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 Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 3:09 pm
 Due to all of the mistranslations and "editing" of the Bible it's incredibly hard to find out the whole truth of something. I just go with my best judgement, if I have issues or get confused I just ask God and he will tell me if I need to change something.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:04 pm
As I back read this thread I'm not quite sure how it was jumped from "Cherry picking" to gays.
It's no secret that the bible has been edited over the years. Books are missing and not fully there for us to learn. Doesn't you can't fully have faith in God or his word. When I doubt myself or the Bible I turn to God and he helps guild the way.
I've met gays who were devoted Christians. It's not like they are not out there. Regardless the bible makes it clear that it's a sin for people of the same sex to sleep with each other. Man was made for women. Gay's can't help it. They were born that way and there is no reason for so much hated and disgust to be thrown their way.
People who are bisexual to me are another story. I'm bisexual too and I choose not to sin against God despite my affections and needs. I was born to love both Genders but my love for God over comes my want to sin.
Does that make any sense? I'm not trying to offend, just give my opinion.
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Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 12:13 am
SinfulGuillotine This is somewhat inspired by Facebook Debate Number...Five, I believe. The one with the bloke with the chalkboard listing mostly Levetical laws. Cherry-picker, vanity Christian, fake Christian, fair weather Christian...I'm pretty sure all of us have at least heard these terms thrown around. Many of you have probably used one or more or them to describe someone, or had someone else use one of those terms to describe you. I know they've all been directed at me somewhat frequently, by many different people. Now, the latter three I take some exception to. They might even offend me if I'm having a bad day, because they imply that I do not take my faith seriously, which couldn't be further from the truth. But yes boys and girls, I am a cherry-picker. Blame my Catholic upbringing (where sola scriptura is not supported), blame my bleeding-heart liberal socialist political views, blame the fact that I have first-hand experience translating dead languages and know that it is in some cases impossible to come up with a literal, accurate translation that makes sense and is not disputed by someone else working on their own translation, blame the fact that I'm gay, blame my cat, I don't care. I choose to believe that some of the Bible is figurative and not literal, and also that it needs to be kept in historical context. Society has changed a great deal in over 2000 years and I think that's vital to keep in mind when interpreting the Bible. What was acceptable practises back then may not be so acceptable now. Some things that were relevant then are not relevant now. So yes, I do some cherry-picking based on the reasons listed, as well as others that are escaping my sleep-deprived brain. And is my cherry-picking influenced by my own personal biases and experiences? Of course it is. Not on purpose, of course, but I'm human. It's impossible for me to be completely objective, as it is for every human being. So yes, I'm a cherry-picker. And you know what? You probably are, too. Every opinion we as human beings have is going to be coloured by our own unique personalities and experiences. I have never encountered, online, offline, or even in my dreams, a person who follows the Bible to a T, or even believes every word of the Bible wholly and literally and completely, because no matter how hard one may try, there is no absolute, universally agreed-upon way of interpreting the Bible. Someone, somewhere, is going to see you as a Cafeteria Christian (hey, I just thought of another thing I've been called!) Calling someone a "cherry-picker" usually implies that the person in question is arrogant, stubborn, and weak in faith because of their inability to "truly" give themselves over to God. And in some cases that may very well be true, but before making such accusations, I think we all need to take a good hard look at ourselves first. Anyway, thoughts? Agree or disagree? Why or why not? Have I offended you deeply? Idk if i'm a cherry picking Christian lol. but it is indeed a problem that America has
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:53 pm
I used to be really "lukewarm". 3nodding I'm a lot less lukewarm now. Hopefully Lukewarm Christians will wake up sooner, I see it as a phase.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:02 pm
Ugh, yes, I had an argument with an extremely Conservative Muslim on Gaia once who accused me of "cherry-picking" only the passages which I felt seemed just. Honestly, I think that if we didn't pick and choice the best passages, we'd be hypocrites, because the Bible can contradict itself at times.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:59 pm
There are plenty of accurate articles that explain the translation process between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the bible, along with how the bible was canonized, and why certain gospels were left out. Articles written by people who have placed the scrolls side by side with the bible and have seen that there's little difference between translations. Of course, everyone is going to have their favored translation, and while there ALL translations have changed words and some missing verses, you can always go back to a translation that is very close to the scrolls. Always. It's not as bad as people like to speculate and theorize.
Besides, I don't know how many people here have read the "other" gospels that were denied the chance to be canonized... If you had, you'd know why. lol They're nutty.
And sola scriptura, I think, kind of fails a little when we consider not only the reality that the apostles laid down customs and traditions of the church according to the authority Jesus gave them, but how the bible itself was even canonized. xD So wonky. Also considering how Jesus wants the His Body to function. It just makes little sense to me.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:08 pm
And cherry picking...
I think everyone does it at some level, but I don't that it's acceptable. It's just the reality of who we are, though. We're human, and we're not going to like things that disagree with what we want to do with ourselves and in life. At some point, we all do it. We're sinners. No one's perfect, and that's why we repent and learn to do better next time. Or... stay in denial, which a lot of people do. 3nodding
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