Quote Originally Posted by Pyramidsonmars
--on the contrary, I know the bible can be taken in the wrong way if you chose, but reading it honestly might paint a different picture for you.
Who decides what is the "right way" and the "wrong way" to read it? You?
--God has put us where we are for reasons. In the case of masters and slaves what God is saying is that whatever your roll is, you should pursue it with all your heart.
So if your role is that of a black slave being whipped on a plantation, you should pursue that role with all your heart? If you're a Jew in Nazi Germany and your masters are sending you to the concentration camps, you should pursue that role with all your heart? Come on. It's perfectly okay for slaves to reject the social role assigned to them and fight for freedom. If you can't see this basic truth then, well, I feel sorry for you.
--It also says that husbands should love their wives. That is naturally how a husband/wife would best get a long. I've experienced this; women need to be loved and to know they are loved. Men who are called by God to do something need to have patient wives who will not attempt to stop them.
Why should the wife play the inferior role? Why should it not be the wife's right to have a patient husband who will not attempt to stop her? Because she has a vagina? Just because it says you're supposed to be nice to your wife doesn't change the fact that the Bible is essentially telling all wives to be slaves to their husband's will. And that is blatant sexism no matter how you look at it. It's the 21st century, man. We no longer treat women as second-class citizens, and the world is much better that way.
The key is that last line. We who never accept God; who consistently say no when God knocks in our hearts, are without excuse. God has called every person here in some way; perhaps God has led you to a forum where his truth is being discussed, perhaps it's the missionairies that came last week. What I'm saying is that God, who has written himself into our hearts, is continually trying to call us, and the only way we could not hear Him is if we continually choose not to listen; the alterantive to God is essentailly what we know as "bad", therefore when we are doing good we are following God, but the bad thigns we do lead us down a path further and further away from God, so that when we die, God is no longer anywhere to be found.
Well, your God hasn't done a good enough job at trying to call me, because my telephone isn't ringing. I have looked at the world around me, and I have not found one piece of conclusive evidence which would prove the existence of God or gods. If there is such a thing as God/gods, he/they would know that all I want is to see some conclusive proof. Why can't he/they write a message in the stars? Why can't he/they appear in my room and say "Hey, man, this is the one true religion"? It's not that I'm "refusing to listen" to your God any more than you are refusing to listen to Vishnu, or Zeus, or Thor. If any of these gods existed, they could easily convince everybody of their existence. But they don't. Either they don't exist, or they want me to continue being an atheist for some reason. All gods in all religions have one thing in common: they are completely invisible and completely silent. Ever wonder why?
I've noticed such a trend in eastern philosophy and religion. I believe this is because the western world itself has been crumbling morally; we realise this and blame the "belief system" that is most popular, but in actuallity I think it's a cultural flaw.
I don't think the world is "crumbling morally". I think, on the contrary, that we've made great advances toward becoming more moral over the centuries. And this has a lot to do with rejecting ideas that have traditionally been promoted by religious institutions (especially Christian ones), such as slavery, sexism and homophobia.