Just wanted to say that I didn't take any offense from Michael's comments. I was probably a bit out of line in my characterization of Christianity. I was just trying to point out that any religion, when taken literally, can be problematic. There were actually many books published during the American Civil War about how the Bible endorsed slavery. They make a convincing argument if you accept all of their Bible quotes taken out of context.
The part about women being subservient is actually quite pervasive in the bible, both old and new testament. See: 1 Peter 3:1-6 1 Timothy 2:11-14 Colossians 3:18 Ephesians 5:22-23 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 1 Corinthians 11:3-10 Isaiah 19:16 Deuteronomy 22:20-21 Genesis 3:16 Genesis 2:18 This is certainly not a novel interpretation. Indeed it seems very difficult to argue that the Bible does not consider women subservient to men.
The part about beards is Old Testament and only taken seriously by Orthodox Christians, Amish, Mennonites, etc.
The part about putting adulterers to death is also Old Testament and obviously not taken seriously by most Christians, although John Calvin did argue that the Bible justified the death penalty for adultery (as have other Christians historically).
All that said, I am not trying to imply that modern Christianity is an oppressive religion. I'm just saying that historically, it has a few skeletons in its closet and it went through some serious growing pains, as is Islam.
Ryan Kaldari
On 9/23/11 7:00 PM, Michael J. Lowrey wrote:
On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 8:38 PM, Emily Monroeemilymonroe03@gmail.com wrote:
Michael Lowry, what you just said was said was sarcastic and potentially uncivil.
So Ryan and Carol can lie about MY religion, and I'M the one accused of incivility?