been borg again Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 How do you christians justify the bizzare commands given by God to man? I mean we are talking about GOD the creator of a 200 billion galaxies, why in hell would God care if we...... ate meat with cheese or milk ate pork and shell fish mixed linen with cotton ate insects, except for locust allowed menstrating woman to socialize and touch things allowed semen to touch things why in hell would God command the gall bladder, kidneys, and fat to be the focus and center of animal sacrifice? command Aaron ( high priests) to make special underwear? under penelty of death And a bunch of other really wierd commands i cant think of at the moment. Why would GOd-the -creator-of-a-billion-galaxies place so much importance and fill the bible with these commands? a related question... why does it seem Gods Commands concerning the Institute of Slavery and other things that reflect Situational Ethics, why is it Gods Law, never seemed to TRANSCEND the cultural norms of the day? This seems to only make sense from the perspective that Moses Law was invented by man. (I wont bother posting scripture, I am sure all of us have read it a billion times...... but i will if someone requests a specific one.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Son of Belial Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 The dietary ones are simple. People who ate pork got sick or died because they didn't know how to cook it. So no more pork. Mixing some food types could also produce a sick stomach, so it was easier to just tell people not to mix them. Not sure about the shellfish, maybe some priest just thought it looked nasty and didn't like people eating it. I've known people that were so picky that to even watch someone else eat something they didn't like bugged the hell out of them. Imagine a person like that speaking for God. The mesntruation laws are because God doesn't like women. Some of the others are just general health laws. I have no idea about the different type of crops/cloths, special underwear, etc. maybe those robes and the desert heat caused rashes or something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 why in hell would God command the gall bladder, kidneys, and fat to be the focus and center of animal sacrifice? Because people didn't eat those. The animal sacrifices were ritualized BBQs. If your "god" tried to demand a portion of decent meat, the religion you were using to bend people to your own will wouldn't have lasted very long. The simplified version of animal sacrifice was the tribal hunter giving thanks to the gods who allowed him to catch and kill an animal for food. To give thanks, and possibly appease the anger of the god-of-bunnies for the kill, the hunter gave a portion of the animal back to the gods. And as his family needed the protien, and he might not hunt successfully for another 2 weeks, it wasn't a good survival option to give the gods a real chunk of valuable meat. The gods were satisfied with scraps. Of course that did likely change some with the advent of temples, and people arriving from all over with their offerings.....those priests ate very well, they could afford to let nearly whole animals go up in smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 The underwear law was for priests so that when they ascended the steps of the alter, people below couldn't cop a whoopsie-lookie-do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 This came up on another thread recently, can't remember where, now. I think the main purpose served by all these taboos is to help mark out the boundaries of the group. "We Hebrews are special because God gave us special commands and special land and we do special stuff that nobody else is commanded to do. We are our own group and everyone else is 'other' and doesn't get to do all this stuff and be tight with God like us." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 ficino, I think you're head on there. Religion is to keep the group intact and to create the social structure. So to keep them in line, you need some superficial laws that really don't have to have a meaning. "Just follow the stupid law, mister!" So some of the OT laws might be just inherited from the egyptian and zoroastric religions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandora Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Because people didn't eat those. The animal sacrifices were ritualized BBQs. If your "god" tried to demand a portion of decent meat, the religion you were using to bend people to your own will wouldn't have lasted very long. The simplified version of animal sacrifice was the tribal hunter giving thanks to the gods who allowed him to catch and kill an animal for food. To give thanks, and possibly appease the anger of the god-of-bunnies for the kill, the hunter gave a portion of the animal back to the gods. And as his family needed the protien, and he might not hunt successfully for another 2 weeks, it wasn't a good survival option to give the gods a real chunk of valuable meat. The gods were satisfied with scraps. Of course that did likely change some with the advent of temples, and people arriving from all over with their offerings.....those priests ate very well, they could afford to let nearly whole animals go up in smoke. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ew, they ate the intestines? I can imagine eating everything except those... LOL Not that the rest is all that appetizing, I don't like meat very often cept for fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_raven23 Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 Ew, they ate the intestines? I can imagine eating everything except those... LOL Not that the rest is all that appetizing, I don't like meat very often cept for fish. LOL. Naw, those were probably part of the "sacrifice" (unless they needed sausage casings or something) while the rest of the nice juicy meat was roasting to perfection for the tummies of the people. Urg. I shouldn't write things like that this close to lunch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pandora Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 LOL. Naw, those were probably part of the "sacrifice" (unless they needed sausage casings or something) while the rest of the nice juicy meat was roasting to perfection for the tummies of the people. Urg. I shouldn't write things like that this close to lunch. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sacrificing intestines to God! THAT is quite an interesting image... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non conformist Posted June 3, 2005 Share Posted June 3, 2005 I think Jehovah was just doing what all of us would do if we were the author of creation....Power trip. Think about it! If I were a god I'd tell people they had to hold in their farts on the Sabbath or something. Then I'd brag to the angels about all the stupid shit I make people do. I think that's what happened here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 I think Jehovah was just doing what all of us would do if we were the author of creation....Power trip. Think about it! If I were a god I'd tell people they had to hold in their farts on the Sabbath or something. Then I'd brag to the angels about all the stupid shit I make people do. I think that's what happened here. I wonder what a Jesus fart smells like... Damn! look at that Avatar! Welcome Non Conformist, I bet you feel right at home! (See the contradiction there in the statment, see, see) Regarding your sig: And I think I know how Jesus farts smells like ... heavenly... eww! Besides when he does it, it is called Letting Go of Holy Wind, just so you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
non conformist Posted June 4, 2005 Share Posted June 4, 2005 Damn! look at that Avatar! Welcome Non Conformist, I bet you feel right at home! (See the contradiction there in the statment, see, see) Regarding your sig: And I think I know how Jesus farts smells like ... heavenly... eww! Besides when he does it, it is called Letting Go of Holy Wind, just so you know. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Oooo! I'm impressed by your wit! But I'm not exactly new here. I had to re-register when Dave decided it was time to for change....must be the middle age thing...anywho, if a Jesus fart is heavenly then there's only one thing it can smell like....woman juice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts