The Bible as Truth?

[amyrouse]

There is this period of time in the Autumn called the High Holy days for Jews.  It is the period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and we call them the Days of Awe.  During this period of time, we honor our dead and we atone for our sins.  If we have done something to hurt someone or for some other reason should need forgiveness from our fellow man, we spend these days doing so, so we can start the new year (Yom Kippur) with a clean slate.  Ideally, we should make every effort to correct our mistakes, but as Lady Gaga says, you can fix a broken mirror but that crack will always be there.  Not all Jews do this...I attempt to.  But I go one step further...I try to correct these mistakes as soon as I realize they were mistakes.  Being a "good person" is hard work, and I sometimes wonder if I am doing everything I can to be the best person I can be.  Someone expecting forgiveness from g-d from something they did to me...they come up short in my book, because I at least attempt to take responsibility for my actions.

[Cuppycake]

I also censor my criticisms, btw, to make them more "gentle" so I don't come across as a flaming b*tch.

This is one reason you are not a psychiatrist. You would know that it is not the person's fault but part of the disease process. You would also know that the person with a mental illness is helpless against the illness and there is nothing they can do about it.

You would also know how to communicate and approach a mentally ill person, so you don't scare them or make them feel you will hurt them.

You would also know that a mental illness is JUST a chemical imbalance. Calling someone NUTS/CRAZY/PSYCHOPATH who is mentally ill is like calling a black person *bleep*! Just so you know.

You are a very unstable individual that should be kept away from others!

[Cuppycake]

I see a bad car accident coming your way, and queen can confirm there was a bad accident that came her way. I didn't quote anything when I said it. Just because I am psychic and I can see things doesn't mean I am wishing them or sending them your way.

You're a loon!    How is it psychic when you didn't get the person right (the threat was directed at Falconer)?  How is it psychic when this "bad accident" you predicted turned out to leave our car perfectly untouched?  People who pray or claim to be psychic are way too easily impressed...

If you are psychic, why don't you pick out the next Powerball numbers rather than mooching off the government?  Just a thought.  

She is more then a loon she is a psychopath!

HAHA thank God you're not a psychiatrist and besides I think only a psychiatrist can make that diagnosis, so hush.

Roflmao ! You don't tell me what to do LOL! And further more you don't know what the definition of a psychopath is apparently! The psychopath is a social predator. He is ruthless, manipulative and often charming. "Once referred to as “moral imbeciles,” psychopaths exhibit a marked lack of conscience. They are callous, remorseless and spectacularly self-centered, willing to use and abuse others to achieve their ends, and they are inclined to blame others, including their victims, for their problems and bad behaviour."

Read more at Suite101: Personality Traits of a Psychopath: Characteristics of Sociopathic Personality Disorder http://personalitydisorders.suite101.com/article.cfm/personality_traits_of_a_psychopath#ixzz0uj2afK2o

[queenofnines]

God healed me of the psychological trauma of being raped, so I don't feel the pain from it anymore.  I have true freedom through being able to forgive the person that hurt me.

Yes, in general it's good if we can forgive those who have hurt us...however, there's a certain degree of hurt where it's understandable not to forgive a person.  I don't think it should be like a bitterness that consumes you and ruins your life if you got raped, beaten, abused, etc...however, it's OKAY to say, "What was done to me wasn't right.  I didn't deserve it.  That person shouldn't have done it to me, NO EXCUSES."  Should we forgive Hitler for killing millions of Jews?  No.  That's an extreme example, but you get my drift.

By your standards, everyone would go to hell.

By MY standards, no one should go to hell.  Good thing this is also reality's standards (no one goes to hell because it is imaginary).  You can tell hell was made up by man when you compare it to the many other religions that invented such a place and by how cruel humanity used to be...have you ever been to a torture museum?  That sh*t really happened.  Good thing we've evolved to do away with CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT in the civilized countries...not the Middle East, of course.  They're still stoning, hanging, and torturing people over there.  IN THE NAME OF ALLAH.

I'm thankful to believe and trust in a God that gives people another chance.

Not once a person is dead, though, right?  Do you not think if there really was a hell, millions of people would be mournful of their mistake?  Do you not think that billions are crying out to Jesus right now as their spiritual flesh is being scorched: "Please forgive me, Lord.  I could not see the truth on Earth, I am forever sorry for rejecting you.  Please, Father, this pain is unbearable; I've never been so terrified or tortured...please!!!!"  

Oh wait, GOD CAN'T HEAR THEM.  But of course he is aware that such pleadings are going on, being omniscient and all.  I hope it doesn't ruin y'alls party in heaven realizing there are truly repentant people suffering forever.  Don't delude yourself into thinking that there wouldn't be!!!

[queenofnines]

You would also know that the person with a mental illness is helpless against the illness and there is nothing they can do about it.

You don't fit this definition, though.  Like I've said before, people with *true* mental illness don't hang out in forums for kicks (TROLLS DO).  They have other things to do, like repeatedly rock back and forth in the corner.

It's pretty shameful of you to compare yourself to those who are REALLY mentally helpless.

I think the reason Schizophrenics are so sweet and nice is because they are truly blessed by the Lord. They have been given a gift to see the spirtual world. It is not easy to come by.

 There's a reason we LOCK UP people like this.  They're not living in reality; therefore, they are a danger to themselves and/or others.

[ButterflyWings]

You must deserve forgiveness to receive it..And sorry hurt a child kill a human and you forfeit forgiveness..Plain and simple.

I am not bitter with the sicko who took my innocence I am sickened I am asked to forgive him when to this day the sicko continues to most likely rain his hell on children and he sees no wrong in it..So forgive this monster HELL NO!!

If your god thinks I am wrong so be it i could not stand next to Hilter,killers,rapists or any other such atrocity in the afterlife..to harm anyone is disgusting and you deserve nothing but to have what you did done to you over and over for eternity..

[shernajwine]

it's OKAY to say, "What was done to me wasn't right.  I didn't deserve it.

you're right about that, it wasn't right and I didn't deserve it. and forgiving that person is for my benefit, not theirs. they don't even know i forgave them. as for how God judges them, that's for God to decide not me...however, me personally; i prayed to God through tears of pain for someone that hurt me as scripture said and because of that God helped me to forgive them. and my prayers were simply that God help this person to see what they did was wrong and for God to show this man that he didn't have to live in sin but could be saved. i don't want this person to continue raping people so i prayed he would get saved!

i was freed from a painful circumstance, and in the process my prayers helped someone heal the issues in their own life so that whatever psychological issues they suffered from, they would no longer be in bondage and slave to it anymore!

but i feel like i'm trying to explain to someone who is afraid of heights, how awesome a feeling it is to stand on a bridge hundreds of feet above the ground and jump, free falling several feet until a rubber cord jerks you back up and then you free fall again. sounds exciting and exhilarating to me, but how can i interpret that feeling to someone who would only be petrified to the point of tears of loss of bowel control!? it's impossible 

[queenofnines]

but i feel like i'm trying to explain to someone who is afraid of heights, how awesome a feeling it is to stand on a bridge hundreds of feet above the ground and jump, free falling several feet until a rubber cord jerks you back up and then you free fall again.

Plenty of people have gotten over tough stuff without having to rely on a "higher power".  I can see the appeal of one, certainly, because sometimes it IS hard knowing that you only have yourself to rely on.  If you're not strong enough yet to make it through on your own, believing that some all-good paternal figure is playing a part may be the only motivation that seems to work for a person to get over their hardships.  I don't think this is really a "benefit" of religion, because most people WOULD be able to get over their issues in some other way.  

I think believing there is a paternal figure watching out for you is easier than having to do through all of the work on your own (even though the person IS ultimately still alone, they are convinced they're not).

[tantricia44]

he never killed people without just cause (murder) and he always sent someone to warn people of impending judgment so as to give them the chance to repent.

This sounds real good until I whip out some unjustified killing from the Bible:

From there Elisha went up to Bethel.  While he was on his way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him.  "Go up baldhead," they shouted, "go up baldhead!"  The prophet turned and saw them, and he cursed them in the name of the Lord.  Then two shebears came out of the woods and tore forty two of the children to pieces. (2 Kings 2:23-24)

So 42 little kids were brutally ripped to shreds just because they made fun of someone who was bald!!  Don't say it wasn't god; it's quite obvious the "moral" of this story is don't make fun of a prophet or god will allow a whole mess of children to be consumed by bears!


Meanwhile, the LORD instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, "Strike me!"  But the man refused to strike the prophet.  Then the prophet told him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me."  And sure enough, when he had gone, a lion attacked and killed him. (1 Kings 20:35-36)

Does this make ANY flippin' sense?  So a dude doesn't want to be violent and hit a prophet and god thinks the "just" punishment for this understandable "disobedience" should be death by a lion??


Then we have all the people god instructs US to kill for ridiculous reasons:

All who curse their father or mother must be put to death.  They are guilty of a capital offense. (Leviticus 20:9)

Note the key word ALL.  So if your parents beat you, molested you, raped you, left you for dead on the street...don't ever say a bad word about them or you're worthy of DEATH in god's eyes.


But if this charge is true (that she wasn't a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father's house.  Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy  22:20-21)

Yes, your sex life is THAT important to god.


The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever.  It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.  Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy.  Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community.  Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest.  I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death. (Exodus 31:12-15)

Screw putting food on the table for your family.  If a man works on the wrong day of the week, he deserves to die!


Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants. (Isaiah 14:21)

If your dad did something bad, you deserve to die just in case you wind up like him.


Merciless killing instructed by god:

Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked.  Show no mercy; have no pity!  Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children." (Ezekiel 9:5)
 
Anyone who is captured will be run through with a sword.  Their little children will be dashed to death right before their eyes.  Their homes will be sacked and their wives raped by the attacking hordes.  For I will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and no amount of silver or gold will buy them off.  The attacking armies will shoot down the young people with arrows.  They will have no mercy on helpless babies and will show no compassion for the children. (Isaiah 13:15-18)

(Moses) stood at the entrance to the camp and shouted, "All of you who are on the LORD's side, come over here and join me."  And all the Levites came.  He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Strap on your swords! Go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other, killing even your brothers, friends, and neighbors."  The Levites obeyed Moses, and about three thousand people died that day.  Then Moses told the Levites, "Today you have been ordained for the service of the LORD, for you obeyed him even though it meant killing your own sons and brothers.  Because of this, he will now give you a great blessing." (Exodus 32:26-29)

This is just a TASTE of the god you worship!  Still think it was always "justified"?

Agreed, these die hard worshipers tend to forget the dark side of the bible. Esp. when they will following faith only & sacrifice their only child in the name of god. Then will be rewarded in which god will come in to stop the sacrifice because the father was willing to follow his god no question. I don't see a loving god, I see a cat toying with his/her prey.   

[shernajwine]

thumbsup  Agreed, these die hard worshipers tend to forget the dark side of the bible. Esp. when they will following faith only & sacrifice their only child in the name of god. Then will be rewarded in which god will come in to stop the sacrifice because the father was willing to follow his god no question. I don't see a loving god, I see a cat toying with his/her prey.    bootyshake

except that i replied to all those cherry picked scriptures. and it doesn't show a dark side of God.....it shows sins committed by men in glaring light. the light of God that is just and will not tolerate sin.
but i guess you decided to ignore all that because it's easier for you to believe the nonsense and lies about the bible that spews out of the mouth of skeptics like vomit. lap it up. i personally don't like the taste of vomit.
   

[madeara]

God is perfect.  Everything that is written in The Bible is completely true and accurate.

[Cuppycake]

God is perfect.  Everything that is written in The Bible is completely true and accurate.

ROFLMAO

[502mania]

You must deserve forgiveness to receive it..And sorry hurt a child kill a human and you forfeit forgiveness..Plain and simple.

I am not bitter with the sicko who took my innocence I am sickened I am asked to forgive him when to this day the sicko continues to most likely rain his hell on children and he sees no wrong in it..So forgive this monster HELL NO!!

If your god thinks I am wrong so be it i could not stand next to Hilter,killers,rapists or any other such atrocity in the afterlife..to harm anyone is disgusting and you deserve nothing but to have what you did done to you over and over for eternity..

I understand your view point, but just think: nobody is perfect, therefore there cAnt be a heaven or hell. no wrong doing is worse than another. but everyone will pay for their wrong, but i doubt for eternity. maybe until one learns or understands his/her wrong. if you steal, you will be stolen from. it's not karma, its a cycle, everything revolves in a cycle.

[ButterflyWings]

There is no such thing as perfection everything has faults the idea of perfection is nice but there is no such thing..

[502mania]

You don't have to be perfect to get into heaven... 

lets say, you go to heaven. you never sinned except you drink alot. another person goes. they never sinned but gambled. anotheperson goes. they never sinned except they committed adultry.
Now the paradise god has set up for you has gambling, drinking, and adultry. with more people the list gets longer. but the point is... if anyone went to heaven it would be just like earth. so is it still heaven? and if so why would god bring you to destroy his home, after we've destroyed the one he made for us forever?