Just a short five minute clip of Sam Harris raising some reality(not fundamentalist) based points about how most people gloss over the truly grotesque and illuminate the divine aspects of holy books. I thought he was quite eloquent and right on point, which is why I am sharing this with you here. Even fundamentalists would find offense at this.
I was raised with the exact argument he's speaking of, that the Old Testament was wiped away and no longer relevant once Jesus died for the world. And yet the whole time growing up I always wondered why we kept reading the Old Testament.... still can't figure it out. The smartest thing to do would have been to strip away all the(95% of the Old Testament) newly rejected(as forgery or highly questionable) gospel and only talk about what actually pertains to us now. But those two books are still stuck together in the same binding like they belong together.
4 comments:
I agree. I have always been amazed at the last book of 1 Samuel. Check out 1 Samuel 31:8,9,10. Granted this isn't God doing the killing, but I was amazed at the cruelty back then. As far as why the Old Testament is included in the same binding, I think mainly for reference. All the prophecies that can be compared. Prophecies about Jesus, and the end times. Not to mention to be able to look back and say "Hey look how good you have it now, look what God used to do."
... or look what we think God told us to do just so we could look like genocidal maniacs two thousand years from now. That's freaking sad. I think that you're right; some of those things have to have been written in after the the fact to fulfill prophecy. And future prophecy was written to use any helpful pieces of history. Any serious study AT ALL for proof of the happenings in the historical Bible makes serious scholars weep. It just can't be done without making excuse after excuse for those in the past who wrote the books.
Yeah, 1 Samuel 31:8,9,10 is pretty gory. Good example, Paul.
Speaking of blood and violence, I'm watching Xena again from episode one. I've always liked the historical references Sam Raimi made to religious figures. There's this one particular episode(Season 4 Episode 6) called "A Tale of Two Muses" in which they travel to a town where dancing is outlawed. It had a Muslim feel to the writing and scenery. People kept pushing the buttons of the judge/jury/executioner there in town until he nearly declares war on all young people before they can leave town.
The whole point to the episode was to push the adults to the brink and force them to stand up to say enough is enough with the overbearing laws. The case was made that dancing will lead to all evil breaking out. But no, when Xena is through with them she had them seeing that NOT dancing would lead to the mother of all evil: an army with pent up frustration looking around for an enemy. hmmmm... doesn't that sound familiar the world over?
My point is that maybe it wasn't so different 'back in the days' we're speaking of now. Religiosity leads to shackles on the will of human beings. Free spirituality on the other hand keeps freedom on everyone's hands.
'tis an old discussion, I realize, and I don't expect to alter your mind in any form whatsoever... but as someone who read read READ and THEN became a Christian, and then studied studied STUDIED... the idea that the OT is irrelevant is trite at best, and misleading at worst. The OT reveals God's character; it's how we discover who our God is and how much he provides for and cares for his people. Yes, you can focus on the smiting, and yes, holy righteous anger at evil IS part of who God is. Our whole faith turns on the fact that judgement is HIS. I know it's hip to focus on God as LOVING, so it's important to consider all the many facets of love... compassion, affection, joy, tenderness, sacrifice, protection, and yes, even anger (when your kid decides to play in the street, for example... or when some kid starts bullying your kid...) So, if one is not comfortable with a God who gets angry with injustice and evil, then perhaps one should worship a cold stone statue.
The gnostic texts are pretty clear: the Good God doesn't do any 'smiting.' It's human beings who do that all by ourselves with a little prompting from His Highness in his perpetual game of one-upmanship.
When you go UP the totem pole further from Yahweh you understand just how evil the OT is and why the world is the way it is. Why would smiting of any kind be looked upon as acceptable? Hate and violence is never acceptable. It happens in nature as a part of the universe's renewal process but human beings don't have to kill one another.
I read and then I believed. And then I actually started asking questions. Faith in Yahweh died once I began asking relevant questions about His character disease. It's not a matter of seeing what you want to believe, either. It's having someone present an idea, studying it, contemplating, praying, researching the writers, studying some more, and then allowing a new relationship to evolve as it is supposed to.
I never stop asking questions. The All never stops answering them. It's a pretty good deal in my book.
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