but after the Flood it was permitted: Genesis 9:3 — Fooloso4
Jesus even tells slaves to obey their masters. — chatterbears
People pick and choose what they want to abide by according to their interpretation of the scripture. — chatterbears
Christians believe that what Jesus had to say is still in effect. — Bitter Crank
The rules about cleanliness were directed much more toward spiritual cleanliness than physical cleanliness. Women weren't impure during menstruation because menstrual blood was unsanitary; — Bitter Crank
It would help us enormously (or not) if somebody had bothered to chisel into stone or baked clay tablets what Jesus had to say. — Bitter Crank
And yet we really do not know what Jesus had to say. — Fooloso4
One of the benefits of having a temple (of any sort) in town was the chance to share in the meat of sacrificed animals. It wasn't the mainstay of anyone (outside of a priesthood), but it helped. — Bitter Crank
I'm not convinced that meat was a common source of food for most people (not rich ones) in the ancient world. Only if you owned many livestock could you afford to regularly eat from your walking supply. If you had only a few animals (more likely) eating one of them would have decreased one's wealth, perhaps quite significantly. — Bitter Crank
You're thinking of statements by the Apostles Paul and Peter. — Bitter Crank
Christians believe that what Jesus had to say is still in effect. — Bitter Crank
Christians are not bound by the rigorous laws of the OT, and so if you limit your inquiry to the New Testament, you can make perhaps a better argument for veganism as a Christian/love related idea, evaluating the question holistically. — Hanover
To say the New Testament is about "love", is very warped and corrupt. — chatterbears
True. But are the good bits worth the other stuff?It's a matter of interpretation and levels of literalism you wish to impose. — Hanover
Actually, in my personal opinion, they should just throw out anything written by Paul. He brought in a lot of specific and personal interpretations on what Christianity is and how Christians should behave - I'd see that as secondary literature which has no business being treated as "holy scripture".And maybe you haven't read the New Testament, but there are things in there that are just as ridiculous as the OT. How about the blatant sexism in 1 Timothy 2:11-12 ? — chatterbears
People pick and choose what they want to abide by according to their interpretation of the scripture. — chatterbears
And this is EXACTLY what people should and must do. — Bitter Crank
It's a matter of interpretation and levels of literalism you wish to impose. — Hanover
Chatterbears: Do you believe the Bible (OT or NT or Koran) is inerrant? Do you believe that everything in the Bible or the Koran must be applied as literally and precisely as possible? — Bitter Crank
If you don't, then you should be quite happy to have people pick and choose what they want to abide by. If you do, then of course you would expect people to march in lock step with everything the Bible or Koran says. — Bitter Crank
By the way, you may have noticed that religious law is not secular law, the law of the land. People in most societies are required to abide by secular law, first and last. If they practice slavery, then they will subject to severe punishment. If they burn witches, they should expect either the death penalty themselves, or at least a long prison term. — Bitter Crank
Some societies follow religious law (like strict sharia law). If the community and civil authorities are willing, maybe one can get away with burning witches or killing homosexuals. At one time, in some later-enlightened western European countries, it was possible to get away with burning/hanging/drowning witches. In New England, at one time, one could get expelled from the community for disagreeing with John Calvin. Pretty strict, they were. — Bitter Crank
What kind of society do you want? One where people obey secular law and pick and chose which religious rules to pay attention to, or a society where secular and religious law are the same, and may not have a choice?
Pick and choose, Chatterbears. — Bitter Crank
A perfect book written by a "perfect" creator should not have something as trivial as interpretation stand in his way of conveying the most important life lessons to mankind. I guess he isn't that perfect after all? — chatterbears
If Religious people believe God is perfect, and that his word is perfect (which they all do), then yes. They should follow it literally and as precise as possible. If they actually did that, maybe they would realize how imperfect that book actually is. — chatterbears
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