Bible Usage

[Thera]

The Bible doesn't make me sick. It's fiction, after all.

[Chloe]

Fiction can be sickening, IME, at least. There's a Chuck Palahniuk book I can't unread.

[Steve Eisenberg]

Originally Posted by Chloe

Who is "you"?

That was a reference to religious adherents who value these books.

Originally Posted by Chloe

You think it more likely that you find your own religious books sick-making?

I could not understand this sentence, in or out of context.

Originally Posted by Chloe

How odd.

Ah. The bandwagon technique.

These no dishonor in being unusual, eccentric, or odd. However, I'm pretty sure -- and this is no defense -- that my POV in this thread is mainstream within the US, and perhaps many other countries. Surely it is more odd to defend a blanket statement that a religious book makes someone sick, or to have a problem with such a mild and positive religious expression as seen in the OP quote.

Since the conventional wisdom is so often wrong, it perhaps would have been a better strategy to accuse me of mindlessly following it.

[wanderwoman]

Can you cover your halo with a hat, please, Steve? Its brilliance is blinding me.

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by Steve Eisenberg

That was a reference to religious adherents who value these books.

Why would the opinions of those who do not value the books matter to those who do value them?

Why are so many people so concerned with others thinking just like they do?

[Rhysdux]

Originally Posted by Steve Eisenberg

Thank God that sentiment such as in the OP is more prevalent in this country than the idea that other people's religious books are sickening.

Actually, Steve, I do NOT thank God for the sentiment expressed by Magdalene's friend. I do not think that it is a good idea to tell people that all the truth and knowledge in the world is found in the Bible. I am increasingly troubled by the nominal Christians who embrace the Bible as the sole truth of the world, becoming hostile to knowledge and science developed after the Bible was written. I am worried about the neocons who embrace the prosperity gospel ("if you are pleasing to God, He will make you rich") and who hate and wish to crush the poor, the elderly, the sick and the disabled as a result--after all, if they were pleasing to God, they wouldn't BE poor or sick! I'm scared of the Christian conservatives who cheered for sick people to die at a recent Rick Perry rally. I shudder at the fundamentalist and evangelical politicians--some of whom are presidential hopefuls--who blithely speak of the world being in "End Times" or "the Last Days" and who consequently see no reason to make any long-term plans that might make life any better. And I am desperately afraid of the well-intentioned, zealous fools who want to turn America into a theocracy in which the Ten Commandments, not the Constitution, would be the supreme law of the land.

The OP quotes a lovely daydream of her friend--if everyone just read the Bible, suddenly everything would be nice. Frankly, I would rather that everyone just tried to be kind, respectful and compassionate to each other--REGARDLESS OF RELIGION, SOCIOECONOMIC CLASS, HEALTH, RACE, COLOR, SEX, SEXUALITY OR DISABILITY. That strikes me as far, far more moral than the OP's friend's suggestion.

[Rachael]

TRIGGER WARNING FOR RAPE

Originally Posted by Steve Eisenberg

Considering the length the the OT, you must have been sick for weeks.

If anyone really wants to put this rather unfriendly claim to the test, try clicking 100 times here, noting down which side the quote came from, and seeing the results you get:

http://www.randombiblequotes.com/

Of course, it's going to be a judgment call whether any particular verse meets the sickened-by test.

And here's one for a book I've never seen anyone on this board say they are made sick by:

http://www.masjidtucson.org/quran/random/

Now, it may well be that Magdalene's friend reads the Bible more selectively than Rachael. But if I have to choose between the OP and "Old Testament made me sick," it's no contest which represents the kind of country I like living in best.

P.S. One serious response to the implied Jew-dislike of the made-me-sick claim is that old testament heros are supposed to be seriously flawed, unlike Jesus, or even Paul.

I'm sorry. I didn't take the fact that Christianity is not the only religion that reveres the OT into consideration, and I said something thoughtless.

You are correct that it is merely parts of the OT that make me sick. And those are not actions committed by flawed humans, but things said by God himself--for example, when he orders the slaughter of one of Israel's old enemies, including the children and babies, and when he says that a woman who has been raped in the city must be put to death because she should have cried for help. I'm a very literal thinker, and it's difficult to reconcile my own personal faith with stories that people who call themselves Christian interpret as literal truth.

But I should have been more careful in stating my feelings. I'll try not to speak in such a flippant manner next time.

[Canuckistan]

Originally Posted by PuzzlePieces

Pretty offensive to suggest all Christians are brain damaged. That you disagree with their views is not a reason to deem them all idiotic.

Pretty offensive to read into my post things that weren't there. That you wish to project your own insecurities about your religion is not a reason to lie about what I was saying.