankind are mostly evil( https://www.bible.com/bible/1/eph.6.12.kjv ). It appears this will remain true until the Lord comes to snatch a knot in humanity's collective unsaved ass.
Yea Lord, come......

http://www.ratical.org/renewables/hempseed1.html
https://www.bible.com/bible/1/gen.1.kjv (see vs.11-12 and 29)
Too many human beings are fairly ignorant( https://www.bible.com/bible/111/hos.4.6.niv ). The leaders of humankind are mostly evil( https://www.bible.com/bible/1/eph.6.12.kjv ). It appears this will remain true until the Lord comes to snatch a knot in humanity's collective unsaved ass.
Yea Lord, come......

http://www.ratical.org/renewables/hempseed1.html
https://www.bible.com/bible/1/gen.1.kjv (see vs.11-12 and 29)
Too many human beings are fairly ignorant( https://www.bible.com/bible/111/hos.4.6.niv ). The leaders of humankind are mostly evil( https://www.bible.com/bible/1/eph.6.12.kjv ). It appears this will remain true until the Lord comes to snatch a knot in humanity's collective unsaved ass.
Yea Lord, come......

The only thing worse than books about child abuse are books that encourage it, right? Like this horrible tome:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

--Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (KJV)

yes

http://www.bible.com/

1 Corinthians 6:7
Lawsuits among Christians are a no-no in the Bible.

response.write("Click here");

Hmmm, then you're doing it wrong.

Always with religion there is this need for there to be a right way and a wrong way.

I live for the day when we overcome; and instead, find joy in the wonderous diversity of ways people around the world practice religion.

Hmmm, then you're doing it wrong.

then perhaps ye should read one's bible before making such unfounded claims. as per Genesis, first chapter in the King James Version of the bible:

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

      10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

thusly, one could only assume then that this God-person merely spoke. Uttered mere words, and his will was carried out. odd that someone such as myself, an atheist Buddhist if you will, seems to know where to find biblical passages that are contrary to your assertion.

i would suggest visiting http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresul ts2.php?passage1=Genesis+1&book_id=1&version1=9&tp =50&c=1 for any further biblical edification.

And just because someone is Islamic doesn't mean they are, or act like Islamics.

If you look back at my post you'll see that I made no such claims to the contrary. I was merely addressing a statement about "Christians" committing atrocities.

Alas, I don't have a hotline to God, so I can't verify you partook in God's heart and mind recall, nor can I verify anyone else's participation in this program.

True- you can't possibly know my relationship with God. No one but God can. However, you can see my faith revealed through my actions (1 John 2:3 "We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands."; also refer to James 1:19-27 and James 2:14-26). This was the point I was making. If my actions are clearly contradictory to scripture, you can most certainly doubt the sincerity of my faith. Just as when I shoot 114 on the golf course, you can correct me when I claim myself to be an experienced golfer.

I would also say that those who Molest children in the name of God are not acting in accordance with the Christian Bible. I would also say they are sick bastards, not just because they feel the need to have sex with those who haven't developed any seconadary sexual attributes, but those who commit such acts seem to think God wants them to.

Wow. While I definitely agree that child molesters are most certainly not following the teachings of Christ, I highly doubt that those who do feel that it's Gods will that they molest children. You're referring to priests, which (as far as I know- I'm not Catholic) are required to possess detailed knowledge of Scripture, which in no way ever encourages anyone to molest children. Scripture clearly dictates that sexuality is God's gift to married men and women and refers to any sexuality outside marriage as adultery (noting that Jesus explicitly equated lust with adultery as well).

But if you are going to say Islamics blow up buildings, Christians do as well. To think otherwise is bigotry.

While it is possible for a follower of Christ to blow up a building (as we all are sinful), it is highly unlikely. The same may apply for Muslims as well. I simply don't possess a knowledge of Islam to know what its teachings are. I've actually suggested that our Sunday school class study other religions so that we can avoid the stereotypes perpetuated by the media and actually understand the basis for these religions. From what I do understand, Islam is a works-based religion where God requires service for salvation, which is a concept entirely contradictory to Christianity.

Which version of the Book of Romans? There are more translations than you can shake a stick at.

Yes, there are. The message remains the same across the board, though (barring any oddball translations). I'm primarily familiar with the NIV and the KJV. I've also seen The Message, the NAS, the NLT, and the NKJV, and have yet to see any discrepancies. Each gives the message of God's love and mercy despite man's continual rejection of His ways.

But no version of the bible is trully clear.

Do you mean entirely? If so, I find that hard to believe. If you haven't yet glanced at all the translations I've listed above, perhaps any one of them might be easier to understand. I prefer the NIV over the others and find it easiest to read. If you're speaking about portions of the Bible, I will agree that certain prophecies which have not yet come to pass are not truly clear (the end time prophecies in Revelation are a prime example). Fortunately, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been plainly stated for all to receive- and that's all that matters.

If I were to claim to be Christian I would have to accept that those who follow Islam are also brothers.

You have to define your u

Insightful? Troll is more like it.

Scientology harrasses and/or kills anyone that is not a member of scientology. Unlike killings supposedly done in the name of Christianity, Ron L. Hubbards notes to his followers explicitly tells them to lie, cheat, steal, and kill!

Anyone who actually reads the Bible will find, "Thou shalt not kill", "Thou shalt not steal", etc, etc.

Lastly, remember the Xenu (sp?) spat with Slashdot a few years ago? How they fired off a Cease and Desist because a user posted their "copyrighted material" on Slashdot? Screw them. Send me your address and I'll give you a copy of the Bible. Even better, you can read it online here. Visiting a hotel? Try looking in the drawer. There's a Gideon Bible there, free for you to read.

So don't try to compare Scientology and Christianity in general. The two are NOT the same.

I suppose that membership of a particular ethnic group is just a fact of background - there are no moral aspects to race. The same isn't true of religion. But in the case of Judaism the issue is blurred because we use the same word to refer to the race as we do to refer to the religion. Then there is the political state of Israel, which is neither a religion nor a race... In my previous post, I was referring exclusively to the religion, but I didn't make that clear.

This kind of confusion is nothing new. John the baptist had this to say:

"And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 3:9-10).

Jesus had something similar to say - see John chapter 8.

I'm not sure if any of this helps. I've no idea if the war-mongers in Israel claim to be jewish in the religious sense.

I think that's been tried before:
http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresul ts.php?passage1=1+Kings+18%3A16-40

It's in the Bible! Better start working at night, I guess.

Or is this about the quotes he uses? I'm not arguing that those quotes may be authenitic. I'm saying that by using them out of context, given his bias, they do not show anything other than his ability to find a thread.

To which you replied:

Oh, but you are. Maybe they are taken out of context. PROVE IT.

You don't understand what "context" is, do you?

Here, this is a quick google search for the first quote he uses. You will notice that the sites listed do not point to any Islamic texts, but to sites where you can purchase his book or refutations of his book.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q= %22believers%2C+fight+the+unbelievers+who+are+near +to+you%2C+and+let+them+find+in+you+a+harshness%3B +and+know+that+Allah+is+with+the+godfearing%22&btn G=Search

And now for comparision, a quote from the Bible, searched via Google.

Phrase: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22For+to+us+ a+child+is+born%2C+to+us+a+son+is+given%2C+and+the +government+will+be+on+his+shoulders.+And+he+will+ be+called+Wonderful+Counselor%2C+Mighty+God%2C+Eve rlasting+Father%2C+Prince+of+Peace.%22&btnG=Google +Search
There. The links it shows are all church related sites and you find a link to a Bible search site on the 2nd page.

That that seems to show is that the phrase he used on his site is far more popular in his book than in any Islamic sites.

This is not about christianity and frankly i don't give a damn either way. How many people have been killed in the last 10 years in the name of Jesus?

You might want to look into the history of abortion clinic bombings. In the continental US, there have been more abortion clinic attacks by "Christians" than there have been attacks by Islamics.

And without the WTO attack, the "Christians" would have killed more people.

It's more than you've done. You keep going on about having some kind of quote from what I'm guessing is the bible about how christianity condones rape or some such thing but so far you haven't produced anything relating to islam let alone an actual quote.

You're "guessing"? I specifically stated it was in the Bible. Here's a good place to start.
http://bibleresources.bible.com/passagesearchresul ts.php?passage1=Judges+21&version1=9

As for Islam, yes I have. I've shown millions of Muslims who live in the US and who do NOT subscribe to jihad against it.

Aside from the actions of Timothy McVeigh I can't recall the last time someone actually took arms up against the government. Does that mean the nation is made out of 300+ million non-patriots?

Maybe you missed something called "The Civil War"?

Since then, most people do not seem to have felt that the situation required armed resistance. Although there are several militias out there preparing for it.

If we say that it is open to interpretation because it only has some nice stories, then what parts do we follow and what parts are just there as example? This leaves a wide door open for man's imperfect interjection of man's own beliefs.

Since Jesus taught almost exclusively in parables, one would think that would answer your question of whether to follow a literal interpretation or an allegorical one.

Plus, Jesus made a point of superceding all those anal little rules with two very simple yet broad and interpretable ones. ( http://www.bible.com/bible/Bcommand.html )

So, I'm sorry, but if you want to call yourself a Christian ( ala Jesus Christ ), then you pretty much have to deal with these questions of interpretation, and ditch the literal cop-out.

Given most comments on the forums of The American Atheist website, it would appear that anyone with even a slight knowledge of science and evolution hates God. An article from The Bible , though, argues that not everyone should dismiss God outright. According to the priests, the Pope, and other religious spokespeople, evolution is over-rated, Darwin isn't worthy, and God deserves respect and some love.

Actually, I thought this line might be trying to provoke a reaction:

You think with it being the #1 best selling book of al time they would have, but I guess not.

However, looking back it might have just been a lack of coffee (same reason that I used king james instead of king james VERSION. And still got modded as insightful somehow. Only on Slashdot!). I am sorry if you felt offended, I read too much into it and figured you were poking the left-leaning Slashdot crowd with a stick.

I would think the problem with searching religious works like the Holy Bible would be such:

1. Any religious work has a ton of different versions. http://www.biblegateway.com/ lists 19 or so English versions of the Holy Bible. Which one wins?

2. Any religious work is bound to be referenced by a lot of other works. People tend to discuss religions, so will talk about that religions holy books. So that could mean that a book that talks about the Holy Bible (so has the word Bible in it a ton of times) might show up higher in search rankings.* For example, if I search for "Oliver Twist", "Treasure Island", or "Romeo and Julet" those words show up in the books as well as in the title, so they might get higher rankings then books talking about them.

*Actually, according to http://www.bible.com/, the word bible does not actually show up in the bible itself, and the word holy shows up 617 times in 549 verses. So it's quite possible other works talking about the Holy Bible would show up higher! Just for a reference LORD shows up 8,009 times in 6,781 verses. (But searching google books for Lord doesn't get you the bible either.)

Anyway, I think this thing is still beta. Hopefully they'll add something like "Book Title:Holy Bible" to help sort through the results. And I would really love to be able to see more then just 3 or so books at a time. Maybe when it is out of beta...

According to the Bible, Isaiah 45:7 (King James Ver.), God created evil. "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things." That's why I blame God for the flames I am about to endure.

A Biblical explaination can be found if you do a search for Intercessory Prayer.

For me it also comes down to the Golden Rule (do unto others...). Jesus' remarks in Matthew 7:7-12 are about prayer, and then immediately about the Golden Rule, which would imply that they're somehow (even loosely) related.

During my last visit to the Exploratorium (about 5 years ago), I remember seeing a display in which they had (behind a "closed casket" I guess so as not to scare little children) a complete human skeleton. In prominent letters it stated clearly that women have one pair less of ribs than men.
I'm not sure what medical textbook they are using, but I hope that my doctor doesn't use it.
I boycott the museum whenever I can since

Don't forget the New American Standard translation, the other major English translation.

Be careful with the NIV, though. It's quite a good translation, but you have to be aware of what you're getting when you read it. The translators used the "dynamic equivalence" philosophy, to make it easier to read. That means they took the more difficult sentences and rephrased them, changing both grammar and vocabulary to a more straight-forward reading level. (Every translation involves interpretation, but dynamic equivalence adds a second layer of "putting it in your own words.")

Here's some good resources:

Unbound Biola -- Bible search. Most of the major English translations, along with 30 or 40 other languages, ancient and modern.

Read the Bible -- 50 or 60 translations, English and otherwise. Some are available for download, as are the necessary fonts.

Since when was Christmas just about how much consumer electronics one can acquire?

When they started bundling them with two packs of smokes. That's when I started getting radios and watches in my stocking, anyway.

What about intangible things such as goodwill, family and happiness?

1. You can't wrap that kind of shit up in pretty paper and put a bow on it.
2. The sales markup on goodwill, family, and happiness is pretty dismal. Not a lot of margin there.

They do try to package goodwill every year, it's called * Aid (Farm Aid, etc) but it ends up being concentrated smarminess instead.

Whether you believe in God or not, you should be spending time trying to make others happy, not indulging in naked avarice.

First of all, this isn't MY religious holiday. Hell, it doesn't even actually belong to the christians. They stole it from a variety of sources. All of its rituals have been co-opted from other peoples' holidays. Some of them came from people who didn't even see them as holy days per se, because it was not strictly about gods; Some of the rituals are simple observances of the beauty, power, and relevance of nature. Others are serious religious observances.

I'm sure this is going to get me flamed, but why can't we have more focus on how we can make others happy rather than how we can make ourselves happy, before Christmas truly does become nothing more than Giftmas, the celebration of all things commercial.

You want to see something funny? go see what bible.com thinks about the origins of christmas. "Should We Celebrate With The Christmas Tree?" is the thing that really got me going.

Jeremiah 10:2-4 (NRSV) "Thus says the LORD: Do not learn the way of the nations, or be dismayed at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the peoples are false: a tree from the forest is cut down, and worked with an ax by the hands of an artisan; 4 people deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move."

Then the article goes on to say "this is speaking of hewing down a tree and carving an idol to be gilded or silvered, and placed as a "god" for worship. This has nothing to do with a Christmas tree as you and I know it."

It's amazing how the bible actually tells you one of the actual origins of the custom, and then the nice people who write articles for bible.com tell you that that has nothing to do with the modern christmas tree. Pretty neat, huh?

Face it, Christmas never had the meanings it has now. Even if it did it would be a religious holiday (note "holiday" == "holy day", or it used to anyway) and I would be avoiding it in protest of the atrocities done in the names of Jehovah and Jesus. But now it's an American cultural phenomenon. Christmas is now the time when we overcome our alienation to our families, and go through the enormous hassle of traveling to meet them :)

There are many days of the year when we can be helping other people; in fact if we were all "good" people then we would arguably be giving more of our wealth to others than we keep every day, given the tragic inequality in this world. Why THIS day which is supposedly about the birth of a religious figure and thus about your relationship with "God" and not about helping those in need -- This has long been the message but not the primary activity of the xtian churches and those derived from them -- has to be the day when we help others is beyond me. Maybe we should do that on earth day.

http://www.bible.com/answers/apornog.html

Remember, this is the same country whose leader believes that HIV does not cause AIDS. Their leaders (and by default, government) are quite obviously insane.

This, of course, in stark contrast to our country, whose leader believes that Africans should, under no circumstances, be educated about how AIDS is spread.

This is the same man that believes, down to the letter, in a book that says women and unborn children are property, among other ridiculous assertions

Call me crazy, but I was under the impression that the Christian God passed judgement on everybody--otherwise, how do you determine who gets into Heaven, The Ultimate Playground? Mind you, I learned all this from a pretty dated source, so there could be an updated version that I haven't read yet or something. Of course, if you want to go pointing fingers at organizations bent on shackling freedoms...

But to your point. I'll assume that you're a fairly religious type of person, and you firmly believe that you'll be getting into heaven in due time. Why, then, does it matter one bit to you what us hopelessly lost souls do with our earthly time and money? You're gonna get into HEAVEN, man! Who cares if we drop a few bucks on rocket ships? What does it matter how earthly governments run their affairs? You're still gonna win out over us all!

(I know, I know, I shouldn't have...but look at the poor thing--he looks so hungry!)