The Tension of Faith

Paboss writes:

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I wonder which god is that who is against killing babies. Was it the one that killed every firstborn in Egypt just to prove a point? Or the one that order Joshua’s gang not to leave alive anyone from the cities they were conquering, even children? Of course only young virgins so that the gang could have some sex slaves.

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Don't forget the one who told Abraham to kill his own son...his own born son.Don't forget the one that made it a law that if a person attacks a woman and causes her to miscarry, he isn't guilty of murder and can only be penalized by a fine.

Percy writes:

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You mean like Jesus "tolerating" Mary Magdalene?

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Um, what is it about Mary Magdalene that you think needs "tolerating"?You *do* know that she wasn't a prostitute, yes? Oh, she had demons cast out of her (by Jesus), but that's not a reason to disassociate from her afterward.Don't confuse the ravings of Gregory I for what the Bible actually says about Mary Magdalene. The fact that he couldn't read Luke and decided to unfurl his misogyny by claiming that an unnamed woman had to be Mary Magdalene because of some bizarre numerology and a fever dream of women needing redemption doesn't mean he was right.The Orthodox don't see MM as a prostitute and even consider her to be a virgin. In fact, there is an Orthodox tradition that the reason she had the seven demons is because she was so virtuous that the devil thought she was going to bear Christ and thus possessed her. Heck, even the Catholics figured it out and said she wasn't the sinner in Luke back in 1969. Only the Protestants seem to follow Pope Gregory I's claim...a bit odd, you would think, Protestants clinging to ancient Catholic teachings....

New Cat's Eye responds to Percy [and I know NCE has quit, but I think this point is important]:

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Oh, I don't know. Try burning a cross on someone's lawn or painting a swastika on a synagogue or participating in a lynching, and that's pretty conclusive that one has hate in their heart, unless maybe one is a psychopath.

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Or a troll.

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And thus, hateful. You troll someone not because you like them and want good things for them. You troll someone because you hate them. Let us not pretend that simply because you're not slobbering at your screen, trying to dox them, showing up at their homes to threaten them with physical violence, or even carry it out that it isn't hateful.

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Or prankster.

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And thus, hateful. The first rule of a prank is to know who you're pranking. If they're not laughing, then you're not pranking.Remember, bigots don't get to define what bigotry is.

Stile writes:

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But burning a cross on your lawn?

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You realize you just decided to change the scenario, yes? There was an understanding that the scenario was not you trying to destroy your own property by immolation but rather going to someone else's property without their consent in order to erect a cross and set it on fire specifically so that they can see it.All within a context of such events happening primarily to send the message to black people that they aren't wanted.If you're simply trying to point out that there are ways to burn a cross that aren't hateful, then point conceded. Simply remove all historical context and completely change the scenario from what was accepted previously and we'll all agree that it is practically possible to do this. Heck, there's an entire literary concept about such things known as "subversion of tropes." Mel Brooks did a lot of this...the entire point of The Producers is to make a comedy about Hitler. It can be done and it's brilliant.But when something walks, talks, and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. To claim that if we pluck it, cut its feet off, remove the bill, and genetically re-engineer it with pig DNA it isn't a duck would technically be true, but isn't what was originally seen.