helpful hints to judge sin (from a god)
Inspiration to blog has at last returned to me, courtesy of my old friends at Quiner’s Diner, and their magnificantly titled post, “Do sinners have moral standing to judge sin?” I didn’t get much of interest from the article itself, but the title got me thinking what a tricky business it must be judging sin.
Precisely what criteria can Christians use for judging each other and everyone else?
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the Christian gods (as one) exist and that everything they wish to be communicated to humanity to help us behave appropriate is adequately expressed within their agreed holy book, the Bible. Being it’s such an expansive tome, it’s vital to clarify that the whole book needs to be considered, following the unequivocal assertion that the god Jesus makes in Matthew 5:18:
For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Quick look around: earth is still in existence, so it’s safe to declare that Christians must adhere to all Old Testament laws in order to please their gods and not be branded sinners (by all their fellow Christian sinners).
Thankfully for the all the Christians out there, someone has gone to the trouble of typing out all the 613 commandments that proper followers of the Jesus character quite clearly must continue to obey. After all, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear. Waffling on about ‘new covenants’ or woolly chat about other customs and culture really hold no water.
So before any Christians start tutting at the sins of second marriages, or start up their usual moaning about same sex sex, they need to make sure they are following all these commandments. Consistency is the key to moral standing. A selection of laws that Jesus stated are always in play (until earth disappears) is available below. I hope these will help all the Christians with their judging duties.
69. Men must not shave their beards with a razor — Lev. 19:27
72. Not to tattoo the skin — Lev. 19:28
86. To circumcise all males on the eighth day after their birth — Gen. 17:10
161: Not to have sexual relations with a menstrually impure woman — Lev. 18:19
180: Not to eat non-kosher animals — Lev. 11:4
518: Pay wages on the day they were earned — Deut. 24:15
548: The courts must carry out the death penalty of strangulation — Lev. 20:10
598: Wipe out the descendants of Amalek — Deut. 25:19
“Until everything is accomplished” Mt 5, 18… “It is finished” Jn 19, 30.
Just how Christians are supposed to deal with Jewish ritual law is the major theme of Paul’s letters to the Galatians and Romans. For Paul, Jesus fulfills the ritual law, and Christians are exempt.
Clearly, however, no one is exempt from moral behavior.
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Paul was clearly acting outwith his remit in that case. I think if you have to balance whose words are more important in Christianity, Jesus clearly tops the bunch. And he’s pretty clear there’s no change in the law of his religion until earth disappears. Christians are ducking this very clear assertion because it’s just not practical to apply. It should give them some pause for thought when their judging tongues start at it!
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Words of Jesus huh? Matthew 15:10-20 is a general complaint against Kosher laws.
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Oh, that’s odd, I didn’t realise the Bible had contractions. Must be so hard to work out what bits to follow and what bits to ignore … (whole point of the post)
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SInce the contradictions appeared within a few lines of each other, the better practice is to assume that the author knew what he was doing when writing.
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Or that the editor of the several authors’ work just couldn’t be bothered trying to make any sense of it? Hoped for the best, threw in a line about ‘mysterious ways’ and Bob’s your uncle!
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Aaah, DP, you old smoothy you. Trying to win over the ladies with you encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible I see.
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O loved one, o delectable maiden. You are stately as a palm tree, and your breasts like its clusters. I will climb the palm tree, and lay hold of its branches.
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And likely get a swift kick in the olives for your trouble.
… 🙂
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Welcome back, by the way.
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Thank you 🙂
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Reblogged this on myatheistlife and commented:
There are a few more laws which prove interesting reading, if you haven’t already read them.
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Seriously, the 1st Council of Nicaea blundered terribly by keeping the OT. It frustrates such lovely and caring people like the Quiner’s. I guess they needed a creation story, but honestly, simply penning another (with another god) would have saved them oodles of later headaches.
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Or they should at least have removed the line I quoted which makes justification for ignoring most the laws impossible to take seriously. It got me thinking about when I was a kid feeling uncomfortable about why our family hadn’t given up all our possessions as we were clearly directed to do. There are so many Christians trying to justify not doing this, but in the end, if they truly believe, it’s the only logical thing to do. That and killing the descendants of Amalek 🙂
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And Esau… Those Edomite heathens!
Let’s face it, the church fathers buggered up because they were simply too lazy and/or lacked the imaginative graces to invent a new foundation.
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Descendents of Amalek? Seriously? Surely we must have done that by now. Though that line of Jesus only really applies to homosexuality: many have told me, and therefore it must be so.
Welcome back.
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I think killing the descendants of Amalek is a little project waiting for a Jesus cult somewhere …
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You will so have an opinion on this: http://truthandtolerence.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/more-on-phil-robertson-and-the-gays
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Of course. I might have commented there, and been deleted. There was a lot of stuff about Ducky, much of it paranoid, and this is one of the better ones.
I would agree with him. From the conservative Christian’s perspective, his Christianity is an identity. He cannot leave it, not even its beliefs about gay people, without being expelled from his community now and damned hereafter. Whereas homosexuality is not, as God does not make mistakes.
Tolerance might make the conservative’s expression less paranoid. It might even make him able to hear me saying “I disagree with you about the Bible” without going off on one. I want to reassure the oppressed gay man in the conservative church, though.
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And- swithering further- the “loving”, non-paranoid, reasonable-sounding explanation that God requires gays to be celibate and we will support you in this may be more damaging for that gay man than paranoid loathing.
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Clare,
I’m in no position to give anyone advice on sex and the painful question of sexual identity. But your comment on “the gay man in the conservative church” made me think of this blog: http://www.joshweed.com/ which has taught me a thing or two about sex in general, though I cannot think this guy’s lifestyle choices are good for other people. I’d like your opinion on what he is trying to accomplish.
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Oh wow.
Oddly enough, I have today posted on internalised homophobia, and tinkered with my page on Bible verses of particular relevance to LGBT folk. Joshua fascinates me. I will digest, and do another post or a long comment on my own post. Thank you.
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Looking forward to it.
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I know this wasn’t for me, but I had a quick look and have some thoughts. Do you not immediately think that people who insist that homosexuality is a choice are bisexual to some degree, so, for example, although a man may be primarily attracted to other men and consider himself gay, there may be some women he could have a relationship with? It is a choice to someone in this situation. Also sex drive is a huge consideration: for someone who doesn’t have much of a sex drive, it’s easier to build a relationship on friendship, and less of a problem to avoid acting on natural chemical reactions to the sex they’re truly attracted to. Finally, there’s the long haul to consider, this guy looks reasonably young – unfortunately I know of young and enthusiastic gay religious people who have married the opposite sex sure their god will give them the strength, only to give up in middle age having unfortunately in effect wasted the best mating years of their spouse … (sorry if this is all irrelevant – I didn’t linger on the blog)
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I have not heard anyone one claim that being gay is a choice for at least 20 years. Then again, there are people who preform homosexual acts without considering themselves gay… sex is a complicated thing.
I’ve never personally known anyone who got married despite being attracted to members of the same sex though I am sure it was once common. I wouldn’t recommend it as a general practice, but then again, sex is complicated.
Sexual frustration is part of any relationship, and it probably peaks in middle age. You have to expect it, manage it, and learn to put the other person above your needs.
Anyway, it is an interesting blog.
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Hey Violetwisp, while we are trying to make heads explode, why don’t you check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu-f9wLie7A&feature=share&list=PL7FA6E1B0280063B6
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Weird, apparently not available in my country. Never seen that before on YouTube.
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America’s most popular unscripted TV show, which is why there was such controversy when the old man voiced his opinion that homsexual acts are sinful. I think the show is funny, but if you are not from the U.S you probably won’t get it.
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It is good to have you back. I have missed some lurker you know and you do it better than any one I know.
Am hoping the Christians are going to be consistent in keeping to the letter of the law as I don’t think Jesus meant the spirit of the law.
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Oh, how kind of you to say my lurking’s good! I don’t really want Christians to be consistent in keeping these laws, because ensuring strangulation is a court punishment and not shaving with razors would be ridiculous laws to keep. I just want them to realise that it’s all nonsense!
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