ive never understood this and Christians(most) in my community always give me the 'you shouldnt question god' speech, but i find this religion (and other religions like it) very hypocritical and my family is wondering why im losing faith(not that there really was any), but for now ill keep this topic aimed towards die hard Christians. so.... your telling me people are allowed to pick and choose which lessons to learn from in the bible? then that really wouldnt make you a christian...right? cuz your not REALLY following the bible. for examples: (Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT) If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. like really? can someone explain to me if Christians are so saved and sanctified, why their bible (also known as 'word of god' ) pretty much encourages and rewards rape? and i bet there will be stupid people with IQ's of 5 that say "durr, i don't know what's the problem! He was punished" omg! i hope nobody says this, if they do they're forever known as universal fool in my eyes! btw, lets just throw in a few more verses in there for fun!: 1. Kill People for Working on the Sabbath The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT) 2. "If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." (Leviticus 20:13 NAB) 3. A man or a woman who acts as a medium or fortuneteller shall be put to death by stoning; they have no one but themselves to blame for their death. (Leviticus 20:27 NAB) how can people who claim to be so loving have the most hateful beliefs? like really? your gonna kill me for working and putting a roof over my families' heads and food in their mouths? oh, and this really got me right here! these made me feel like most christians are believing something a regular person came up with: Kill Men, Women, and Children "Then I heard the LORD say to the other men, "Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead is not marked. Show no mercy; have no pity! Kill them all – old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin your task right here at the Temple." So they began by killing the seventy leaders. "Defile the Temple!" the LORD commanded. "Fill its courtyards with the bodies of those you kill! Go!" So they went throughout the city and did as they were told." (Ezekiel 9:5-7 NLT) wow....just... this really contradicts itself because didnt god also say, all children are innocent? guess if that child's parents are sinners it doesnt matter, right?what do you think?
You're new here, so perhaps you don't know that this argument has been at least twice a week for years. I think a key to understanding Old Testament laws is reading between the lines. Probably a man caught with a woman alone was always called "rape" because it was assumed no virtuous woman would consent to pre-marital sex (at least she would never admit it). But if such a situation did occur, she was "ruined" and therefore no one would marry her. That's why the "rapist" (probably not really a rapist) was stuck with her, and could not divorce her. My guess is, this law was almost never enforced, as so many other ancient Hebrew laws were not really enforced. The command to destroy a town that has converted to pagan gods has so many conditions, that it will almost never happen. The number one motivation for war up until recently was slaves and loot. The Hebrews were forbidden to take slaves and loot or even rebuild the city they destroyed. What that means is that no one is actually motivated to follow this law, since there is no material benefit at all. Whoever wrote this law was really making it pointless to actuallly follow the law, and that's really the point. Towns actually destroyed, probably none.
Well, God did say that he gave the Israelites/Hebrews/Jews bad laws to see if they were stupid enough to follow them. That God character was a great kidder.
Read between the lines, huh? So you get to make it up as you go along. How convenient. Laws with the weight of God behind them were not taken too seriously, you say? Silly Hebrew laws that they didn't really enforce? Some piece of holy scripture you have there! Not really a rapist,huh? You sound like the congressman who believed in a "real" rape women's bodies shut down so they can't conceive. Joshua's conquest of Canaan included the taking of slaves and loot at God's direction. Does land count as loot? Your post is completely asinine.
The Hebrews did have slaves http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0018_0_18703.html
"When the Bible says 'rape' it probably doesn't actually mean rape" has got to be one of my favorite styles of apologetic. It's the ultimate demonstration of making the book say whatever the hell you want it to say. Your holy book is inconvenient? Just pretend it was opposite day when it was written. Frankly, I can't believe Blackrook didn't physically choke on the irony when he was typing a response saying that the Bible used the word 'rape' to actually indicate the exact opposite. I don't use these things very often, but this one is more than appropriate for this situation:
