The Bible - the book of evil

[Cris]

The Bible - the book of mixed messages

In this "sacred" book of family scandals we find filth, sex orgies, cannibalism, atrocities, sex perversions, incest, bloody violence unparalleled in any other chronicle in all the literature of the world. Fortunately, not one-third of the human family has ever heard of the Christian Bible; not one-tenth of the Christians have ever read it, and no two who have read it agree as to its meaning. Won't you help get this book out of the hands of our children, out of decent homes, and out of hotel and motel rooms?
-- Frank C. Hughes

Fulfilled Promises

Christ demanded: "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."
-- Luke 19:27.

Christ announced: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."
-- Matthew 10:34.

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
-- Exodus 22:18. Thanks to the vigilance of good Christians, witches were killed in great numbers before the year 1712.

Bedtime Stories

The men of Sodom wanted to bugger two angels abiding with Lot. Lot said, "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes."
-- Genesis 19:8.

But the Sodomites preferred male angels. The Lot family escaped; Mrs. Lot looked back, became a pillar of salt; father Lot and daughters fled to a cave, at which time the elder daughter proposed: "Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father."
-- Genesis 19:32.

"Thus were both daughters of Lot with child by their father."
-- Genesis 19:36.

Moses told his soldiers: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
-- Numbers 31:17-18.

Self-Improvement

"... (become) eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake."
-- Matthew 19:12. (Origen, Paul and other early Christians faithfully carried out this divine injunction.)

"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee: cut them off, and cast them from thee."
-- Matthew 18:8.

Burlesque

God said to Moses: "And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen."
-- Exodus 33:23.

Justice

"When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her."
-- Deuteronomy 25:11-12.

"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD."
-- Deuteronomy 23:1.

"...the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods (piles) in their secret parts."
-- 1 Samuel 5:9.

The lord was appeased, however, after the men had made golden images of their emerods (piles).
-- 1 Samuel 6:4.

Culinary Department

"Hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?"
-- Isaiah 36:12; also in II Kings 18:27.

The Lord commanded: "And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight."
-- Ezekiel 4:12.

"And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat."
-- Levitcus 26:29.

"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters which the LORD thy god hath given thee..."
-- Deuteronomy 28:53.

"So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son."
-- 2 Kings 6:29.

There is More

But I’d be here for days posting.

Quotes borrowed from the Positive Atheism magazine.
http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/quotes/qframe.htm

But a quote from a TV program known for some insightful realisms –

You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work in real life -- uh, Christianity.
-- Homer Simpson, telling what religion the family belongs to ‡‡

So if you have time then please quote your own selection of evils from this infamous book of corruption.

Have fun
Cris

 

[Xev]

Hey, there's some good stuff in the Bible.

Song 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

Song 2:3
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Proverbs 3:3
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

14:15
The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.

Ec 2:13
Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.
2:14
The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

1 Corinithians 13:11
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Thesselonians 5:21
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

 

[~The_Chosen~]

Don't say "the book of evil." Using the preposition "of" you are saying the book came from/composed of evil. Cris you think it is totally evil or something? You must rid the world of the Bible??

Correct me if I am wrong, but are you filled with hate? or in your terms, what do you think?

 

[Cris]

Chosen, Xev,

So how about a different title?

The book of good and bad.

The book of mixed messages.

Hmm, I kinda like that one.

Any suggestions? How would you describe the bible. It has some very weird statements, many are quite barbaric. But as Xev point out there are some wisdoms as well.

How does one classify that?

Cris

 

[Cris]

Chosen,

Correct me if I am wrong, but are you filled with hate? or in your terms, what do you think?

No not at all.

There is a claim that many people have adopted atheism after reading the bible, so it can't be all bad.

But a book OF evil? Perhaps that is a gray area. But I believe it has caused immense harm because so many have taken its writings as literal guidelines and assumed they are truths from a god.

Has it been used for good, yes I believe so. But how it is used seems to be largely on how it is interpreted. For the corrupt and powerful its writing have been used as an authority to justify slavery, and treat women as third class citizens, no more than the property of men, and many other injustices.

Its writings largely reflect the outlook of a very barbaric period of 2000 years ago which is really quite irrelevant for today. If it were seen as a book of myths and some history, and some wisdom then it would rate as a most interesting work of literature. But that isn’t the way that most use it. Preachers use it as a weapon to indoctrinate and persuade the unwary into believing things that cannot be known as truth, and young children, who cannot discern or realize what is happening, are common victims.

If the wisdoms are extracted and offered separately and the barbarisms discarded then that would be fine but that isn’t how it is offered. It is claimed as the work of God and must be obeyed. But it was written by men who had totally different values to those of today. I wonder how many of those wisdoms, even the ones Xev quoted have really been plagiarized from other nobler works? I suspect many were since there are few things that ever seem to be unique.

So is it a book of evil or a book about evil? I think more the former since people wield it as a justification for their dubious actions. I suspect there are very few other texts of mythology that are wielded in such a way.

Just some opinions.
Cris

 

[~The_Chosen~]

I think you should re-direct your energies at the people that interpret the Bible. The Bible is not evil at all, it's the weak-minded that fail to think and the strong-minded that take advantage of the people who fail to think.

I understand and respect your opinion.

 

[Ekimklaw]

Re: The Bible - the book of mixed messages

---------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
"In this "sacred" book of family scandals we find filth, sex orgies, cannibalism, atrocities, sex perversions, incest, bloody violence unparalleled in any other chronicle in all the literature of the world. Fortunately, not one-third of the human family has ever heard of the Christian Bible; not one-tenth of the Christians have ever read it, and no two who have read it agree as to its meaning. Won't you help get this book out of the hands of our children, out of decent homes, and out of hotel and motel rooms?"
-- Frank C. Hughes
----------------------------------------------------------

Incidently, Frank C. Hughes was a loony who used to dress like the pope and once sued an Army chaplain for being paid by the government (the case was thrown out).

As for his "wonderful" quote... to me, the presence of the uncomfortable parts of The Bible proves it is true. After all, had it been created and edited by a secret society of puritanical men down through history (as you surely think it was), it would not contain its "warts and all" passages. The Bible is a record of the depravity of man. Therefore, it deals with man's depravity. The Bible presents these things for what they are. Evil. It in no way encourages orgies, cannibalism, atrocities, sex perversions, incest, and bloody violence, it is a record. These things happened and we cannot hide from it. Sin must be dealt with head on.

--------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Christ demanded: "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."
-- Luke 19:27.
--------------------------------------------

Wow! You took this WAY out of context. Christ did not command this. This passage occurs at the end of a parable Jesus was teaching about the 3 servants. The entire story is contained in Luke 19:11-27. That you would do this hurts your cause Cris.

---------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Christ announced: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword."
-- Matthew 10:34.
---------------------------------------------

Choosing Christ causes division between those who accept and those who don't. For instance... Martin Luther King, Jr. was a peaceful man. But the stand he took unleashed a storm of violence.

----------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
-- Exodus 22:18. Thanks to the vigilance of good Christians, witches were killed in great numbers before the year 1712.
---------------------------------------------

Many harsh laws applied to the Mosaic Jews. This was in the age of Law. Jesus ushered in the "new covenant" which is grace instead of law. Under this "new covenant" any evil-doer has the opportunity to turn from their wicked ways, or suffer the consequences upon death.

---------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Bedtime Stories
The men of Sodom wanted to bugger two angels abiding with Lot. Lot said, "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes."
-- Genesis 19:8.

But the Sodomites preferred male angels. The Lot family escaped; Mrs. Lot looked back, became a pillar of salt; father Lot and daughters fled to a cave, at which time the elder daughter proposed: "Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father."
-- Genesis 19:32.

"Thus were both daughters of Lot with child by their father."
-- Genesis 19:36.
-------------------------------------------

This sad passage shows the unfathomable depths that humans can decend to when living apart from moral absolutes, and God.

-------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Moses told his soldiers: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
-- Numbers 31:17-18.
-------------------------------------------

This was common practice in days of old. The purpose was to totally wipe out your enemy. Leaving any alive would mean future war. It was a sad practicallity of war. Do I like it? No. Did I like that the USA dropped two a-bombs on Japan? No. But it had to be done. It's called war. The virgin females were taken for obvious reasons.

--------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Self-Improvement
"... (become) eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake."
-- Matthew 19:12. (Origen, Paul and other early Christians faithfully carried out this divine injunction.)
---------------------------------------------

Oops! You misquoted. The passage actually states:
"Some are born as eunuchs (impotent), some have been made that way by others, and some choose not to marry for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone who can, accept this statement." -- Matthew 19:12

No comment necessary, as it is plain.

-------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
"Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee: cut them off, and cast them from thee."
-- Matthew 18:8.
------------------------------------------------

You lifted this out of context. Jesus was making a point that it would be better to remove offending body parts than your whole body going to Hell. The whole passage reads:

1About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"
2Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. 3Then he said, "I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4Therefore, anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6But if anyone causes one of these little ones who trusts in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck.
7"How terrible it will be for anyone who causes others to sin. Temptation to do wrong is inevitable, but how terrible it will be for the person who does the tempting. 8So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven crippled or lame than to be thrown into the unquenchable fire with both of your hands and feet. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to enter heaven half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
10"Beware that you don't despise a single one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

It is clear from the context that Jesus was using sarcasm to make his point.

-------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Burlesque
God said to Moses: "And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen."
-- Exodus 33:23.
-------------------------------------------------

Nothing so odd here. It was a pre-incarnate manifestation of Christ. There are several examples of this in the Bible. You bring this up because it says "back parts". Giggle giggle tee hee.

-------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Justice
"When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets; then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her."
-- Deuteronomy 25:11-12.

"He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD."
-- Deuteronomy 23:1.

"...the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods (piles) in their secret parts."
-- 1 Samuel 5:9.

The lord was appeased, however, after the men had made golden images of their emerods (piles).
-- 1 Samuel 6:4.
---------------------------------------------------

Again all this is "Old Covenant" Mosaic law. For the most part rendered null and void after the appearance of Jesus. Things were rough back in those old days. In those days it was important for the Hebrew race that men preserved their... uh... naughty bits. After all the idea was that this smallish group which had come out of Egyptian slavery was to grow and thrive. As you know to do this you need... uh... naughty bits. Harsh penalties were levied upon those endangering the uh... naughty bits. This was so Hebrew race would not go extinct. It may seem odd to us today, but this was not so odd 4000 years ago.

By the way, I don't know how you are getting some of these passages wrong, but you did it again.

"What sort of guilt offering should we send?" they asked.
And they were told, "Since the plague has struck both you and your five rulers, make five gold tumors and five gold rats, just like those that have ravaged your land." --1 Samuel 6:4

This is one verse out of a rather long story.


---------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Culinary Department
"Hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?"
-- Isaiah 36:12; also in II Kings 18:27.

The Lord commanded: "And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight."
-- Ezekiel 4:12.

"And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat."
-- Levitcus 26:29.

"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters which the LORD thy god hath given thee..."
-- Deuteronomy 28:53.

"So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son."
-- 2 Kings 6:29.
-------------------------------------------------

I recommend you read the passages IN context before having a knee-jerk reaction to them. I saw the website where you got all this and they seem to specialize in lifting scripture out of context. After all they want to paint the Bible in the most negative light possible. Whatever happened to the search for truth? Surely you with your scientific mind want things to be nice and accurate.

About the unsavory nature of some passages of scripture? What can I say? The Bible presents things warts and all. It is a record of human events, good bad or indifferent.

Thanks, I enjoyed the Bible study I did in order to respond to your post.

Take care Cris!

-Mike

Ps. Do you skip to all the naughty and violent parts of Shakespeare's writings too? Just joking...

 

[~The_Chosen~]

I'd like to add something since this has happened in other forums before, discussing about the Bible and it's good/bad whatever.

Read it yourself, the whole thing, and then you decide.

If you are letting parts of the Bible influence you, you are a weak-minded individual. For example, you can take a part of something and make it look totally different. Don't let others influence your belief, it's all you baby.

 

[Xev]

It's nice that a benevolent God advocates the rape of children as a means to total war.

 

[Adam]

So, the christian bible is actualy a good book. And all that incest, rape, murder, destruction, and all the rest is actually good stuff, but you have to take it in context. Okay. Gotcha.

 

[~The_Chosen~]

Is it me, or do atheists look only at the negative aspects of the Bible/God/anything theistic? Never do they talk about something good about it.

Interesting, this is partly why I don't want to be an atheist, thinking they are more logical creatures and assuming "betterness" over "idiotic theists." Atheists are no better than theists.

This is all, of course, just my opinion

 

[Cris]

Ekinklaw,

I am less interested in the interpretations of passages as I am that the book contains so much about the perverted side of humans rather than the good. The ratio has been estimated at approximately 75%. And I would dispute that these perversions are just historical records since at the time of writing many of these rules and examples were considered acceptable.

If I am interested in understanding a better way of living then I would choose a book that gave me positive instructions rather than dwell excessively on graphic examples of what is perverted and bad. IOW I don’t need to actually study graphic descriptions of death and mutilations to understand that such activities are not particularly healthy.

And the interpretations of such passages are abundantly unclear, many readers simply become confused and I suggest can be corrupted by such details. But then most people who try to read the bible give up because it is so confusing and irrelevant to today, and is frankly incredibly boring.

Neither does the bible contain any instructions on how to interpret its contents. That is left to the reader.

It is also interesting to note that the Ten Commandments that are oft quoted today as good guidelines for modern morality come with associated penalties, and apart from one the penalty is always that the offender be put to death. This always seemed to be omitted when the Ten Commandments are offered out of context.

But, some more bible study for you.

The Fig Tree Enigma

The next day..., Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." ... In the morning..., they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter ... said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree ... has withered!"
-- Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (NIV)

Points to remember
Jesus was hungry.
He looked for figs on a tree.
But it was not fig season.

Questions to ponder

If it wasn't fig season, why would even a moron look for figs?
Is killing a tree for not bearing fruit out of season a reasonable response by any standard?

Matthew 21:18-21 (written after and based upon Mark) says it withered at once. Mark says they saw it the next day and then marveled. Something's terribly wrong, here. Was Matthew possibly dissatisfied with a Jesus who'd take an entire day to wither a fig tree?

Kids killed for mocking hero

Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" And ... he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
-- II Kings 2:23-24 (RSV)

How do you rationalize such an action by God?

Execute stubborn kids

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son ... Then shall his father and his mother ... bring him out unto the elders of his city ... And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.
-- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (AV)

So is this just an historical report or an encouragement to punish children severely for being stubborn?

Cris

 

[Adam]

Do atheists focus on only the negative aspects of religion? Maybe. Possibly in exactly the same way that reasonable people focus on the negative aspects of nuclear weapons. Any good achieved by religion can be achieved without religion. So it is uncecessary. And with that unnecessary thing comes the bad stuff as Cris has quoted. Which causes wars, millions of corpses through the millennia.

 

[Tyler]

"Is it me, or do atheists look only at the negative aspects of the Bible/God/anything theistic? Never do they talk about something good about it.
Interesting, this is partly why I don't want to be an atheist, thinking they are more logical creatures and assuming "betterness" over "idiotic theists." Atheists are no better than theists."

What good of the Bible? The parts that say 'don't kill' and such? The parts that were law in parts of the world that had never even heard of the Bible?

The point is, the Bible has nothing good in it that can't be found other places quite easily.

 

[Cris]

Chosen,

Is it me, or do atheists look only at the negative aspects of the Bible/God/anything theistic? Never do they talk about something good about it.

A man might lead a perfect life and then in a rage murder his wife. Doesn’t the single atrocious act negate and overwhelm his otherwise perfect life? If the man says he is a good person, the atheist would say no you aren’t since you murdered your wife.

Christianity presents itself as perfect, that God can do no wrong. Naturally atheists will focus on where God and Christianity go wrong.

Remember atheism isn’t a belief system or even pretending to offer an alternative institution to organized religions. Atheism is about disbelief of the claims made by theists. The proofs are where theists make claims for good and atheists can show that the result is bad.

Yes atheism is entirely negative in its approach, that is the definition of atheism – a (against, or no) theism.

But many atheists also have other philosophies that they follow that are positive. I am defined as a secular humanist where atheism is merely a subset of that philosophy.

Theism vs atheism is where the points of opposing philosophies meet. Don’t try to read more into atheism other than its definition. Neither should you try to categorize atheists as if they are all the same. An atheist might be the worst serial killer imaginable and another might have moral standards way above that of any Christian. The only thing they have in common is that they disbelieve the claims made for the existence of a god or gods.

So I strongly recommend you don't make blanket statements about all atheists, you'll be almost certainly wrong, unless you are talking about a disbelief in theist claims.

Hope that helps
Cris

 

[~The_Chosen~]

Originally posted by Cris
Kids killed for mocking hero

Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" And ... he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
-- II Kings 2:23-24 (RSV)

How do you rationalize such an action by God?

Cris

Cris, I suggest you stop posting bits of pieces of the Bible and making it totally look different. You are trying to help your atheist cause or something?

But look here, I have already encountered all this in another forum, just have to search for them. Someone made a similar post like yours and put the same things down. I will quote one.

If you read on, they were killed by the two bears because they know he was a prophet of the Lord God, and they continued to mock God. It was displayed as extreme disrespect, but I have to dig up on the other Bible interpretation war thread in another forum.

But seriously, there is no need to do this. Let others find out themselves.

EDIT: No I didn't read the Bible, I don't bother with countless interpretations that could be wrong.

 

[Cris]

Chosen,

Re: the mocking issue.

These were children. Children by their very nature often do not understand the implications of their actions. Whether they are being disrespectful to God or not, what they needed was education and not for a supernatural perfect being to tear them apart.

The bible is littered with examples of how this god who is meant to have love for humans wreaks revenge and mutilations on people for in many cases relatively trivial events.

The actions by this God are inconsistent with perfect intelligence and wisdom.

What the bible is portraying is wanton and unnecessary violence, which is my whole point. In my life violence is the last resort; reason and wisdom come first. The bible portrays the reverse doctrine so often.

Cris

 

[~The_Chosen~]

Cris that is why I'm not into [human] organized bullshit.

I just look at the positive aspects of it and follow their values and beliefs, therefore I respect some of the religions, but this doesn't mean I respect the idiots that misinterpret them and do wrong things in religion's name.

People are the problem.

 

[Cris]

Chosen,

People are the problem.

Yes I completely agree.

And that implies that people need to take responsibility for their actions.

The issue with theism comes when people say that 'god made me do it', ask for forgiveness or whatever, and then consider that they need not worry further.

If you murder someone and then sincerely regret it then you should live the rest of your life with the torment of your mistake. Deluding yourself that some more powerful being will forgive you so that you can feel more comfortable simply dilutes the seriousness of your unacceptable action. In effect such theism doesn’t sufficiently discourage further immorality. And yes, Christianity is the primary offender here.

Your theism might be quite different. I mentioned Deism when we first met. This form of theism does require that humans take responsibility for their actions and in that sense I have little problem with that form of theism.

Cris

 

[Ekimklaw]

--------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
I am less interested in the interpretations of passages as I am that the book contains so much about the perverted side of humans rather than the good.
--------------------------------------------------

Of course you aren't interested in interpretations of passages. Does that mean you WANT to believe they are wrong, even if they aren't? You are anti-Bible so your assertions are heavily biased in that way.

There is no good side to humans without morals and God. Left unto himself man is selfish, and gravitates toward evil.

--------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
The ratio has been estimated at approximately 75%.
--------------------------------------------------

By whom?

--------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
And I would dispute that these perversions are just historical records since at the time of writing many of these rules and examples were considered acceptable.
--------------------------------------------------

They are still historical records like it or not. Your biased opinion does not change that fact.

--------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
If I am interested in understanding a better way of living then I would choose a book that gave me positive instructions rather than dwell excessively on graphic examples of what is perverted and bad.
--------------------------------------------------

I'm sure you frequently consult the Bible for it's numerous positive instructions. No, you just dig through it sifting out all the little morsels you consider bad and presenting that as proof that God is bad. I thought your stance was that there is NO God (?)

-------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
IOW I don’t need to actually study graphic descriptions of death and mutilations to understand that such activities are not particularly healthy.
--------------------------------------------------

So we should ignore the holocaust? The wages of sin is death. Stories like these remind us of the truthfulness of that.

--------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
And the interpretations of such passages are abundantly unclear,
--------------------------------------------------

To you. They are unclear to YOU. Speak for yourself.

-------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
many readers simply become confused and I suggest can be corrupted by such details. But then most people who try to read the bible give up because it is so confusing and irrelevant to today, and is frankly incredibly boring.
-------------------------------------------------

Opinions based on bias fueled by personal preference. Again, speak for yourself.

------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Neither does the bible contain any instructions on how to interpret its contents. That is left to the reader.
-----------------------------------------------------

Once you are a Christian the Holy Spirit, which indwells us, helps with this. To me the Bible is very plain.

--------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
It is also interesting to note that the Ten Commandments that are oft quoted today as good guidelines for modern morality come with associated penalties, and apart from one the penalty is always that the offender be put to death. This always seemed to be omitted when the Ten Commandments are offered out of context.
--------------------------------------------------------

Indeed some offenses were punishable by death under the "Old Covenant". It is foolish to try to impose our 21st century western social paradigm onto ancient Hebrew society.

People who chose to do that which carried a death penalty knew full well the results of their choices. It was not a surprise. The Jewish laws were very well known from early childhood up through adulthood. With each death penalty came numerous warnings!

---------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
The Fig Tree Enigma
The next day..., Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." ... In the morning..., they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter ... said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree ... has withered!"
-- Mark 11:12-14, 20-21 (NIV)

Points to remember
Jesus was hungry.
He looked for figs on a tree.
But it was not fig season.

Questions to ponder
If it wasn't fig season, why would even a moron look for figs?
Is killing a tree for not bearing fruit out of season a reasonable response by any standard?

Matthew 21:18-21 (written after and based upon Mark) says it withered at once. Mark says they saw it the next day and then marveled. Something's terribly wrong, here. Was Matthew possibly dissatisfied with a Jesus who'd take an entire day to wither a fig tree?
--------------------------------------------------

No enigma here. The "cursing of the fig tree" was prophetic symbolism. Jesus proclaimed that just as the fig tree bore leaves, but no fruit, The Jews, with all their ritualistic observances, made a fine show of religion, but did not bear the true spiritual qualities God most wanted. Jesus made it clear that if Israel refused to "bear fruit", it would wither.

---------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Kids killed for mocking hero
Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, "Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!" And ... he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
-- II Kings 2:23-24 (RSV)

How do you rationalize such an action by God?
----------------------------------------------------

These were not "children" but young men. "small" ("quatan" in the hebrew) means "insignificant" or "immature". These were what today we would call "young men" or male youths.

By mocking Elijah, clearly a prophet of God, they were mocking God. Elijah simply "spoke evil of" the young men (Hebrew word "qualal"). Then went on his way.

Two bears then attacked and mauled the young men. It does not state that they were killed.

------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
Execute stubborn kids
If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son ... Then shall his father and his mother ... bring him out unto the elders of his city ... And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.
-- Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (AV)
------------------------------------------------------

You skipped some important info here. (I know you're trying to make the Bible look as bad as possible) The entire passage reads:
"18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a profligate and a drunkard." 21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid."

It is clear that this is not a bratty child. We are talking about an out-of-contol young adult who is bringing dishonor and lawlessness to his parents. This is an incorrigible individual. In those days, any young man who disobeyed his mother and father thus, would also live contrary to God. Note the man was rebellious, stubborn, a glutton, and a drunkard.

------------------------------------------------------
Cris wrote:
So is this just an historical report or an encouragement to punish children severely for being stubborn?
------------------------------------------------------

In your eagerness to portray the Bible as anti-child, you have selected texts which have nothing to do with innocent children.

Sorry.

Now, try studying the good things.

-Mike