Tweet
I am here to discuss my religious views. After reading the 'noob' thread, I realize that I will not likely get much support for my ideas. That you may look upon this and tell me I'm simply Bible Twisting. I like to share my religious views with everyone, get opinions, and possibly evolve my faith accordingly. I believe that your church may be able to offer more insight than most, as I do regard the Bible as my guiding light. I started this thread in the forum section because I know your church's stance on my religion.
I am a Baptized Catholic (put the pitch forks down, please, I realize you may view that a "false religion"), who until recently, was not particularly interested in practicing my religion. I will not go too much into detail, needless to say I was not properly directed while growing up and since then have been having issues in my young adult life. I read the Bible in school and I went to church so I did not think I was clueless, until I found myself requiring an amount of strength that my own human body could not provide. After a lot of soul searching, the answer I came up with, of course, was FAITH. I have since rediscovered the direction I would like to take in my life and have pursued Christianity as the key to realizing my higher purpose. I thought that since I had been exposed to the Church my whole life, I would be capable and perfectly able to understand the concepts and ideas presented to me (I am confidant in many other aspects of life such as sports and relationships, I figured this would carry over). Little did I realize what I was getting myself into... I come to this forum (as I have others) hoping that you might be able to provide me with insight into my faith, something I foolishly thought I already understood. I will state at this time that I do NOT expect you agree with everything I am saying, but I would EXTREMELY appreciate it if you would please read this post with an open heart and mind. I am comparable to a lost sheep, and I am trying very hard to find my way back to the right flock. I come to you not as a member of your church, but as someone who requires guidance, and someone who is fed up with the hate and ignorance permeating our world. I believe you can help me, and it would mean the world to me if you could read this, again, with an open heart and mind.
Let me start out by saying that I do not believe that Bible is a literal text, to be taken solely for the ink on paper. I was raised thinking, and have long believed, that the Bible is akin to a moral compass. It always appeared to be a tool (maybe guide would be a better word) that I could use to compare with my actions to let me know what was right and what was wrong. My justification for this was that, because Jesus taught His children through metaphors, that we were free to interpret His sayings as they are applicable to our own personal lives, and not just the the lives of others who have already made THEIR interpretations (an issue I find very persistent in most religions). I thought that I would be free to interpret the morality set forth by my Creator, and His Son, personally. The more I investigate online and through my local church, the more it appears as if the teachings of our Saviour Jesus Christ are not for me understand personally, as they affect my life, but to be accepted as they have already been interpreted by people who have come before me. I truly want to find my Faith, but I find it increasingly difficult to believe that a human being's interpretations of the Bible are to accepted for face value, when the person themselves have never had to deal with my mind, and in fact have no way of knowing what is truly in my soul. I agree that we are all very similar beings, and that many experiences can be shared, but if I might use an example : How do I know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that what I feel (emotionally) is the same as what person next to me feels. Pain, love, happiness, passion, joy, etc. are all examples of something that all humans can experience, and we know that these things can be very similar to that of our neighbor (mainly because the descriptions given make sense and seem right), but there is NO WAY to know that they are the same thing. All these feelings come in varying degrees and must each be interpreted as they relate to our own persons, especially if we hope to gain any kind of understanding from these feelings. I'm not sure if this makes sense to others, but it makes sense in my mind, maybe I'm not explaining it clearly, please ask if you do not understand what I mean. Now, because this is what I believe, I have to operate on the assumption that no human being TRULY understands any other human being. TRUE understanding of my soul, my reality if you will, is only achievable by God. He is the only Being capable of understanding our individuals lives, and that is why we seek his guidance. That is why I have recently been drawn towards my faith more strongly than ever before in my life. I look at the edicts and interpretations put forth by a HUMAN BEING, and challenge the idea that those interpretations of the Bible are more "correct" than my interpretation. Please don't take this personally, but as I said before, only God can truly understand my soul, therefore God's Word is solely for my interpretation when it comes to my life. When I read His Words and listen to Him, He will guide my interpretation as He sees fit.
Based on this understanding that His words to me are for my understanding alone (at least what it means to me), I have run into many moral complications when interacting with other human beings, especially those who strongly believe that THEIR interpretation of morality should be the same as my interpretation of morality. I've discussed my views in many forums, on and offline, and the recurring theme I receive is hate or revulsion. Whether it is an atheist telling me I am "stupid" for having faith, or a believer telling me I am "immoral" for not having enough (or their specific) faith, the end result is the same. I am greeted with hate for accepting (you might even say embracing) my IGNORANCE. Once we accept our ignorance, only then can we learn to accept the truth (and it's not even guaranteed at that point).
So let's recap at this point. I am 23 years young, and I have experienced very little of what this world has to offer. I believe that God speaks to me directly (everyone actually), every single moment of every single day. I believe that God is the key to understanding morality. Without admitting our ignorance (inherent to being an imperfect being) to Him and ourselves, we will never, EVER, even begin the path to understanding what morality means to us. When I present this interpretation (again it's my interpretation, not necessarily yours) to people I am usually ignored or dismissed on the basis of age and experience. I challenge that an 80 year old man is morally poor or incapable of interpretation of God's word, if he has not already submitted his ignorance to Him. Just as a 18 year old woman can be morally rich and ready to begin the path to understanding His Word, if she has already made that submission, that sacrifice, to God. This is the basis of my frustration, my confusion, when it comes to pursuing my faith. Hate or a dismissive attitudes from other imperfect beings who challenge my faith on a daily basis has left me somewhat worried about the direction our society (or even our species) is headed.
Now that I have taken the time to describe my beliefs to you, I would like to share my interpretation of moral dilemma already present on this website.
I was directed to your site through another source that was discussing this thread :
And although I have not spent a whole lot of time looking through your forum, this thread in particular emphasis' what I was talking about when I said people of strong or certain faith are met with hate and dismissive attitudes on a regular basis. This particular thread is riddled with disagreements of interpretation of morality (which is to be expected anywhere), but more importantly, shows how hate is a tool used by Satan to close minds and perpetuate ignorance within our species.
In this thread thread there was a girl (age not given) that was raped. Her parents are upset because the girl does not want to marry the man who raped her. There was not a lot of specifics given but I would still like to discuss this letter and my interpretation.
Feelings and emotions, are not material. However they are personal, and they are ours alone, unless we choose to share those emotions with another human being. As an example in the simplest terms: My love for my wife is not your love for wife. When God gave me the gift of life, he also gave me all the benefits that go with it, especially my feeling/emotions, so is it not fair to say that my emotions are like a gift that I may or may not share with another human being? Because He gave those specific emotions to me alone, they are like the equity or property of my soul (probably a bad analogy, please ask if you don't know what I mean). So something as basic as the sexual interaction of a man and a woman is very much akin to giving a gift. The gift of love, of passion, of desire. When I read about this man raping this woman, all I could think of, after getting over my initial distaste and anger, was that this man had broken multiple commandments. As I continued to read through the thread I saw a lot of people posting passages from all over the Bible, some contending for the marriage of the two, and some contending against it. Either way, is seems to me that if the words of the passage directly contradict with the ten commandments, then there is almost definitely a misinterpretation of the passage. Unless there was a misinterpretation of the commandment in question, of course, but if the two come to contradict each other, my common sense tells me that rules as simple and easy to follow as the commandments should take priority. I doubt I will get much argument on this. It seems obvious to me, it seems as if it is common sense. Let's outline those commandments that I believe were broken. This is an EXTREMELY basic interpretation, I am not trying to pass judgment on the rapist and especially not trying to pass judgment on the poor girl.
1. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-This seems obvious. Not only did they have sexual relations before marriage, but they did so without the idea of marriage or even commitment in their heads. It was an act of lust, pure and simple, and definitely not for anything of emotional worth.
2. Thou shalt not steal.
-You can argue interpretation of this commandment and my inclusion of it into this list, however based on my previous statements that emotion is akin to property of the soul, it can be argued that the RAPIST stole from the RAPED. We could go on with semantics for days, but clearly, if it was rape, she was not willing to share her emotions of passion with this man, he took them from her either by force or coercion. That, in it's purest form, is theft.
3. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
-I'm going to outright admit my interpretation of this commandment is muddled. When I read this statement it appears to me as if it is against the Will of God to lie (correct me if I'm wrong, I may remove it from this list if warranted). I will continue assuming my interpretation is correct. Rape is illegal in our society (as well as most of the world). By denying that she was raped, this woman is lying to herself. By not reporting this transgression against governmental law, they are both lying to the society and the law itself. Agreeing to marry the rapist after the deed was done, does not relieve her of the fact that she is lying that she got raped, entering into this forced union unwillingly. On the other side of the coin, the rapist will likely lie MANY times over the course of his life when asked if he has ever committed a crime (such as for a background check for a security clearance). Let's work on the ASSUMPTION that the rapist thought this girl WANTED/DESERVED/ASKED FOR IT, he is again lying to himself (maybe unwittingly) because she is saying she did not ask for or deserve it. He is lying to himself if he thinks that he should not be punished because whether or not it follows his moral beliefs, you cannot argue that it is against the law.
4. Thou shalt not covet.
-Not going to go too far into detail for this one as it is so open ended, but I will say this: If the rapist had any prior desire for this womans body (even for a split second before the act) then he is guilty of coveting that which is not his, and that which he has not earned. (again you may not like my interpretation of this commandment, I would remove it from the list if it is wrong)
Clearly, whether or not you agree with my last two statements, the Will of God was denied when this man committed the act of rape. You can state precedences or quote scriptures all you like but multiple wrongs do not make a right. If you deny the Will of God, you will not retroactively satisfy His Will by marrying these two young people. IN FACT, by marrying these two people after the woman was forcibly raped, you are indeed breaking the commandments AGAIN, simply because you are forcing this poor woman to lie to herself, her family, the RAPIST, and her Pastor that she did indeed have prior emotional feelings for this man. Also you are STEALING her right to choose a husband based and love and devotion, not lust and passion.
Let's make a comparison here. Some posters were justifying the RAPIST'S actions because the girl was "asking for it". While there was nothing in the original comment to support this, perhaps the original letter suggested the girl dresses like a harlot, or walks provocatively, or maybe something as innocent as looked at the wrong man for a split second too long. In any case I could make remarkable comparisons to this rape with something less deviant like a mugging, a robbery. I am walking down the street, dressed to impress, with nice pants, shoes, and a brand new haircut! I'm on my way to a job interview (nothing wrong so far). I go to the bank prior to this interview and take a substantial amount of money out (Gas and food can get expensive, not to mention I had a date with a pretty girl later that evening). Suddenly on my way back to my car, I'm held up by a couple of miscreants wielding knives. I'm outnumbered, unarmed, and do not have the training to defend myself. Basically I just got robbed through NO FAULT of my own. Was I asking for it when I put on my expensive clothes and bought a fancy car? Was I at fault for taking out too much (or any) money prior to needing it? I would argue, as I imagine many others would, that while I may have put myself into a position to get robbed, I was NOT asking for. Would you now expect me to turn the other cheek? Very likely they will rob someone else and then the cycle repeats itself. If I don't report these criminals to the local police I'm justifying their actions as if it was OK. This is very similar to the situation described in the other forum post, however, I did not need to get hurt or emotionally scarred (perhaps for the rest of her life) for me to figure out that I did not appreciate it, that it was in fact very wrong to do.
I am not here to contradict anyone's beliefs, but it seems clear to me, in my admitted ignorance and inexperience, that by forcing yourself onto another human being for the purpose of SEX or even LOVE is denying the Will of God. You can argue until you're blue in the face that women can be purchased for a mere 50 shekels, or even that humans can be owned against their will, but again I offer you the arguement that if your non-twisting interpretation of the bible goes against the Commandments, the Will of God, then perhaps your interpretation of the Bible is not what you think it is. The idea of slavery being acceptable in the Bible comes simply from the fact it was transcribed in time when these things were acceptable norms of society. Again if God is speaking to me (my soul through prayer and inflection) for the sake of guiding me morally, then you cannot deny my belief that slavery is wrong (let's leave that to another discussion, however). It goes against every fiber in my being when you position RAPE as an acceptable form of courting a woman, because RAPE IS WRONG. Needless to say I am not saying that your interpretation of the Bible is any more correct than mine, but when the forum posters rallying behind ancient scriptures as a EXCUSE to RAPE, there is a terrible feeling in my soul that it is indeed very wrong. I can only describe this as God guiding my morality away from such terribly obvious transgressions against His Commandments.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I have found TRUE faith, MY faith, such an elusive concept. Those forum posters may be right. Maybe I will go out tomorrow and rape a poor defenseless woman, with nothing more than my hands. She will beg me to stop. She will hit me and yell at me. She will cry until she passes out from lack of oxygen. But it makes no difference to me. All I need is 50 shekels and my sin has now been forgiven. When I die and I am standing at the pearly white gates and St. Nick asks me what of these transgressions in my life, I will respond "Oh that rape? Don't worry about that, Sir, for after brutally raping this woman I payed a pittance and received her hand in marriage until the day she died. Look, it even says it's OK in the Bible
". I know, as much as I have faith in the Bible, that this is wrong. This is not something I will teach my kids. It is not something I will let someone else teach my kids, at least until they are old enough to decide for themselves.
This is why I believe faith is an acceptance of morality, for what it means to you, and for the society that you live in. I believe it to be a journey that we will always aim for but can never truly obtain, because we are imperfect creatures. Anybody who claims they truly understand morality and God, is in fact the farthest away from that understanding. And anybody that tries to use my Bible to justify horrendous crimes will truly be sorry when it is their time answer to God.
If you've made it this far, you probably laughing at my ignorance for "twisting" interpretations or whatever else. I may not believe in literal acceptance of the Bible, but I do respect your faith. I'm not trying to convert you and I don't expect your tolerance, because I understand your churches position on Jesus Christ.
I've spent a long while writing this post and realistically what I'm looking for from your is commentary on it (respect my RIGHT to interpret as I see fit even if you believe against it). General ideas if you want I'd like to know whether you think that my personal interpretations are realistic in terms of achieving an understanding of God, because I am aware that this will not grant me salvation according to your Church... Maybe tell me about some moral complications you've run into, how you've dealt with them. I'm not asking you to agree with me , but please don't attack me for simply not being literal in my interpretations. I've seen enough hate based on religion, I don't need it from fellow followers of Christ.
I am a Baptized Catholic (put the pitch forks down, please, I realize you may view that a "false religion"), who until recently, was not particularly interested in practicing my religion. I will not go too much into detail, needless to say I was not properly directed while growing up and since then have been having issues in my young adult life. I read the Bible in school and I went to church so I did not think I was clueless, until I found myself requiring an amount of strength that my own human body could not provide. After a lot of soul searching, the answer I came up with, of course, was FAITH. I have since rediscovered the direction I would like to take in my life and have pursued Christianity as the key to realizing my higher purpose. I thought that since I had been exposed to the Church my whole life, I would be capable and perfectly able to understand the concepts and ideas presented to me (I am confidant in many other aspects of life such as sports and relationships, I figured this would carry over). Little did I realize what I was getting myself into... I come to this forum (as I have others) hoping that you might be able to provide me with insight into my faith, something I foolishly thought I already understood. I will state at this time that I do NOT expect you agree with everything I am saying, but I would EXTREMELY appreciate it if you would please read this post with an open heart and mind. I am comparable to a lost sheep, and I am trying very hard to find my way back to the right flock. I come to you not as a member of your church, but as someone who requires guidance, and someone who is fed up with the hate and ignorance permeating our world. I believe you can help me, and it would mean the world to me if you could read this, again, with an open heart and mind.
Let me start out by saying that I do not believe that Bible is a literal text, to be taken solely for the ink on paper. I was raised thinking, and have long believed, that the Bible is akin to a moral compass. It always appeared to be a tool (maybe guide would be a better word) that I could use to compare with my actions to let me know what was right and what was wrong. My justification for this was that, because Jesus taught His children through metaphors, that we were free to interpret His sayings as they are applicable to our own personal lives, and not just the the lives of others who have already made THEIR interpretations (an issue I find very persistent in most religions). I thought that I would be free to interpret the morality set forth by my Creator, and His Son, personally. The more I investigate online and through my local church, the more it appears as if the teachings of our Saviour Jesus Christ are not for me understand personally, as they affect my life, but to be accepted as they have already been interpreted by people who have come before me. I truly want to find my Faith, but I find it increasingly difficult to believe that a human being's interpretations of the Bible are to accepted for face value, when the person themselves have never had to deal with my mind, and in fact have no way of knowing what is truly in my soul. I agree that we are all very similar beings, and that many experiences can be shared, but if I might use an example : How do I know, beyond a reasonable doubt, that what I feel (emotionally) is the same as what person next to me feels. Pain, love, happiness, passion, joy, etc. are all examples of something that all humans can experience, and we know that these things can be very similar to that of our neighbor (mainly because the descriptions given make sense and seem right), but there is NO WAY to know that they are the same thing. All these feelings come in varying degrees and must each be interpreted as they relate to our own persons, especially if we hope to gain any kind of understanding from these feelings. I'm not sure if this makes sense to others, but it makes sense in my mind, maybe I'm not explaining it clearly, please ask if you do not understand what I mean. Now, because this is what I believe, I have to operate on the assumption that no human being TRULY understands any other human being. TRUE understanding of my soul, my reality if you will, is only achievable by God. He is the only Being capable of understanding our individuals lives, and that is why we seek his guidance. That is why I have recently been drawn towards my faith more strongly than ever before in my life. I look at the edicts and interpretations put forth by a HUMAN BEING, and challenge the idea that those interpretations of the Bible are more "correct" than my interpretation. Please don't take this personally, but as I said before, only God can truly understand my soul, therefore God's Word is solely for my interpretation when it comes to my life. When I read His Words and listen to Him, He will guide my interpretation as He sees fit.
Based on this understanding that His words to me are for my understanding alone (at least what it means to me), I have run into many moral complications when interacting with other human beings, especially those who strongly believe that THEIR interpretation of morality should be the same as my interpretation of morality. I've discussed my views in many forums, on and offline, and the recurring theme I receive is hate or revulsion. Whether it is an atheist telling me I am "stupid" for having faith, or a believer telling me I am "immoral" for not having enough (or their specific) faith, the end result is the same. I am greeted with hate for accepting (you might even say embracing) my IGNORANCE. Once we accept our ignorance, only then can we learn to accept the truth (and it's not even guaranteed at that point).
So let's recap at this point. I am 23 years young, and I have experienced very little of what this world has to offer. I believe that God speaks to me directly (everyone actually), every single moment of every single day. I believe that God is the key to understanding morality. Without admitting our ignorance (inherent to being an imperfect being) to Him and ourselves, we will never, EVER, even begin the path to understanding what morality means to us. When I present this interpretation (again it's my interpretation, not necessarily yours) to people I am usually ignored or dismissed on the basis of age and experience. I challenge that an 80 year old man is morally poor or incapable of interpretation of God's word, if he has not already submitted his ignorance to Him. Just as a 18 year old woman can be morally rich and ready to begin the path to understanding His Word, if she has already made that submission, that sacrifice, to God. This is the basis of my frustration, my confusion, when it comes to pursuing my faith. Hate or a dismissive attitudes from other imperfect beings who challenge my faith on a daily basis has left me somewhat worried about the direction our society (or even our species) is headed.
Now that I have taken the time to describe my beliefs to you, I would like to share my interpretation of moral dilemma already present on this website.
I was directed to your site through another source that was discussing this thread :
And although I have not spent a whole lot of time looking through your forum, this thread in particular emphasis' what I was talking about when I said people of strong or certain faith are met with hate and dismissive attitudes on a regular basis. This particular thread is riddled with disagreements of interpretation of morality (which is to be expected anywhere), but more importantly, shows how hate is a tool used by Satan to close minds and perpetuate ignorance within our species.
In this thread thread there was a girl (age not given) that was raped. Her parents are upset because the girl does not want to marry the man who raped her. There was not a lot of specifics given but I would still like to discuss this letter and my interpretation.
Feelings and emotions, are not material. However they are personal, and they are ours alone, unless we choose to share those emotions with another human being. As an example in the simplest terms: My love for my wife is not your love for wife. When God gave me the gift of life, he also gave me all the benefits that go with it, especially my feeling/emotions, so is it not fair to say that my emotions are like a gift that I may or may not share with another human being? Because He gave those specific emotions to me alone, they are like the equity or property of my soul (probably a bad analogy, please ask if you don't know what I mean). So something as basic as the sexual interaction of a man and a woman is very much akin to giving a gift. The gift of love, of passion, of desire. When I read about this man raping this woman, all I could think of, after getting over my initial distaste and anger, was that this man had broken multiple commandments. As I continued to read through the thread I saw a lot of people posting passages from all over the Bible, some contending for the marriage of the two, and some contending against it. Either way, is seems to me that if the words of the passage directly contradict with the ten commandments, then there is almost definitely a misinterpretation of the passage. Unless there was a misinterpretation of the commandment in question, of course, but if the two come to contradict each other, my common sense tells me that rules as simple and easy to follow as the commandments should take priority. I doubt I will get much argument on this. It seems obvious to me, it seems as if it is common sense. Let's outline those commandments that I believe were broken. This is an EXTREMELY basic interpretation, I am not trying to pass judgment on the rapist and especially not trying to pass judgment on the poor girl.
1. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
-This seems obvious. Not only did they have sexual relations before marriage, but they did so without the idea of marriage or even commitment in their heads. It was an act of lust, pure and simple, and definitely not for anything of emotional worth.
2. Thou shalt not steal.
-You can argue interpretation of this commandment and my inclusion of it into this list, however based on my previous statements that emotion is akin to property of the soul, it can be argued that the RAPIST stole from the RAPED. We could go on with semantics for days, but clearly, if it was rape, she was not willing to share her emotions of passion with this man, he took them from her either by force or coercion. That, in it's purest form, is theft.
3. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
-I'm going to outright admit my interpretation of this commandment is muddled. When I read this statement it appears to me as if it is against the Will of God to lie (correct me if I'm wrong, I may remove it from this list if warranted). I will continue assuming my interpretation is correct. Rape is illegal in our society (as well as most of the world). By denying that she was raped, this woman is lying to herself. By not reporting this transgression against governmental law, they are both lying to the society and the law itself. Agreeing to marry the rapist after the deed was done, does not relieve her of the fact that she is lying that she got raped, entering into this forced union unwillingly. On the other side of the coin, the rapist will likely lie MANY times over the course of his life when asked if he has ever committed a crime (such as for a background check for a security clearance). Let's work on the ASSUMPTION that the rapist thought this girl WANTED/DESERVED/ASKED FOR IT, he is again lying to himself (maybe unwittingly) because she is saying she did not ask for or deserve it. He is lying to himself if he thinks that he should not be punished because whether or not it follows his moral beliefs, you cannot argue that it is against the law.
4. Thou shalt not covet.
-Not going to go too far into detail for this one as it is so open ended, but I will say this: If the rapist had any prior desire for this womans body (even for a split second before the act) then he is guilty of coveting that which is not his, and that which he has not earned. (again you may not like my interpretation of this commandment, I would remove it from the list if it is wrong)
Clearly, whether or not you agree with my last two statements, the Will of God was denied when this man committed the act of rape. You can state precedences or quote scriptures all you like but multiple wrongs do not make a right. If you deny the Will of God, you will not retroactively satisfy His Will by marrying these two young people. IN FACT, by marrying these two people after the woman was forcibly raped, you are indeed breaking the commandments AGAIN, simply because you are forcing this poor woman to lie to herself, her family, the RAPIST, and her Pastor that she did indeed have prior emotional feelings for this man. Also you are STEALING her right to choose a husband based and love and devotion, not lust and passion.
Let's make a comparison here. Some posters were justifying the RAPIST'S actions because the girl was "asking for it". While there was nothing in the original comment to support this, perhaps the original letter suggested the girl dresses like a harlot, or walks provocatively, or maybe something as innocent as looked at the wrong man for a split second too long. In any case I could make remarkable comparisons to this rape with something less deviant like a mugging, a robbery. I am walking down the street, dressed to impress, with nice pants, shoes, and a brand new haircut! I'm on my way to a job interview (nothing wrong so far). I go to the bank prior to this interview and take a substantial amount of money out (Gas and food can get expensive, not to mention I had a date with a pretty girl later that evening). Suddenly on my way back to my car, I'm held up by a couple of miscreants wielding knives. I'm outnumbered, unarmed, and do not have the training to defend myself. Basically I just got robbed through NO FAULT of my own. Was I asking for it when I put on my expensive clothes and bought a fancy car? Was I at fault for taking out too much (or any) money prior to needing it? I would argue, as I imagine many others would, that while I may have put myself into a position to get robbed, I was NOT asking for. Would you now expect me to turn the other cheek? Very likely they will rob someone else and then the cycle repeats itself. If I don't report these criminals to the local police I'm justifying their actions as if it was OK. This is very similar to the situation described in the other forum post, however, I did not need to get hurt or emotionally scarred (perhaps for the rest of her life) for me to figure out that I did not appreciate it, that it was in fact very wrong to do.
I am not here to contradict anyone's beliefs, but it seems clear to me, in my admitted ignorance and inexperience, that by forcing yourself onto another human being for the purpose of SEX or even LOVE is denying the Will of God. You can argue until you're blue in the face that women can be purchased for a mere 50 shekels, or even that humans can be owned against their will, but again I offer you the arguement that if your non-twisting interpretation of the bible goes against the Commandments, the Will of God, then perhaps your interpretation of the Bible is not what you think it is. The idea of slavery being acceptable in the Bible comes simply from the fact it was transcribed in time when these things were acceptable norms of society. Again if God is speaking to me (my soul through prayer and inflection) for the sake of guiding me morally, then you cannot deny my belief that slavery is wrong (let's leave that to another discussion, however). It goes against every fiber in my being when you position RAPE as an acceptable form of courting a woman, because RAPE IS WRONG. Needless to say I am not saying that your interpretation of the Bible is any more correct than mine, but when the forum posters rallying behind ancient scriptures as a EXCUSE to RAPE, there is a terrible feeling in my soul that it is indeed very wrong. I can only describe this as God guiding my morality away from such terribly obvious transgressions against His Commandments.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I have found TRUE faith, MY faith, such an elusive concept. Those forum posters may be right. Maybe I will go out tomorrow and rape a poor defenseless woman, with nothing more than my hands. She will beg me to stop. She will hit me and yell at me. She will cry until she passes out from lack of oxygen. But it makes no difference to me. All I need is 50 shekels and my sin has now been forgiven. When I die and I am standing at the pearly white gates and St. Nick asks me what of these transgressions in my life, I will respond "Oh that rape? Don't worry about that, Sir, for after brutally raping this woman I payed a pittance and received her hand in marriage until the day she died. Look, it even says it's OK in the Bible
". I know, as much as I have faith in the Bible, that this is wrong. This is not something I will teach my kids. It is not something I will let someone else teach my kids, at least until they are old enough to decide for themselves.This is why I believe faith is an acceptance of morality, for what it means to you, and for the society that you live in. I believe it to be a journey that we will always aim for but can never truly obtain, because we are imperfect creatures. Anybody who claims they truly understand morality and God, is in fact the farthest away from that understanding. And anybody that tries to use my Bible to justify horrendous crimes will truly be sorry when it is their time answer to God.
If you've made it this far, you probably laughing at my ignorance for "twisting" interpretations or whatever else. I may not believe in literal acceptance of the Bible, but I do respect your faith. I'm not trying to convert you and I don't expect your tolerance, because I understand your churches position on Jesus Christ.
I've spent a long while writing this post and realistically what I'm looking for from your is commentary on it (respect my RIGHT to interpret as I see fit even if you believe against it). General ideas if you want I'd like to know whether you think that my personal interpretations are realistic in terms of achieving an understanding of God, because I am aware that this will not grant me salvation according to your Church... Maybe tell me about some moral complications you've run into, how you've dealt with them. I'm not asking you to agree with me , but please don't attack me for simply not being literal in my interpretations. I've seen enough hate based on religion, I don't need it from fellow followers of Christ.
Does that sound like a nice person to you Jay?
Comment