If you think Mormonism is retarded, why you think the Bible is any different?

[Ed Anger]

This thread has just the right level of european doucheness to make it enjoyable.

4/5.

[Tamas]

Uhm, Tamas, are you feeling all right? You're becoming rather obsessed here.

I can choose between working so I won't get buried under work next week, or try and convert people to atheism.

Not sure I made the right choice

No, probably not.

that's only because you folks are too self-delusioned in order to not confront the fragile nature of your beliefs and the scary conclusions which can be drawn from that.

[Razgovory]

This thread has just the right level of european doucheness to make it enjoyable.

4/5.

Sometimes I wonder if people like Tamas become atheists out of conviction or because that's what smart people do, and they want to feel smart.

[Razgovory]

Uhm, Tamas, are you feeling all right? You're becoming rather obsessed here.

I can choose between working so I won't get buried under work next week, or try and convert people to atheism.

Not sure I made the right choice

No, probably not.

that's only because you folks are too self-delusioned in order to not confront the fragile nature of your beliefs and the scary conclusions which can be drawn from that.

You never answered my question.  Why did you pick your stupid libertarian beliefs over the other stupid philosophical beliefs.  I mean, they are all stupid, what's the difference?

[Tamas]

Uhm, Tamas, are you feeling all right? You're becoming rather obsessed here.

I can choose between working so I won't get buried under work next week, or try and convert people to atheism.

Not sure I made the right choice

No, probably not.

that's only because you folks are too self-delusioned in order to not confront the fragile nature of your beliefs and the scary conclusions which can be drawn from that.

You never answered my question.  Why did you pick your stupid libertarian beliefs over the other stupid philosophical beliefs.  I mean, they are all stupid, what's the difference?

If I bothered, I could write a post about explaining the differences. Can YOU do the same, analyzing the difference between "son of Good redeeming sins of mankind with his death" and "everyone gets a planet"?

[garbon]

I'm still noy getting your point and will come back later.

But I think you're wrong on the Bible. The Bible is the Torah, with all of that heritage plus certain canonical texts from the time of Christ. It was assembled by various Church councils. Which is why some books are in a Catholic Bible but not a Protestant one. Even literalists tend to be aware of and interested in that history of how 'the Bible' was constructed. It's closer to the Hindu holy texts or the hadiths than a text of revelation like, say, the Quran or, from my understanding, the Book of Mormon.

Yeah, I don't know why Tamas is throwing out centuries of bible scholarship and insisting that one must literally believe everything the bible says happened or not be a true Christian.

[Tamas]

I'm still noy getting your point and will come back later.

But I think you're wrong on the Bible. The Bible is the Torah, with all of that heritage plus certain canonical texts from the time of Christ. It was assembled by various Church councils. Which is why some books are in a Catholic Bible but not a Protestant one. Even literalists tend to be aware of and interested in that history of how 'the Bible' was constructed. It's closer to the Hindu holy texts or the hadiths than a text of revelation like, say, the Quran or, from my understanding, the Book of Mormon.

Yeah, I don't know why Tamas is throwing out centuries of bible scholarship and insisting that one must literally believe everything the bible says happened or not be a true Christian.

there could be lots of reasons. For starters, why do a bookload of metaphors when you want to teach ancient people and following generations how to live. Then put in the ten commandments which are rather specific and to the point. But the problem is broader than that I guess.

[merithyn]

YOU are missing MY point. Where is it stated in the Bible that it is not to be taken literally? Nowhere right? Sure, the smarter Christian folks realized that it must be a load of BS, but liked the general message and couldn't want to ruin their own livelihood anyways, so they come up with convinient explanations of why a bunch of backward tribals wrote backward tribal superstitions, and why the life of Jesus was "enchanced" by various stuff stolen from other religious myths in what probably was the biggest marketing battle of history.

Where does it say in the Bible that it should be taken literally? And I didn't say it was BS. I said that it's a guide. It's primarily allegorical, imo. That's not BS anymore than fables or legends are. The stories are told to make a point, not to try to give a prime directive to life.

[Razgovory]

If I bothered, I could write a post about explaining the differences. Can YOU do the same, analyzing the difference between "son of Good redeeming sins of mankind with his death" and "everyone gets a planet"?

Sure.  Now tell me why you believe in magic markets and not magic withering of the state or the countless other stupid beliefs out there.  Why is your stupidity better then their stupidity?  That's the question you are asking in the OP right? 

[Ed Anger]

Beets.

[garbon]

I'm still noy getting your point and will come back later.

But I think you're wrong on the Bible. The Bible is the Torah, with all of that heritage plus certain canonical texts from the time of Christ. It was assembled by various Church councils. Which is why some books are in a Catholic Bible but not a Protestant one. Even literalists tend to be aware of and interested in that history of how 'the Bible' was constructed. It's closer to the Hindu holy texts or the hadiths than a text of revelation like, say, the Quran or, from my understanding, the Book of Mormon.

Yeah, I don't know why Tamas is throwing out centuries of bible scholarship and insisting that one must literally believe everything the bible says happened or not be a true Christian.

there could be lots of reasons. For starters, why do a bookload of metaphors when you want to teach ancient people and following generations how to live. Then put in the ten commandments which are rather specific and to the point. But the problem is broader than that I guess.

Because lots of different people played roles in the texts that made it in? Even if we want to go with the idea that God played a hand in how the Bible was assembled - seems like it'd be easy enough to say that different types of approaches appeal to different types of people.

[Valmy]

Then put in the ten commandments which are rather specific and to the point.

Not really.  Sages have only been arguing for thousands of years about how exactly one follows the ten commandments.

How is 'honor your parents' a specific and to the point law?  How does one honor your parents? 

[Tamas]

If I bothered, I could write a post about explaining the differences. Can YOU do the same, analyzing the difference between "son of Good redeeming sins of mankind with his death" and "everyone gets a planet"?

Sure.  Now tell me why you believe in magic markets and not magic withering of the state or the countless other stupid beliefs out there.  Why is your stupidity better then their stupidity?  That's the question you are asking in the OP right?

Are you seriously making economic/political theories and religious fairytales equal? God damn, son.

I am willing to concede a bit on the literal interpretation thing, good points by Meri and garbon.

However, your comparison is totally retarded.

[Tamas]

Then put in the ten commandments which are rather specific and to the point.

Not really.  Sages have only been arguing for thousands of years about how exactly one follows the ten commandments.

Not a very good job from God then.

[merithyn]

If I bothered, I could write a post about explaining the differences. Can YOU do the same, analyzing the difference between "son of Good redeeming sins of mankind with his death" and "everyone gets a planet"?

Yes.

I've spent 25 years exploring my religious beliefs, learning about a variety of religions in order to make an informed decision, and then made a decision based on my personal moral and ethical codes. That includes having taken a couple of classes on religions of the world, which included Mormonism and Christianity. There are differences, but that doesn't mean that one is any less valid than the other.

I guess I'm still trying to figure out your point. Are you trying to say that Christians should not mock Mormonism? If so, I agree, but that's because I don't believe that any religion should be mocked if there are true believers and that religion doesn't harm anyone.