Thread: The laws of men

I think the point LX is trying to make is that the two commandments given by Jesus in the New Testament (love God, love your neighbor) are viewed by many Christians as signaling an end to Levitical law. I mean, there are a lot of ridiculous rules in Leviticus that have been ignored for centuries by the vast majority of people who follow the Bible, eg: thou shalt not use a straight razor on thy sideburns, thou shalt not eat delicious shrimp cocktail, thou shalt not wear stylish 60/40 poly/cotton blend slacks, etc, etc.

I disagree with Christianity as much as anyone, but trying to point out some of the ridiculous stuff that Levitical law allows/forbids is kind of beating a dead horse, since most modern Christians think the sacrifice and resurrection invalidated or overrode it.

Additionally, "immune from criticism" is a little bit different from "taking offense at an obvious insult." I do not support Christianity in any way shape or form, but just showing up and calling it "nonsense" is not criticism, it is name-calling. If you want to offer a well-reasoned argument that is relevant and coherent, fine, but just saying it's "nonsense" is not the same thing at all. The slave thing was a straw man argument.

Originally Posted by trewornan

Wow! Obviously I realised that many people would disagree but I certainly didn't think I was being offensive or spiteful. I'm sorry if you are offended but that's not my fault. I expect you're used to religion being given a certain "respect" and immunity from criticism but I don't believe it deserves it. I think religion should be open to criticism in exactly the same way as any other political or social doctrine. I don't see why I should have to dance around the subject to avoid offence because some people choose to be hypersensitive about it.

Of course I don't believe Christians believe it's OK to have (or beat slaves), I was merely pointing out that the bible does say it's OK so Christians don't really believe the bible is the ultimate moral authority.

I've yet to find a religion which makes sense in even the most basic way, none of them are able to make any reasonable answer to elementary questions about, for example, free will or the suffering of the innocent. So yes I stand by my comment - religions are nonsense. You may of course disagree "that's your call" as you put it but if you think my opinion is offensive and spiteful that seem to be more your problem than mine.