Questions for Christians ASK HARD QUESTIONS

[Kiwii Tea]

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?
October 2002

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a radio personality who dispenses advice to people who call in to her radio show. Recently, she said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22 and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following is an open letter to Dr. Laura penned by a east coast resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,
Jim

[Llandygai]

Fantasic Echo

So if god was really always watching me then why would he watch me have sex and other?

Yep. Makes me glad we can't usually see Him. I think we'd die of embarrassment, if we could feel His eyes on us while we were screwing around.

Fantasic Echo

How come there is no other proof of a god then a book?

*Blinks*

No other proof? Are you sure about that? I've had plenty of proof.

[InfinityForLillith]

'Back then a woman was stoned if she was an adulteress.'

First point - Those who are raped arre not commiting adultery, to commit adultary is to do so knowingly and willingly.

Furthermore, even for the time in which this was set, it was a shite rule. A woman who commits adultery is stoned to death whereas a rapist has to marry someone...slightly unfair?

If it is argued that this was a good law 'way back when' this undermines ALL of the bible.

For example - no sex before marriage, good. It means women would not have to care for children on their own, without help, and sexual diseases would not be spread. However, now should someone get pregnant outside of a loving relationship, they would recieve financial help, and sex before marriage can involve our special little friends-condoms, therefore relieving the risk of disease and pregnancy.

So, again, the logical need for this rule is no more. By using this method the Bible becomes less and less helpful in terms of 'rule giving'.

You can either believe and trust everything the Bible states (thereby supporting slavery, amongst other things) OR you can pick and choose the bits of the Bible that you feel are still true/good/important thereby pretty making up your own rules.

[SapphWolf]

Remove

To be honest I am happier living as a christian then when I wasn't so I think that is a rather silly comment to make.

Though I could use your comment against any Atheist or Muslim or Hindu or anyone else who wasn't open to other peoples opinions.

Also the gospels were written when they believe the men to be alive, some were written many years after but if you look at the records they have and the ages that the disciples were martyred then yes the dates mostly add up. Of course the dates that the documents are written can only be an estimate, I don't believe any person or computer can give us an exact date of something in the past unless the date was stamped on it.

They were started by the men when they were alive. I don't believe any of them were finished in their lifetimes. Their disciples finished writing the gospels for them based on what they had been taught.

Quote:

Edited: Paul wrote about hell, there is a whole book on it, Revelation. Though good luck understanding it, many people don't.

Unless I'm mistaken, it was John who wrote revelations, not Paul. Also, as far as I was aware it's more a satire of the current Roman Emperor and his empire than anything else. Also, just something my crazy religion teacher said, but supposedly the island that John was on when he wrote Revelations had a lot of poppies. Which might explain the book a bit better.

[chickenstin2]

i am a christain but i dont know if god is real or not i try to belive and i do in alot of it but my ? is:how could god always be there

[434-Innocent-Flicker]

chickenstin2

i am a christain but i dont know if god is real or not i try to belive and i do in alot of it but my ? is:how could god always be there

And yet... you have full belief in His Son?

[Rookherst[KOS]]

434-Innocent-Flicker

And yet... you have full belief in His Son?

Seeing as a belief claim and a Knowledge claim are completely separate things, it'd imagine that it's more then likely to be possible

[InfoJunkie4Life]

Llandygai

InfoJunkie4Life

because god is perfect, your judgement of worth based on your works would be compared to him. So if you can do righteousness perfectly, then you too will be admitted into heaven.

Otherwise, one sin, bad thought, lie, jerk off, whatever, will make you unworthy of perfection and unworthy of heaven!!!

I'm trying to determine whether you're serious about that.

I am!!!

[InfoJunkie4Life]

fiorgael

InfoJunkie4Life

because god is perfect, your judgement of worth based on your works would be compared to him. So if you can do righteousness perfectly, then you too will be admitted into heaven.

Urm.. No. Grace is what gets us into heaven, not works.
Regaredless of whether works create grace or not, no thing man is capable of is worthy of Grace.

InfoJunkie4Life

Otherwise, one sin, bad thought, lie, jerk off, whatever, will make you unworthy of perfection and unworthy of heaven!!!

Nope.

i do agree...i was responding to another post as to why we must accept christ, and our admittance into heaven is absurd by our own works

[faerenach]

chickenstin2

i am a christain but i dont know if god is real or not i try to belive and i do in alot of it but my ? is:how could god always be there

God as an omnipresent being is an abstract concept to take in. It's sort of like being happy - you know you feel happy, but how can you be sure? You just KNOW. That's what having faith in God is like. You can feel it, and you just know.

[gsusfreek]

chickenstin2

i am a christain but i dont know if god is real or not i try to belive and i do in alot of it but my ? is:how could god always be there

First off, let me tell you all Christians have struggled with their faith at LEAST once. Sometimes we just don't understand it. But remember that just because you don't understand doesn't mean it is so. (I dont understand planes but I know they work - see?). God IS real. How can God always be there? As in how is He omnipresent? Well, Please remember that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside everyone - even if they don't believe. The Son refers to Jesus, and the Father is up in Heaven. God is a spirit. He created Earth so He can go wherever He wants. Especially since the Holy Spirit lives in us because people are almost everywhere too (in case you haven't noticed! haha)

It is kindof difficult for many people to accept the trinity because we cannot comprehend three beings being one. However, I think a "parable" helps: You have a body. You have hands and eyes and a nose. These are seperate parts, but they are all the same body. That is the way God is. The Father Son and Holy Spirit are sepereate parts, but they are all one God.

Because we are created, there are many things we don't understand. We just don't have God's comprehension. That iswhy we look at creation, and see that "how could this amazing beauty be an accident?" and get to know Him and know that He is real. I don't know if any of you have seen my profile but I have a little thingy that says something about knowing He is real. I know He is real for many reasons, and one of them is because He talks to me. It isn't an audible booming voice, but sometimes He says the most profound things that I know it can't be me. Also, He protects me. Many times I have been in danger but was fine in the end due to know part on my hand. Also, I know He is real because I know that demonic spirits are real. My grandmoter lived alone, and had been messing with things that alowed her to be a victim to demonic spirits. She was up on a stool once, the house was empty, and someone pushed her. Now, that house was empty save for her. And she saw and heard no one. No one could have escaped that fast. That was a demonic spirit pushing her off the stool trying to kill her. I know they are real.
But you see, when demonic spirits attack people (and they even attack Christians because they are super mad about us being saved) we have authority over them in Jesus name. Rebuking Spirits works - I have seen it. Also, I have seen miraculous healings. In my church this past 3 months (I think it was in the past three months) 2 children in the kids ministry who had been born deaf went into service deaf and came out hearing perfectly. That is miraculous. That is God.

So, I can see that God is real (these are only some reasons) and even though I struggle with many questions, I can say "okay, I don't understand this aspect, but this other thing cannot be for any other reason that God exists." God gives us proof, but a lot of this has to be taken in faith.

[CogitoErgoGeek]

gsusfreek

The Father Son and Holy Spirit are sepereate parts, but they are all one God.

That is a typical way for individuals to attempt to understand the Trinity, but I am pretty sure that it is unorthodox/heretical in most theological circles. Somehow, the members of the Trinity are supposed to have the exact same essence, but different personalities. To call them parts of a whole does not jive with this idea, which assumes that each of them encompasses the whole of the essence of God.



What do I think about this? Frankly, I think the Trinity is an example of clearly contradictory passages of scripture which Christians have attempted to consolidate by throwing their hands up in the air and saying "We cannot understand God fully, but this is what the Bible says!"

[Canabalistic Masturbation]

I've got a question. Why is it that today, Christians disobey several passages in the Bible because 'they are no longer relevant'. Did I miss a memo saying Christ came to earth saying its ok to work on the Sabbath now? Today, people around the world work on the Sabbath, a thing that would incur a stoning to death. Now, thats just ONE example of something everyone is disobeying, I can come up with more but I'm too tired.

[gsusfreek]

InfinityForLillith

'Back then a woman was stoned if she was an adulteress.'

First point - Those who are raped arre not commiting adultery, to commit adultary is to do so knowingly and willingly.

Ok, I have made this point before, so I will make this point one last time. In the future if you wish to add to an argument, please make sure that whatever you want to say has not already been said. It's a little annoying. =)
Back to yur question: sometimes things appear to be what they are not. I am saying that a woman who lets a man have sex with her before marriage without calling out for help or trying to get away or showing some sign that she doesn't want the sex is not being raped. God knew that any woman who didn't want premarrital sex would show some sign of it. So, when she goes to the city elders and says "this man raped me!" after being caught in sexual intercourse outside of marriage, the man can say, "that is NOT true! She didn't not struggle or call out - I did not rape her, we both did it together willinngly." This was to help theelders determine that a woman who lied about being raped would receive the consequences. God knew that they would lie to keep themselves alive.

InfinityForLillith

Furthermore, even for the time in which this was set, it was a shite rule. A woman who commits adultery is stoned to death whereas a rapist has to marry someone...slightly unfair?

ONCE AGAIN READ THE ARGUMENT ALL THE WAY. I can tell that you did not because I already made my argument for this one. The reason that a rapist ha to marry the girl was because she had no chance at marrying anyone else - no man would want her. She had only the chance to be with someone who would beear her children and regain some of her honor. This was not God's perfect will. This was due to their culture and their stupid rules because they decided that any woman who had sex before marriage - even be force - was dirty and dishonorable. So, once again, God was not the stupid one here - the people were. God was trying to help the raped victim regain some of her honor.

InfinityForLillith

If it is argued that this was a good law 'way back when' this undermines ALL of the bible.

For example - no sex before marriage, good. It means women would not have to care for children on their own, without help, and sexual diseases would not be spread. However, now should someone get pregnant outside of a loving relationship, they would recieve financial help, and sex before marriage can involve our special little friends-condoms, therefore relieving the risk of disease and pregnancy.

Please, understand the ifference between mosaic law and God's law. God's law rescued people from the stupidity of mosaic law. I don't like that a woman was dishonored because she was raped - that makes me mad! Many of you can not see this but I have struggled with accepting many of these things because I was extremely feminist and I still have some very harsh oppinions concerning those laws. However, I have realized that GOD DID NOT MAKE those stupid laws.

Have you ever seen a woman who is not married and has a baby and is getting financial help? Let me tell you something as the daughter of a divorced mother of three: That payment doesn't really help all that much., It gets you by. Most teens who are pregnant HAVE to drop out of school to take care of their baby. They have to make many sacrafices so their baby lives and that money keeps them from dying, but she has to work her tale off. If she had waited, she could finish her education, get a job, prepare her finances for the responsibility and live in financial peace with her baby not NEEING help.

And puh-lease! CONDOMS???? Don't you know that condoms aren't that reliable? I know a nurse. She helps deliver babies. When she asks a couple if they are going to use birth control and they respond that they use condoms all the nurses laugh and say "see you in a year". Condoms are a very poor method. Also, condoms do NOT prevent disease. you probably don't realize this but many STDs are not transmitted only through seemen or vaginal fluid. Some deseases shed off of the skin in that area. Therefore condoms do nothing for that. In addition, knowing our society today, I want to ask how you think those condoms will protect people from oral sex. Imagine getting that disease in your mouth and throat - not pleasant.

Did you know that STDs haven't been around forever? Ask yourself why King Henry the 8th (sick terrible man) never got one. Ask yourself why King solomon, who had 700 wives and 300 concubines (OMG!!!! EW!!!!) never got one. They weren't around then. But somehow they came into the picture because of all the premarrital, extra marrital, homosexual, and "with animalsa" (I forgot he name for people having sex with animals but it appens) sex.

Please. Research before you post. "If you are a fool" or ignorant " put your hand over your mouth." hahaha I LOVE that verse!

InfinityForLillith

So, again, the logical need for this rule is no more. By using this method the Bible becomes less and less helpful in terms of 'rule giving'.

You also don't seem to know that emotionally, having sex with mor than one person messes people up - especially women. Yopu become bonded to them. God designed sex to be that wasy because it was meant to show love for your spouce. Too bad people twisted it.

You wanna talk logical? Okay. When people have sex, it feels good right? They like it. They wanna do it all the time because it feels so good. Right? Hows about this scientific fact for you:

The more people you have sex with, the less pleasureable it is. Here's why: There is a part in your brian that gives you those good feelings from having sex.When you have sex with someone there is forged a nuropath to that part of the brain. Think of it as a tunnel to a cave, and the cave is where you wanna go. The first time you have sex, one tunnel is forged. And it is BIG. Let us say that Sally was the first girl Jim ever had sex with. So, we will mark tunnel number one "Sally". However, Jim decides he also wants to have sex with Mary because she looks hot. Another tunnel is forged called "Mary". But because there are now two tunnels to the cave, they are smaller tunnels. Jim decides "I want to experiment." and has sex with Larry. And Mark. And Paula. And Robin. And his dog, Bruno. Now there are many paths to that wonderful cave in his brain: "Sally", "Mary", "Larry", "Mark", "Paula", "Robin", and "Bruno". By this time he decides that his sexual appetite is so overwhelming, and that these epople ... and dog ... don't have the time to have sex with him as much as he needs, he turns on the computer, and looks up some porn. Now there is another tunnel marked "Porn", and because his computer broke down and his dog ran away, there is another called "masterbation". That is a LOT of tunnels huh! Well, because there are so many tunnels, and that cave isn't getting bigger, those caves have to get smaller. And the smaller they get, the less good it feels. You can only travel one tunnel at a time, so now, sex doesn't feel as good as it used too. "That's because it was new then! I need to try something new!" says Jim. And those nuropaths get smaller and smaller. He isn't enjoying it he way he used too.

Yeah, sex feels good, but science has prooven that if you do it with many people (or animals, or your hands, or whatever else you cn think of) you enjoy it less. I dunno about you, but when I decide I am going to stay with someone for the rest of my life, I want to enjoy being with them as much as I can.

So, logically, if you wanna have a good time the rest of your life with sex, you wanna save it for when you know your only gonna do it with one person so it feels the best, right?

InfinityForLillith

You can either believe and trust everything the Bible states (thereby supporting slavery, amongst other things) OR you can pick and choose the bits of the Bible that you feel are still true/good/important thereby pretty making up your own rules.

Oh please! Slavery was the culture back then too, so don't even try that with me. Many other people of other religions had slaves too. And don't forget that God saved the Isrealites from slavery. They were just too stupid to decide to get rid of it completely. Once again, that was people - not God. And, God says "love your neighbor as yourself". Slaves are not treated as the master, so they should have known and took care of the problem completely. And please don't insult my integrity. I don't say anything not supported by the Bible, and when I have I made it clear that the Bible wasn't clear on the subject and it was my opinion. You cannot find any verse in the right context that contradicts another. Unless that is, you include the Apocrafa in the Bible - but the Apocrafa is NOT spirit led and definitely contradicts the true Bible.


Thanks for playing.

[gsusfreek]

Canabalistic Masturbation

I've got a question. Why is it that today, Christians disobey several passages in the Bible because 'they are no longer relevant'. Did I miss a memo saying Christ came to earth saying its ok to work on the Sabbath now? Today, people around the world work on the Sabbath, a thing that would incur a stoning to death. Now, thats just ONE example of something everyone is disobeying, I can come up with more but I'm too tired.

Thanks for asking a question that I haven't already answered - I am getting extremely annoyed with the same questions so I appreciate this.

There are laws that changed from the Old Testimment to the New Testiment, simply because Christ died. We no longer have to sacrafice animals because Jesus was the ultimate sacrfice, for example. Also, in the Old testiment, the Holy Spirit did not live inside people, but it did after Jesus died because He wanted to be with them always. Remember how Jesus says He would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. He said He would build a temple that is made without hands. This refers people - we are the temple in which the Holy Spirit lives. As for tha Sabath, you DO understand that God did not set aside a certain day for this day. Back then it was Saturday, later it was changed to Friday, now it in Sunday. But that is merely tradition. We just have to rest one day a week. Some people HAVEto work on Sunday, so they set aside another day. To behonest, taht day is often Saturday simply because Saturday is when people can rest and be with their families. There are Christians who don't honor the Sabbath, and that is wrong. However they are not stoned because puinishment also changed after Christ's death. Back then, people were punished so severly to keep others from doing that sin, thus saving those who hadn't from sin. Nowadays that isn't necessary. Also, it is MY BELIEF that God knew how stupid, arrogant, and foolish the Isrealites were, and He knew that if they got away with sin, they would continue to do it and think that God would never punish them. When they thought that, they weer no longer under His forgivness because they were intentinaly disobeying.

I hope I have answered your question helpfully.
-gsusfreek