I would think that we really ought to have a seperate topic section for religion. [:o)]
Talking and quoting pieces from the bible is fraught with danger and pitfalls.
The biggest problem is that the fanatics think that they are the only ones who’ve got it right. Worse than that, they also seem to think that they have a Godgiven obligation to earbash others into submission.
Even to the extent, as history clearly shows, of killing others because they happen to have different opinions to them.
Remember the witch hunts which took place during the sixteenth century ? Or should that be forgotten because it happened so long ago ?
Unfortunate innocent women got accused of being a witch and being in cahoots with the devil.
To prove their guilt they were thrown in the water. If they floated it was proof that they were a witch.
Unfortunately the hierachy was consumed by so much zeal that they were prevented from applying some good common sense to realise that those unfortunates who were innocent (i.e. those who didn’t float but sank) drowned.
Looking at history I would suggest that mankind would have been a lot better off without the kind of organised religion as we know it.
Coming back to the bible (and the fanatics who bash their bible), most of them aren’t smart enough to realise that the written word can be interpreted in many ways, on many different levels.
The literal way (meant for the idits who believe everything in the bible to be true – which isn’t the case. Then again I have no wish to argue with irrational people – I prefer to tell them they are f/h’s) and then of course there are other levels of interpretation of the bible.
Take for example the story mentioned by our wellloved
Kay (yes kay we missed you whilst you were away) who said : “how about ít is harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven`?”
I hope you aren’t pulling poor Markpatric’s leg, Kay ?
It does of course illustrate how things get distorted by people.
Kay, shouldn’t that read instead : “It is harder for a rich man to enter into the gates of heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle’ ???
That story cannot possibly be taken literally. One interpretation and explanation which makes a lot more sense goes as follows :
It is of course physically impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle so a more logical explanation has to be found.
There were several small openings in the wall surrounding the cities. For security reasons they were small. So small that a camel couldn’t just walk through but had to get on his knees in order to shuffle through the opening.
The implication that no rich man couldn’t go to heaven is absurd of course and cannot possibly be taken in the literal sense (though idits no doubt insist on doing just that).
If we draw a more reasonable conclusion i.e. that often rich men are consumed by greed and avarice and behave in an abominable way (though some of course do not), then the story starts to make a bit of sense.
A reasonable interpretation translates the story as meaning : It is difficult for a camel to go through the small security gate and even harder for a rich man to go to heaven.
>>If you have made wealth through property, be happy. But I don´t know why people have to say poor people are not living out God´s will because they are poor´I think that is verý mean-spirited.<<
Yes Yes Yes, Kay, I agree. Though I would say that they do this not because they are poor but out of ignorance.
Ignorant of the Universal Laws which Catherine Ponder talks about.
You know, the ones that talk about the fact that our thinking is what attracts the things which happen in our lives. (be they good or bad).
Another Law ? “As you sow, so shall you reap.”
Meaning as in : Talk nonsense and people will start to see you as an idiot.
Or, “Do good things and they will rebound on you.”
Or, “Make financially responsible decisions and in later life you’ve got something to fall back on”
My advice to those who want to preach and tell others how wrong they conduct themselves is to say to them : “Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense and wouldn’t it be a lot more impressive if people were to lead by example rather than with their mouth.”
None of that : “Do as I tell you, not as I do”.
You know, as it says somewhere in the good book : “Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.”
Let me finish up by pointing something else out which shows how screwed up people are (because they see everything from THEIR point of view.
Have a good look at those statues of Jesus which one finds in churches. A nice tall, white man with blue eyes. The truth is that, more likely than not, he would have looked more like a Palestinian (or, even more likely, like a swarthy Jew) than as a blue eyed
whitey.
So much for how truth is portrayed by us and to us.
Oh, by the way, I do consider myself as being a religious person (though not of the organised kind).
Pisces
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