R. S. Martin Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 What is it with the people in the Bible? Paul says things like this..."Knowledge puffs up". So, God loves stupid people? But hold on, in Hosea God says, "My people perish for lack of...knowledge!" Only after learning some of the things Greco-Roman culture considered important did I get any insight on this. I'm trying to remember what it was that I read. It's been quite a while. Well, there's all these gods and their families. Somewhere I got the impression that knowing who is related to whom in these god stories is what counts with Greco-Roman society. Thus, I figured Paul was saying something like: Don't worry your heads about that stuff. Think about what counts in real life. Things like husbands and wives getting along and old people being cared for and kids being raised to be decent law-abiding people. Here's a religion that's geared to practical everyday life. Use it if you need a religion. Women, quit your fighting. Just because this religion allows you to attend the sacred services does not mean that you can air your dirty laundry at church. If you can't get your heads around the religion just focus on raising your kids. God created you primarily to have babies. Do that and you will have done god a service. Husbands look after your wives decently and make sure they have enough material goods in the line of food and clothes so they can raise your kids. **************** There's lots of problems with Paul's theology but I think this may be the reason why he stressed not knowing a lot of stuff. He claimed quite an education himself and he never indicates that he regrets this. Thus, I don't think he was saying that formal education is wrong. He was simply saying that academic accomplishments are not the only important thing in life. Take that as coming from someone who was raised to believe that education beyond Grade 8 is of the devil and leads away from God. It never made sense to me but that is what I was taught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 The original question was: Why Does 'satan' Seem To Tempt Smart People More? I think the answer lies in the word "seem." Folk who have the necessary intellectual skills to pick apart apologetics in light of the finer details of the biblical writings (as many people here seem to be capable of) will find the weak spots in xian theology. Christians have no answers for the resulting questions. Thus, we can choose to twist things in our heads until they do make sense, or we can leave. Based on the stories I've read on this site and elsewhere, I get the impression that I am by no means the only person for whom leaving Christianity was very difficult. I don't know why the xians think it's so easy and such a temptation. Are they the kind of person for whom real heavy-duty intellectual exercise is too much like work? I remember taking some reading along one evening when overseeing a youth gathering. The church regularly opened its doors to the town's youth for an evening of fun and food. Two adults had to be present to supervise. They were always asking for volunteers. I volunteered to help one evening. But I anticipated a rather dull time so I took some course reading along. During a break in the activities I asked the other adult a theological question. He was a leader in the church (he was very instrumental in getting the church started to begin with) and seemed quite interested in the church's beliefs. I was new so I was trying to learn. He brushed off my question with: That's too much like thinking. I was hurt. But I knew not to ask him any more theological questions. Maybe he was just busy at the moment but he never got back to me. Well, you all know the end of the story. I'm no longer there. But I am getting graduate level education at a Christian seminary. Even those profs--trained theologians--can't answer all my questions. My favourite prof will tell me when he does not know an answer. That is part of why he is my favourite. Too many people attack me for asking the questions in the first place. I've gotten to the point where even when I am told that "Here you can ask questions" I won't get excited. They don't mean real questions that none of them has ever thought about. No one has ever been more willing to stay inside Christianity than I was. I stuck around for decades trying to make sense of it, trusting mom was right when she said when I got older I would understand. The really brain-twisting craziness of this whole thing is that now my sister tells me we don't have to understand everything. I am quite sure that god (if he exists) will let people into heaven even if they don't understand the fine details of theology. But the NT does say we should understand our religion so we can explain to those who ask. I've been asking more than 45 years and the Christians still can't answer my questions so I think it's time to find another way to live. Thus, I was not tempted to leave; I was forced to leave. Either that or lie. Besides having serious scrupples about lying, I was sick and tired of lying about sacred things so I left. On this forum I found that unbelievers can be decent moral people who care about the deeper meaning of life. The only thing atheists and agnostics disbelieve is the definite factual existence of god. Not even xians can prove that. However, the less intellectual types are probably more likely to be satisfied with the answers the theologians can give. Thus we leave because the church forces us to choose between lying and standing up for what we believe. I feel sick when I think about how the early Western scientists like Galileo were treated by the church. They had no place to go to get away from the church. The church in North America, for all its strangle-hold of power, at least does not have the power to physically keep us under house arrest. And definitely not to execute capital punishment on anyone for believing the wrong things. I think that should count for progress in human civilization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrisonjj Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 The original question was: As a former practicing catholic, I always observed people in church who had no idea why they were there except to avoid hell and mortal sin! You see, if you miss mass, you have a mortal sin and are damned for eternity! Pretty good racket that worked for many many years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 As a former practicing catholic, I always observed people in church who had no idea why they were there except to avoid hell and mortal sin! You see, if you miss mass, you have a mortal sin and are damned for eternity! Pretty good racket that worked for many many years. What an excellent answer for Protestant fundies! Talk about Pascal's Wager! But they wouldn't go to mass if their life depended on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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