Should the Bible be outlawed

[Riverwolf]

The responce was to someone who'd said represion caused christianity to spread. China is a good example where this did not really happen. Your responce is irrelivant to my previous posting.

Except it's not quite working. There are still religious groups in China.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

While the bible obviously has no use beyond toilet paper, I do not believe in censorship.

Don't you think you're being a little unfair? I mean, the bible has many more potential uses than that, including: kindling for a fire, a paperweight, something to fill in an empty space on a bookshelf, scrap paper, as well as a conversation starter for picking up christian chicks.

 

[Humanistheart]

Except it's not quite working. There are still religious groups in China.

We we're talking about christianity, not religion in general. You seem to want to change the topic as you could not defend your previous position. And if your not aware, china has recently relented slightly on their policy, allowing some levels of theology.

 

[Humanistheart]

Nope.

Because that's not what encompasses the entire Bible... unless you want it to.

But, then again, people still enjoy the story of Oedipus Rex. Should THAT be forbidden to children?

It encompasses quite a bit of it. Not the entire bible, but there's easily more disturbing content in it than there is anything good.

What child do you know that has read Oedipus Rex? Also, no one today is claiming the story as religious truth now are they?

 

[Humanistheart]

Don't you think you're being a little unfair? I mean, the bible has many more potential uses than that, including: kindling for a fire, a paperweight, something to fill in an empty space on a bookshelf, scrap paper, as well as a conversation starter for picking up christian chicks.

Don't forget door stop and rolling paper. It's nice and thin, roll yourself a fat one with revelation

 

[Riverwolf]

We we're talking about christianity, not religion in general. You seem to want to change the topic as you could not defend your previous position. And if your not aware, china has recently relented slightly on their policy, allowing some levels of theology.

Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for bringing that to light.

Now, if you were talking about Christianity ONLY, then I can see what you're saying, but outside the west, Christianity isn't as widespread anyway.

Now... like I said, China's suppression of Christianity has apparently caused it to die out there... just like the Catholic church's suppression of pagan religions caused them to die out in Europe. BUT, many of said religions have been coming back for a while now. There are people worshiping Greek gods, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and following books like the Eddas.

I see no reason to think that this won't happen again in China.

 

[Riverwolf]

It encompasses quite a bit of it. Not the entire bible, but there's easily more disturbing content in it than there is anything good.

I disagree. I'm only disturbed by books like Joshua, which is nothing other than a book about conquest and shameless bloodshed; or Revelations, for... obvious reasons. I'm also not a big fan of Paul's letters.

Nevertheless, the Bible is a collection of important books that should not be suppressed, but studied, if nothing else than for scholarly value.

What child do you know that has read Oedipus Rex? Also, no one today is claiming the story as religious truth now are they?

No one, because they don't know about it, and I say they should. It's one of the greatest classic examples of irony.

 

[Humanistheart]

Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks for bringing that to light.

Now, if you were talking about Christianity ONLY, then I can see what you're saying, but outside the west, Christianity isn't as widespread anyway.

Now... like I said, China's suppression of Christianity has apparently caused it to die out there... just like the Catholic church's suppression of pagan religions caused them to die out in Europe. BUT, many of said religions have been coming back for a while now. There are people worshiping Greek gods, Norse gods, Egyptian gods, and following books like the Eddas.

I see no reason to think that this won't happen again in China.

That might be, in which case if christianity presents itself as a threat to the nation as it did before, china will have to crack down on it again, once again showing that sometimes the government must to for the people what they cannot do for themselves. In this case free them from the destructive influence of christianity.

 

[slave2six]

China did fine with it.

Clearly not. There are plenty of Christians in China - many of them in prison because of that fact.

 

[Humanistheart]

Clearly not. There are plenty of Christians in China - many of them in prison because of that fact.

First define plenty, then go read up on current affiars in china.

 

[Caladan]

Oh, and what text provided them, these church leaders and mobs, the justifications of their actions? Oh that's right, the bible.

In other words, the entire masses of European people through out history, had no human features, no intellectual capacity for long term vision, they were at the mercy of the Bible
yet again, single dimensional. European history is bloody, with or without the Bible. just like human history is with or without the Mahabharata, the Qur'an, the Bible. as an atheist its pretty grotesque to see some atheists shamelessly display their lack of cultural means and ignorance and parade it as if it was a positive thing, you do disservice to yourself, and to those atheists who have made a conscious decision to study the scriptural fields and liberate them from religion and back to culture. after a few months on RF, I realized that there isnt much difference between many on line atheists and on line religionists.

 

[slave2six]

You know, the more I think about it I wonder why the OP is really a rational question. I mean, seriously, no two Christian groups agree on theology in the first place and there is no uniform agreement of what the Bible actually means. Some take it quite dogmatically while others use it more like guidelines than anything else. Insofar as it does help others to behave themselves, it's a perfectly fine piece of literature. It's really when institutions use it (as opposed to individuals) that it becomes a problem. That is to say, the problem is not the Bible itself but the overlords who wield it to herd the masses.

 

[Riverwolf]

That might be, in which case if christianity presents itself as a threat to the nation as it did before, china will have to crack down on it again, once again showing that sometimes the government must to for the people what they cannot do for themselves. In this case free them from the destructive influence of christianity.

So then you're a proponent of fascist governments and monarchies. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Humanistheart]

In other words, the entire masses of European people through out history, had no human features, no intellectual capacity for long term vision, they were at the mercy of the Bible
yet again, single dimensional. European history is bloody, with or without the Bible. just like human history is with or without the Mahabharata, the Qur'an, the Bible. as an atheist its pretty grotesque to see some atheists shamelessly display their lack of cultural means and ignorance and parade it as if it was a positive thing, you do disservice to yourself, and to those atheists who have made a conscious decision to study the scriptural fields and liberate them from religion and back to culture. after a few months on RF, I realized that there isnt much difference between many on line atheists and on line religionists.

Some of what you say is valid. European history is a breading ground for unethical conduct. But christianity didn't originate in europe either. Still, let's take a modern example. In my state, Ca, we're a big melting pot. Latinos, european and african americans, asians, etc. And we just voted down gay marriage. One of the most liberal states in the US and gay marriage was just voted down. And who spent billions of dollars on a slanderous propaganda compaign to clutch that vicotry. Christians. How likely would christians be to care about gay marriage if they didn't think it was a sin? I have christian friends who also have gay friends. Yet they voted down marriage on the basis of it's a sin, not from their own personal feelings but from the bible.

 

[Humanistheart]

So then you're a proponent of fascist governments and monarchies. Thanks for clearing that up.

If there was a plague sweeping the nation would you call me a facist for wanting the goverment to step up and get it under controll? I daubt it. But hey it's about religion so that changes everything, lol. And you miss the point. This diverged when I pointed out, in responce to anothers post, that china did an adequite job of surpressing chrisitanity. No where in there was there an opinion as to weather this was right or wrong. You merely presummed this, then we got caught up debating. My original point stands, that the bible is not suitable for children.

 

[Riverwolf]

Some of what you say is valid. European history is a breading ground for unethical conduct. But christianity didn't originate in europe either. Still, let's take a modern example. In my state, Ca, we're a big melting pot. Latinos, european and african americans, asians, etc. And we just voted down gay marriage. One of the most liberal states in the US and gay marriage was just voted down. And who spent billions of dollars and a slanderous propaganda compaign to clutch that vicotry. Christians. How likely would christians be to care about gay marriage if they didn't think it was a sin? I have christian friends who also have gay friends. Yet they voted down marriage on the basis of it's a sin, not from their own personal feelings but from the bible.

I tell you that the reason prop 8 passed is because people DON'T vote. I know one person who didn't vote on it because he believed that there was no way it could pass.

And I know Mormons who voted "no" on it, or at least disagreed with it.

 

[Riverwolf]

If there was a plague sweeping the nation would you call me a facist for wanting the goverment to step up and get it under controll? I daubt it. But hey it's about religion so that changes everything, lol.

Yes it does.

If Christianity were really the plague you claim it to be, the world would have blown up long ago.

Many humans are violent creatures by nature; it has nothing to do with religion.

 

[slave2six]

First define plenty, then go read up on current affiars in china.

Good advice. It depends on where you look but the answer is simple. There are millions of Christians in China.

Christianity in China: Information from Answers.com

According to the latest surveys done by China Partner and East China Normal University in Shanghai, there are now 39-41 million Protestant Christians in China.

Just how many Christians and communists are there in China?

In his book "Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Transforming China and Changing the Global Balance of Power", David Aikman, a former senior foreign correspondent for Time magazine writes that out of China's 1.3 billion citizens, 70 million are Protestant and 12 million are Catholics, and he believed that Christianity will continue to grow in China.

 

[J Bryson]

Some of what you say is valid. European history is a breading ground for unethical conduct. But christianity didn't originate in europe either. Still, let's take a modern example. In my state, Ca, we're a big melting pot. Latinos, european and african americans, asians, etc. And we just voted down gay marriage. One of the most liberal states in the US and gay marriage was just voted down. And who spent billions of dollars on a slanderous propaganda compaign to clutch that vicotry. Christians. How likely would christians be to care about gay marriage if they didn't think it was a sin? I have christian friends who also have gay friends. Yet they voted down marriage on the basis of it's a sin, not from their own personal feelings but from the bible.

Most Episcopalian and United Methodist churches were strongly against Prop 8. The United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ fought the measure. The Unitarian Universalists (Christian in heritage, at least) were on the forefront of the anti-Prop 8 movement.

Saying that "Christians" were responsible for Prop 8 is to paint with far too wide a brush, and overgeneralizes to a ridiculous degree. You're better than that.

 

[Caladan]

Some of what you say is valid. European history is a breading ground for unethical conduct. But christianity didn't originate in europe either. Still, let's take a modern example. In my state, Ca, we're a big melting pot. Latinos, european and african americans, asians, etc. And we just voted down gay marriage. One of the most liberal states in the US and gay marriage was just voted down. And who spent billions of dollars and a slanderous propaganda compaign to clutch that vicotry. Christians. How likely would christians be to care about gay marriage if they didn't think it was a sin? I have christian friends who also have gay friends. Yet they voted down marriage on the basis of it's a sin, not from their own personal feelings but from the bible.

What can I say, I live in the country from which the Bible has originated from, and the nation recognizes same sex marriage, which means that at some point we will also provide SSM, and not just recognize existing SSM.
the Bible is not the absolute trademark of religion here, first, before everything it is a manifestation of culture and historical heritage.