Thread: Love

Originally Posted by Photolysis

I wouldn't say respect is the right word to choose there, but obviously it had a profound effect on culture for the past few thousand years. To not recognise its role in shaping the world as it is today would be foolish.

Wrong in the context you use here is a moral judgement, but I'd disagree with your assessment that the Bible is not wrong in this area. There is plenty of teachings that can be described as being morally reprehensible, regardless of whether anyone actually tries to justify their views with it or not.

You can't really. If you were to use the practices, you would be doing stuff like killing homosexuals. It's only through an outside source of morality that you can judge some parts to contain wisdom, and other parts to be repulsive. So really, parts of it can only be used as a distillation of our modern moral framework, but you can't use it as the source of it. At least, you can't in any modern society anyway, unless you are prepared to suffer a heavy penalty for your crimes.

You're creating a catch 22 here that simply doesn't apply to how most Christians (or people of any faith, really) use scripture in their lives. Using your approach, the only 'real' Christianity would be a giant cosplay mashing up Israel c. 3000BC with first-century Rome, and anyone with a healthy, well-adjusted Christian faith is doing it wrong. Certainly, there are some wacky compound-dwellers taking the former approach, but most Christians are able to use Leviticus to better understand the origins of their faith without picking up a rock or pitching all the bacon in the trash. Indeed, the councils of at least two mainstream denominations, well versed in the books of the Bible, their historical context and interpretations, have deemed it acceptable to honor the callings of clergy with same sex partners.

For most (obviously not all) religious people, the goal is not some ultimate social order or the accumulation of brownie points, but a heartfelt relationship with the central mystery of their faith. Scripture is valuable only insofar as it supports this aim. There are many who believe they've found the One True Way, but more and more people of various faiths are acknowledging the parallels between The Lord, The Tao, Allah, Nirvana and Brahma, for instance, and the love and altruism associated with deep absorption in any of the above.

Originally Posted by Dreams4free

What all religions boil down to is a explanation in the hands of uncertainty. Or even explain things differently and imply that words or actions have more "meanings" than just communication or survival. Some may say you ride the reigns of heaven and all is splendor after you die, others could also find happiness in the simple channeling of mantras like Buddha for a example. I can tell you that "Love" of Jesus Christ is not compelling the typical American to join religion like Catholicism and any of its reforms, the insecurity of not having a deeper meaning, feeling "small", as well as the fear of "Burning In Hell" is a much more potent incentive to follow these beliefs.

Well, that's more to do with the individual than with Jesus or with Christianity as a whole. Individuals prooftext to make the point that *they* want to get across, and it's easy enough to do, but not honest, and can be countered by looking things up and finding the passages in context and reading carefully. But who takes the time usually?

When someone is constantly prooftexting to make Hell and damnation and Armageddon their main message, then that person is not a loving person, they are sadly lost in the dark places of their psyches. Jesus knew much of what he taught would be taken wrongly, used to gain power, and he himself said, "Not all who call me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Please remember he also said that the golden rule is to "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy soul, and love thy neighbor as thyself." IOW, love is the main test of all, and loving thy neighbor as thyself means the neighbor (who is all of humanity, as was taught in the parable of the Good Samaritan) is to receive equal importance when weighing decisions to be made. We must learn to seek the Highest Good for all concerned parties in every decision we make, and then we will be practicing LOVE.

If someone keeps condemning you, they are not loving you. It's as simple as that, really.