Ark Encounter exec says they have enough funding to begin construction

I am good with whatever helps people get through their day/lives. Especially if it helps them play better with others in the sandbox of society.

That's really the problem, isn't it? That's what all of the major religions teach, and yet they're bent to justify all kinds of hate and violence.

With "bent" being at least somewhat in the eyes of the beholder.

Since I have a couple minutes, and the inclination....

Seems likely the OT teachings were based on a time in history when there's weren't THAT many people on Earth. Jeopardizing a whole village because someone couldn't tell if the pig was fully cooked could be disastrous for the local population. So, rules (commandments, if you will) helped protect the public health. Tattoos, pig, shellfish - pretty easy to see how you could threaten the community's health without proper cooking and sanitation. Not sure about the clothes of different fabrics, but....some stuff is left to mystery.

Fast forward a few thousand years and we've gotten several million people spread across multiple continents, and even if an entire village or two were wiped out, the human race was pretty secure. Time for a new set of rules, one that didn't stress the survival of mankind as much, and stressed getting along with each other a LOT more. Of course, you need to get *the message* out that there are now rules of conduct that weren't needed/didn't apply previously. Hence, the messenger...

So I guess I see the law and the religion evolving together, along with society. It always makes more sense to me "in context."

Even if one believes it is a fairly tale, we can still benefit from the wisdom in message the story.

I agree with you there. One can benefit from the "love conquers evil" theme of the Star Wars saga as well. But is there a danger in believing that these stories should be elevated to non-fiction status? I suppose that's for parents to decide.

And legalized discrimination, Jeff (just to add to your list). Just look what almost happened in Arizona last week. That's beyond appalling. And here in Ohio we have a similar law that will be rolling through soon.

I truly understand that the fringe extremists are always loud, and it may be true that most Christians are not bible-literalists, etc., but what that loud minority is capable of is frightening.

I get very anxious when we draw too sharp a contrast between OT times and NT times. There's still some pretty messed up stuff in the NT: Jesus' cleansing of the temple, especially the version in John where he makes a whip out of cords...or the conversation with the Canaannite woman where he seemed reluctant to help ("even the dogs eat the crumbs"); and there's some pretty good stuff in the OT like the suffering servant in Isaiah, the promises to Abraham, the salvation of Nineveh in spite of Jonah.

Obviously we want to understand the scriptures within their historical context, but I think we're treading on dangerous ground when we say, "This commandment was written for a particular reason in a particular situation which no longer exists, so we don't have to abide by it." Not to say we should interpret things literally, but I'm not sure we can ever completely and exhaustively understand why certain commandments and scriptures are the way they are.

Jeff said:

That's really the problem, isn't it? That's what all of the major religions teach, and yet they're bent to justify all kinds of hate and violence.

People can find just about any reason to justify and teach all kinds of hate and violence - skin color, geography, sports team allegiance, clothing color (i.e. gangs)...I would like to think that my faith makes me a better person (it certainly makes me a more fulfilled person), but I bet everybody says that, even as they're hating and violating.

Long time lurker here. I feel like after all these years I know most of you. If everyone on this earth respected each other, and discussed things in a manner that you have done, we'd be better off. Thanks to all of you for being mature with a touchy subject matter.