Buffet-Style Bible Believers

[doggie]

It is good that these things are becoming main stream and in peoples faces .

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neale-don ... 74774.html

Using the Bible in this way may seem to provide righteous authority to some Southern Baptist churches, most of which are predicted to end their charters with Scouting in the weeks ahead. That could amount to nearly 4,000 Boy Scout troops soon without a sponsor. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptists' Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, was quoted in the news story mentioned above as saying that "Southern Baptists are going to be leaving the Boy Scouts en masse."

 

OK. Now. Fair Question time. Which verses of the Bible should be operative in our lives if we are to live up to its moral injunctions, as the Southern Baptists feel that are doing in response to the Boy Scouts' decision to admit gay youths?

 

Do you suppose it might be the verse in the Book of Deuteronomy where it says that if a man marries a woman and finds that she is not a virgin, and if her family cannot prove that she was a virgin before her marriage, "she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death"? Or perhaps it would be the verse that says that if found to be in an adulterous relationship, both the man and the woman are to be taken to the city gates and also stoned to death. (Please keep in mind that if this were to be applied, some churches would have to stone to death their own ministers.)

 

Or perhaps it's the verse that says that only certain people are welcome in God's house of worship. If you happen to be a child born out of wedlock, or the great-great-great-grandchild of a person born out of wedlock, God says you may not set foot inside a church. The Bible makes this very clear. It says that no illegitimate child, "nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation."

 

And did you know this? If a certain part of a man's body happens to be injured in an accident or as a result of war, he may likewise not join with other worshippers of God in a House of the Lord. The Bible says: "If a man's testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be included in the assembly of the Lord."

[AVENues]

To the moment, I *really* thought that every person that claimed to "live by the Bible" thought that the Bible was a large Buffet spread at a Shangri-La resort and they can just walk along with their little plates and pick whatever they please. Because I haven't seen a person that truly lived by the Bible. (Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, but at least they should not lie about it.)

[doggie]

I agree I doubt a fine would be effective. It is a tough thing to handle for sure. equality is one of the only things that will surly help.

[meee]

Whoa, hold on there!

(Disclaimer: I suppose I AM what some people would call a fundie. I'm an Orthodox Jew. And I joined this site partly to keep up with Nathan Lawrenson after he closed his Twitter and partly to laugh at silly fundie Christians.)

Or perhaps it's the verse that says that only certain people are welcome in God's house of worship. If you happen to be a child born out of wedlock, or the great-great-great-grandchild of a person born out of wedlock, God says you may not set foot inside a church. The Bible makes this very clear. It says that no illegitimate child, "nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord, even down to the tenth generation."

And did you know this? If a certain part of a man's body happens to be injured in an accident or as a result of war, he may likewise not join with other worshippers of God in a House of the Lord. The Bible says: "If a man's testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be included in the assembly of the Lord."

If the first bit is what I think you're referring to (I don't actually know New Testament at all) this does NOT refer to a child born out of wedlock! And certainly not its descendants. And it has nothing to do with churches, which are houses of idolatry anyway. The Torah was only given to the Jews, and the word "mamzer" (badly translated as "bastard") refers to a Jewish person born of a union that cannot be a marriage. Like incest or adultery. And because someone is only a mamzer if they can be proven as such (and who's going to commit adultery with two adult Jewish witnesses after having been warned?), there are, thank G-d, very few mamzerim (plural) around today. As far as I know, it pretty much only happens nowadays when a woman has a Jewish marriage, fails to obtain a proper Jewish divorce, and then gets remarried and has children from the second husband. And there's actually no such thing as a non-Jewish mamzer.

And no, the bit about castration simply means he may not marry. He may certainly go into a synagogue and be counted as part of a prayer quorum, as far as I know.

I totally agree, though, that a lot of Christians use the Bible as a buffet. My favorite example is calling homosexuality an abomination while simultaneously eating a ham sandwich (pork, you know, is ALSO called an abomination by G-d!).

[Drina Adams]

In Ireland we call them a la carte Catholics. Most people who are 'religious' are Catholic (self identified in the census). When you ask them if they believe any of the teachings, like not using barrier or hormonal contraception, not availing of artificial means of conception like ICSI or IVF, not having sex before marriage and that homosexuality is a grave mental disorder, they look at you like you've two heads.

[AVENues]

I hate religion. The idea of religion, in general. I am fed up to my back teeth with the isms and make-believe shit and ideas and terms and other man-made shit that cannot be taken any more seriously than the idea of the world being carried by an turtle and whenever there is an earthquake, the turtle or whatever creature it was, has stumbled on something. (What exactly?) I cannot believe that people still read these morbid, abusive fairytales and take them seriously. I have more respect for tribes that worship the sun, the moon and the earth because at least, somehow, it kinda makes sense, even though the sun will set and come up without them praying to it. Same goes to other forces in nature, they have the mind of their own. I cannot believe that people choose to live by man-made scriptures. Interestingly, the ones that happen to come up with religions are never the ones that would want the general betterment of life for everyone, but the ones who are misogynistic, narcissistic psychos and their god was created in their sick little mind by their image. And people follow their lead. Fucking priceless.

[yewchapel]

I don't consider the parable of the Good Samaritan a morbid, abusive fairytale, myself. You realise that a lot of us here are religious (of various religions) and not assholes, right?

[AVENues]

I wouldn't thump a book that supports misogyny to that extent and just bring up one tiny fraction of that man-made stuff that sounds cutesy. There's way, way more to the bible than the story of the good samaritan. It is the unholiest, most horrible fiction even written by man. The very 1st part of it, the book of Moses itself could be a very good reason for it to be banned worldwide. It contains so much violence, hatred and inhumanity, that it boggles the make-believe hell out of my mind. And I would never, under any circumstances encourage people to find a dogma for themselves that contains a shred of threat, guilt, discrimination, and all the other shit that I have already mentioned. I had my say.

[2xx1xy1JD]

I hate religion. The idea of religion, in general. I am fed up to my back teeth with the isms and make-believe shit and ideas and terms and other man-made shit that cannot be taken any more seriously than the idea of the world being carried by an turtle and whenever there is an earthquake, the turtle or whatever creature it was, has stumbled on something. (What exactly?) I cannot believe that people still read these morbid, abusive fairytales and take them seriously. I have more respect for tribes that worship the sun, the moon and the earth because at least, somehow, it kinda makes sense, even though the sun will set and come up without them praying to it. Same goes to other forces in nature, they have the mind of their own. I cannot believe that people choose to live by man-made scriptures. Interestingly, the ones that happen to come up with religions are never the ones that would want the general betterment of life for everyone, but the ones who are misogynistic, narcissistic psychos and their god was created in their sick little mind by their image. And people follow their lead. Fucking priceless.

Are you seriously claiming that you had explored every single religion on the planet and that NONE of them would want the general betterment of life for everyone?

[Arete]

There's way, way more to the bible than the story of the good samaritan. It is the unholiest, most horrible fiction even written by man. The very 1st part of it, the book of Moses itself could be a very good reason for it to be banned worldwide. It contains so much violence, hatred and inhumanity, that it boggles the make-believe hell out of my mind.

You have obviously never read The Iliad. :P

[2xx1xy1JD]

Part of me supports the basic premise of the article - I mean, I have no problems arguing that 2 men having sex are about as sinful as eating bacon-wrapped shrimp.

Going deeper, though, I have 2 big problems with it:

1. I constantly see this argument being raised, and people saying stuff like "but nobody says to avoid shrimp" or "nobody avoids mixed fibers", or whatever else they pull out of Leviticus. I then have to point out that Orthodox Jews do, in fact, take those laws very seriously, and by saying "nobody" they've just excluded half of my neighborhood. It feels like a huge neon sign saying "we have absolutely nothing to contribute to any discussion of YOUR theological issues".

2. They contribute to a false notion that religious observance is an all-or-nothing matter. Really, what's wrong with being selective? It's sort of like the dieter who eats a french fry, then concludes that the diet for that day is ruined so he may as well gorge on a carton of Haagen Daas while he's at it.

My view: http://jrkmommy-personalandpolitical.bl ... u-jew.html

The more important question is this: If you do in fact choose what to observe (and as human beings with free will, observance IS ultimately a choice, even if we do it to fulfill what we may believe to be a commandment), how are you making that choice? Are you stressing something that requires some real effort on your part, or the parts that simply confirm what you already do? Do you focus on yourself, or on what others do? Are you motivated to genuinely help others, or to gain a feeling of superiority?

[MarthaMarcyMayMarlen]

Most of that stuff from the op is from the old testament. Christians are not bound by old testament law because we have the new covenet with Jesus Christ. So yeah, that stuff doesn't apply to us. :-)

[2xx1xy1JD]

I hate religion. The idea of religion, in general. I am fed up to my back teeth with the isms and make-believe shit and ideas and terms and other man-made shit that cannot be taken any more seriously than the idea of the world being carried by an turtle and whenever there is an earthquake, the turtle or whatever creature it was, has stumbled on something. (What exactly?) I cannot believe that people still read these morbid, abusive fairytales and take them seriously. I have more respect for tribes that worship the sun, the moon and the earth because at least, somehow, it kinda makes sense, even though the sun will set and come up without them praying to it. Same goes to other forces in nature, they have the mind of their own. I cannot believe that people choose to live by man-made scriptures. Interestingly, the ones that happen to come up with religions are never the ones that would want the general betterment of life for everyone, but the ones who are misogynistic, narcissistic psychos and their god was created in their sick little mind by their image. And people follow their lead. Fucking priceless.

I'm not arguing that there are groups that do some seriously twisted things with religion (after all, that's what we snark on here!), nor am I out to make a believer out of anyone.

In the bolded parts, though, you are clearly projecting some bad experiences with specific types of religion to ALL religions. Saying that there are no religious figures that would want the general betterment of life for everyone is just plain wrong.

This is not an exhaustive list - just what I got with 5 min of research. I tried to include a few different religions:

Unitarian Universalism:

Our Congregations covenant to affirm and promote the following:

The inherent worth and dignity of every person

Justice, equity and compassion in human relations

Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations

A free and responsible search for truth and meaning

The rights of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large

The goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all

Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part

From http://www.kuufnh.org/unitarian.htm

Baha'i:

Among the principles which the Baha'i Faith promotes as vital to the achievement of this goal are

The abandonment of all forms of prejudice

Full equality between women and men

Recognition of the oneness and progressive nature of religious truth

The elimination of extremes of poverty and wealth

The realization of universal education

The responsibility of each person to independently search for truth

The establishment of a global commonwealth of nations

Recognition that true religion is in harmony with reason and the pursuit of scientific knowledge

From http://www.ca.bahai.org/teachings

Reform Judaism:

We believe that all human beings are created in the image of God, and that we are God’s partners in improving the world. Tikkun olam — repairing the world — is a hallmark of Reform Judaism as we strive to bring peace, freedom and justice to all people.

From: http://urj.org/about/reform/whatisreform/

Also see this list of articles on practical tikkun olam (repairing the world/social action) from the Reconstructionist Judaism movement: http://www.jewishrecon.org/tikkun-olam (tl;dr version: take the wacky fundie Christian position, do the opposite)

Ahmadiyya Muslims:

From the outset he repeatedly emphasised the need for us to be mindful of our duty to God and His creation and to reflect our commitment to peace in our daily lives. He rejected the concept of a violent jihad, reminded us of the equality of mankind and of our duty to care for the needy. He also underlined the need to respect all religions, to abide by the law of the land and to be loyal to the government of the country in which we live.

From: http://www.loveforallhatredfornone.org/about/

While I don't personally know any UU, I do know members of the other groups. This isn't just PR for a website. While individual bad apples can exist anywhere, these groups are committed to practicing what they preach in terms of peace and social justice.

[Sobeknofret]

What do Quakers believe?

We believe that every person is loved and guided by God. Broadly speaking, we affirm that "there is that of God in everyone." Everyone is known by God and can know God in a direct relationship. We are called to attend to this relationship and to be guided by it. Quakers use many words to describe the Divine. Some of them include: God, the Light Within, Christ, Spirit, Seed, and Inward Teacher. [back to top]

Are Quakers Christian?

The Quaker way has deep Christian roots that form our understanding of God, our faith, and our practices. Many Quakers consider themselves Christian, and some do not. Many Quakers today draw spiritual nourishment from our Christian roots and strive to follow the example of Jesus. Many other Quakers draw spiritual sustenance from various religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and the nature religions.

It sounds like Quakers can believe anything they like―is that so?

Quakers invite the word of God to be written in our hearts, rather than as words on paper—we have no creed. But we also believe that if we are sincerely open to the Divine Will, we will be guided by a Wisdom that is more compelling than our own more superficial thoughts and feelings. This can mean that we will find ourselves led in directions or receiving understandings that we may not have chosen just from personal preference. Following such guidance is not always easy. This is why community is important to Quakers, why we turn to each other for worshipful help in making important choices, and why we read the reflections of other Quakers who have lived faithful lives.

From: http://www.fgcquaker.org/explore/faqs-a ... rs#believe?

ETA:

How do Quakers live today?

There are Quakers of all ages, religious backgrounds, races and ethnicities, education, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and classes. Modern Quakers generally “blend in†with the larger culture, rather than adopting the distinctive dress and patterns of speech associated with Quakers of earlier centuries.

Quakers try to live and act in ways that are consistent with the divine harmony that we seek in worship. Through this effort come our testimonies of peace, integrity, equality, community, peace, and care for the environment.

[AVENues]

You have obviously never read The Iliad. :P

Totally never, except it was junior high school material back then. It still is.

Again, I repeat it very slowly, no religion was built on The Iliad. There are neither mainstream, nor alternative religions that are based on the Iliad or are there?

In general, now. If you want to thump the bible or promote bible thumping, don't just show us the little amount of sweetcorn from the entire pile of dung.

Own up to the fact that your spiritual life is based on a book that promotes death punishment, misogyny, oppression, blood sacrifices, mass murders, infanticide, filicide, and homophobia to the extent of murdering homosexuals.

Own the whole shit the fuck up. Cowboy up and say: I believe in the whole thing, my religion is based on the bible, and if I have to support death, homophobia, oppression of women, than I won't just turn the page and pretend it isn't there and quickly search for some cutesy poo little tale.

Cowboy up and say that you are aware of at least the majority of what's in the bible and since your religion is based on it, you STILL stand up to it, before the whole world.

[Arete]

Again, I repeat it very slowly, no religion was built on The Iliad

I will explain slowly because you obviously did not pick this up in Junior High, The Iliad is a collection of the historical memory of the ancient Greeks, including their interactions with and understanding of their gods. Those oral stories absolutely were sacred to them, so sacred they were eventually compiled in a "canon", as was the basis together with certain other canonical writing that formed and informed their religion. Just like the stories in Exodus circulated orally as the historical memory of the ancient Hebrews, including their interaction and understanding of their God. Helped form and inform their religion.

The Bible is a collection of books, some of which form a historical memory, others of which are huge metaphors, most of which circulated and were written down because men and women since language developed have tried to understand why they are here and what their relationship is to a creator and to each other. There is no need for me or anyone else to "defend" it. It isn't a person, it isn't a politcal platform. It is a written record of the stories people used to understand their world.

You find parts of the Bible disturbing? You damn well should. Everybody should. War, rape, murder, genocide, homophobia are a part of the history of mankind. Whatever the Bible is, it is not a fairytale. Sick things happen. Great things happen. In that way, it reflects the human condition perfectly. I have never pretended or denied their are sick and disturbing things in the Bible. It's about as useful as denying that people have been doing sick and disturbing things to each other since we swung out of the trees and started walking upright.

My spiritual life is based on the reaction of people to the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible as a set of canonical documents is not put together until 350 years after the beginning of the Christian movement. Once again stories circulated and were written down. People grappled with questions. The stories of the New Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, the sayings of the Dessert Fathers, the practices of individual churches, the lives of the saints, all these things make up my religion. Sola scriptura is not a concept that my end of the Christian spectrum recognizes. The early church did not have a concept of a literal interpretation of the Bible. I don't know of any Christian denomination that have doctrines of blood sacrifices, infanticide, filicide or the killing of homosexuals, even if all these things happen in the Bible. Their are plenty of denominations who do not engage in misogyny or homophobia.

Get your head out of your own experience and at least acknowledge that other people have had different, life affirming experiences with religion. Have you even looked at what yewchapel, 2xx1xy1JD and Sobeknofret have written? They site specific examples and evidence that the Bible, the Koran, and other scriptural documents can be interpreted for great good, not just great evil.

[Mama Mia]

Totally never, except it was junior high school material back then. It still is.

Again, I repeat it very slowly, no religion was built on The Iliad. There are neither mainstream, nor alternative religions that are based on the Iliad or are there?

In general, now. If you want to thump the bible or promote bible thumping, don't just show us the little amount of sweetcorn from the entire pile of dung.

Own up to the fact that your spiritual life is based on a book that promotes death punishment, misogyny, oppression, blood sacrifices, mass murders, infanticide, filicide, and homophobia to the extent of murdering homosexuals.

Own the whole shit the fuck up. Cowboy up and say: I believe in the whole thing, my religion is based on the bible, and if I have to support death, homophobia, oppression of women, than I won't just turn the page and pretend it isn't there and quickly search for some cutesy poo little tale.

Cowboy up and say that you are aware of at least the majority of what's in the bible and since your religion is based on it, you STILL stand up to it, before the whole world.

I think you are trying to come across like you have some big revelation that everyone should immediately believe, once it is pointed out to them. But you are being so abrasive and childish that no one could possibly be convinced to see how your point of view is in any way enlightening.

Frankly, in my opinion, you are presenting yourself like a kid in the schoolyard who thinks they are being brave and shocking because they are saying dirty words.

[AVENues]

I will explain slowly because you obviously did not pick this up in Junior High, The Iliad is a collection of the historical memory of the ancient Greeks, including their interactions with and understanding of their gods. Those oral stories absolutely were sacred to them, so sacred they were eventually compiled in a "canon", as was the basis together with certain other canonical writing that formed and informed their religion. Just like the stories in Exodus circulated orally as the historical memory of the ancient Hebrews, including their interaction and understanding of their God. Helped form and inform their religion.

The Bible is a collection of books, some of which form a historical memory, others of which are huge metaphors, most of which circulated and were written down because men and women since language developed have tried to understand why they are here and what their relationship is to a creator and to each other. There is no need for me or anyone else to "defend" it. It isn't a person, it isn't a politcal platform. It is a written record of the stories people used to understand their world.

You find parts of the Bible disturbing? You damn well should. Everybody should. War, rape, murder, genocide, homophobia are a part of the history of mankind. Whatever the Bible is, it is not a fairytale. Sick things happen. Great things happen. In that way, it reflects the human condition perfectly. I have never pretended or denied their are sick and disturbing things in the Bible. It's about as useful as denying that people have been doing sick and disturbing things to each other since we swung out of the trees and started walking upright.

My spiritual life is based on the reaction of people to the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. The Bible as a set of canonical documents is not put together until 350 years after the beginning of the Christian movement. Once again stories circulated and were written down. People grappled with questions. The stories of the New Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, the sayings of the Dessert Fathers, the practices of individual churches, the lives of the saints, all these things make up my religion. Sola scriptura is not a concept that my end of the Christian spectrum recognizes. The early church did not have a concept of a literal interpretation of the Bible. I don't know of any Christian denomination that have doctrines of blood sacrifices, infanticide, filicide or the killing of homosexuals, even if all these things happen in the Bible. Their are plenty of denominations who do not engage in misogyny or homophobia.

Get your head out of your own experience and at least acknowledge that other people have had different, life affirming experiences with religion. Have you even looked at what yewchapel, 2xx1xy1JD and Sobeknofret have written? They site specific examples and evidence that the Bible, the Koran, and other scriptural documents can be interpreted for great good, not just great evil.

Again, really, one more time. No religion in the world DOES exist today that is based on The Iliad. It's like the Kalevala. It's ancient, it's time has passed, it's gone. No one accepts it as the "words of God" like Christians love to tout it.

I will not take any part of homosexuals being an abomination and must be stoned to death lightly. Same goes to men not wearing women's clothes, women having to be quiet, and as long as Christians keep bringing up Job tolerating God's asshattery as a good example for their children, as long as there is one single child in a sunday school listening to any part of firstborns being sacrificed AS A TRUTH, a part of history, the bible represented as the words of God according to Christians, I will not stop calling out every single bullshit that is mentioned in the bible. Except for now. Taking religion away from people is like taking the snifflebag away from junkies. They can get kinda crabby.

[SpeakNow]

Totally never, except it was junior high school material back then. It still is.

Again, I repeat it very slowly, no religion was built on The Iliad. There are neither mainstream, nor alternative religions that are based on the Iliad or are there?

In general, now. If you want to thump the bible or promote bible thumping, don't just show us the little amount of sweetcorn from the entire pile of dung.

Own up to the fact that your spiritual life is based on a book that promotes death punishment, misogyny, oppression, blood sacrifices, mass murders, infanticide, filicide, and homophobia to the extent of murdering homosexuals.

Own the whole shit the fuck up. Cowboy up and say: I believe in the whole thing, my religion is based on the bible, and if I have to support death, homophobia, oppression of women, than I won't just turn the page and pretend it isn't there and quickly search for some cutesy poo little tale.

Cowboy up and say that you are aware of at least the majority of what's in the bible and since your religion is based on it, you STILL stand up to it, before the whole world.

Growing up (in Reform Judaism) I was never taught that anything in the bible was real/should be taken literally. In Hebrew school, starting in about 6th grade, we would read various bible stories and discuss them. We talked about what G-d and/or people in the story, our reactions to the story, and what we would have done differently. We were more than allowed to disagree with G-d's actions and suggest alternatives. The goal if these discussions was to learn from the stories, not assume everything was done the way it ought to have been done. I remember having a huge debate during the reading of the story of the Ten Plagues. Most of my class felt that G-d was being hypocritical by unleashing plagues as punishment while at the same time hardening Pharoh's heart so that he would not be inclined to free the Jewish slaves. The debate helped us to think critically, examine the text, and extract various messages and lessons. Sure, the Torah is a large part of my religion, no doubt about that, but that does not mean I need to do everything the way it is written in the Torah. It means I need to learn and discuss and debate and develop my own conclusions.

Edited to add: This evening I attended my Synagogue's annual GLBTQ Pride Shabbat. We had Joy Tomshin, an activist who just released a documentary, give a lovely speech about activism and working as a community to bring about change and equality. (Our Cantor is also a Lesbian, and she and her partner just welcomed their first baby) Not really sure how you could argue we are homophobic...

[Arete]

I will not take any part of homosexuals being an abomination and must be stoned to death lightly. Same goes to men not wearing women's clothes, women having to be quiet

Neither do I. The church I attend does not consider that that Genesis is a literal account of exactly how creation happened, and reads a lot of the Bible as metaphor and memory. In both sets of scriptures. So we do not go out and stone gay men and women after coffee hour on Sunday, and our women can speak in church. Granted, I have yet to witness any man in the congregation come to Liturgy in a sun dress, but I don't think that is because the Bible says men and women should not wear each others garments.

[GiGi_41]

2xx.. I had no idea about the Ahmadiyya Muslims... they seem very similar to Bahai who are all inclusive.

I think that most of the Abrahamic religions could be accused of having sects that cherry pick the verses that they want to uphold as well as use as a basis to discriminate against strangers and people that don't follow their ideas.

I think what AVENue is trying to express, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that books like the Old and New Testament, Koran, Iliad and other religious texts are literature, while I see value in them as metaphors or parables, it is difficult to understand how some people can ignore the craziness in them that go against the moral metaphors they are trying to teach.

I do not think that foxes can talk to crows but do see wisdom in not being overcome by flattery, or the scorpion and tortoise about unequal friendships, or the goose and the golden egg is about greed. There are a lot of cautionary tales that I find value in and have helped me build my moral compass yet I do not take them as truth and require others to follow.

My father taught us that the Bible and other religious texts can and should be read but should always be viewed as literature and taken with a grain of salt!

[Rachel333]

2xx.. I had no idea about the Ahmadiyya Muslims... they seem very similar to Bahai who are all inclusive.

The Baha'i religion can be pretty anti-gay, actually. A friend studied to be Baha'i but quit when she found out about that and some other issues. The one actual Baha'i girl I know is quite accepting of everyone, though, even if she is awfully preachy about her religion.

[formergothardite]

Most of that stuff from the op is from the old testament. Christians are not bound by old testament law because we have the new covenet with Jesus Christ. So yeah, that stuff doesn't apply to us. :-)

Fitting that you joined in this thread since you are one of the biggest examples of buffet style Christians we have around here. :lol:

[AVENues]

I just have discovered a "whatever floats your boat" branch of brownie recipes on Pinterest. This must be the "whatever floats your boat" kind of mix and match kind of belief system. Or Build-A-Religion, build-a-bear for adults. : )))))))))))))))

[GiGi_41]

The Baha'i religion can be pretty anti-gay, actually. A friend studied to be Baha'i but quit when she found out about that and some other issues. The one actual Baha'i girl I know is quite accepting of everyone, though, even if she is awfully preachy about her religion.

I never heard this before, that is too bad.