Medium Too Rare
Oh dear. The choice of metaphors in my last post are most unfortunate in light of recent events but all I can say is, I'm not the only one who has come off looking bad, and they are typical enough expressions for the fall itself, without needing a literal interpretation. And hey I'm not psychic.
II
I'm here with an interesting and controversial proposition. Christians often claim to being the arbiters for progress and civilisation and it becomes difficult to untangle what positive gains are a result of Christ's example of love and compassion and what is more correctly placed at the feet of brave rationalists. Well consider this:
The church militates against the use of magic and of all psychic exploration on the basis that there is a Biblical injunction against such practices. So in a theocratic state we would have no mediums or profilers to find missing children or solve crimes undetectable by scientific methods; we would have no means of divining or dowsing for minerals and water. A full embrace of the gospel would have left crimes unsolved, villains unpunished, and people perishing for want of basic sustenance. That's some legacy.
Give no thought for the morrow and have no means of predicting it.
posted by Berko Wills @ 1:18 pm
2 Comments
2 Comments:
it never fails to both amuse and concern me that so many fundamentalist christians(not all christians take the bible literally, thankfully) have such a fascination with leviticus and revelations.
one would think that since Christ was said to come to form a new covenant with mankind that christians would focus on the new testament almost entirely.
but since the new testament doesn't have a whole lot of "shall nots" and enough hellfire to keep people fearful and willing to do whatever they deem necessary to go to heaven and escape eternal damnation, some preachers focus on old testament laws. yet, they pick and choose among these. just ask any friends you may have that are jews. i have, my, but there are a lot of laws besides the ones against mediums and magick. there are pages that are not only against that or the few mentions of homosexuality, but that equate those sins on a par with touching the skin of a pig, or not taking a ritual bath, or ...
i don't notice fundamentalist preachers railing against football or leather gloves etc. made from little piggys!
that, plus the facts that the bible has been translated from arameic to hebrew and greek and latin,and on and on, that various leaders, secular and theologian decided ages ago to leave some books in, toss others out and say they were guided by the holy spirit in their choices. leaving no room for debate as to the motivations behind their choices.
given the facts that some of the stories in the bible were written in a specific time and about a specific problem or peoples of that time, one really has to study all of history, secular tho it is, in order to have an understanding of all the whys of the passages, why they were written, who they were directed to or at.
or, one can just blindly believe. that might be easier and give some a holier than thou reason to be bigoted or unkind.(or to be kind and giving)
but it would be wise to remember, anything that one reads or sees or does or believes is filtered through your own realities of life and all the emotional baggage carried with us.
me i chose to believe in a loving divine. we will all find out in the end, so why fight, why impose one belief system above all others on people quite happy with their own or their having none at all. just my rant.
Thanks for a very thoughtful and detailed contribution, Sherry, though it seems a shame to be buried away as a comment.
The point you make about the New Testament supposed to have supplanted the Old is a very good one and, of course, the very valid recognition that some edicts are specific to the times.
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