wow you all have really good replies mellisa thank god you didnt leave and chynna  "u da bomb" lol
as for my friend rafe this is from the old testament so it didn't go through all the "refurbishing"
and i went to an all "girls"(i know your thinking you lucky bas cough hm son of a gun) bible school forever so.........

There is another board in Spirituality in which Chaunte revealed some info from a rabbi on the background of that verse in Deuteronomy... I think it's very valuable info.

And yeah, Jaded, you are a lucky something-or-other... SO jealous...

Rafe

eer Rafe,
The King James version of the Bible, it wasn't written by him you know, nor did he get it written to make homosexuality more acceptable. He commissioned the most eminent scholars of the time to try to get a definitive and accurate version drawing on Greek Latin Jewish texts - there was starting to appear at that time many "versions" of the bible, thanks to the printing press & evangelical sects.

Poor old King James, he gets such a rotten press - whatever he may have been, I don't think "gay" came into the picture.

Rana

I know i mentioned this in anoter thread but I'll say it here too. My wife and I feel my Tsism is part of God's plan for us. We feel I was meant to be created female but because of rejection by religion and most of society if both I and the one He destined to be my soul mate (my wife) were both female in a same sex relationship He decided one of us had to wear a male body, which I guess I got the short straw!!lol. This allowed us to venture in society and be accepted. I hope I explained it right this time!
(ps: if anyone wants to get technical, God never said He was perfect,nor did Jesus. We humans labelled Him as perfect and feel this mistake thing blasphemus. Now I'll get thumped for sure!!lol)

Quote from: cindianna_jones on July 19, 2006, 08:01:23 AM
IAnd on the fourth day, yes after
the grass grew,
God decided to create the sun and the stars.

WHHHHWAAAAATTT?

Yes, God created the stars and the sun
on the fourth day.
Three days after creating mother earth
and one day after the plants.

Did God ignore his own physics?
Didn't he know that solid matter can
only come from a dying star?
A supernova where gasses are
fused to heavy elements?

Didn't he remember that grasses
require photosynthesis?
Or did he break his own laws?

mmmm....Well afterall he\she is GOD...Maybe GOD made physics later on like on the 9 month of creation??!!!!LOL

The bible is an interpretation of history before history began...it is human beings need to try and understand and catagorize (label) everything in the universe....
I believe that the universe was created (like science states) over a course of billions of years but if one can conceive a supreme being (like GOD) then one has to conceive that perhaps he did create the universe in 7 days!!!

How?

Well stop for a second and look at time..... linear time from a supreme beings point of view...
If GOD does in fact exist he as been around for the entire length of the universe billions of years
So in GODS preception of time maybe the billions of years it took to form the universe was in fact in his time or view of such a matter of days..........

Or maybe I need to switch to decaf and cut back on my meds!

Chynna

Well, according to the bible, He also made animals (including dinosaurs which were around long before humans) 1 day before humans.  I began question inconsistencies like this in the bible when I was still in my preteens.  Nobody ever had a good answer.

Melissa

Quote from: Melissa on July 19, 2006, 08:48:02 AM
Well, according to the bible, He also made animals (including dinosaurs which were around long before humans) 1 day before humans. 

Exactly GOD just left that day out!!!
Why bother writing about it! LMAO

Yes, it is full of flaws, yet some people take every sentence literally.  I believe the bible is a tool for teaching and many of the stories are symbolic.

Melissa

I feel that to even attempt to understand God's plan right now is going to fail.

Here's the reason. A good friend of mine at work who I talk with a lot put it like this.

If you ask three blind men to descibe an object (in this case an elephant) that they can touch and feel.

The first grabs the elephant by the tail, and proudly proclaims that this object is kinda like a flexible broom, it has a sorta bushyish tail, it feels leathery, it's like a long feather duster.

The second grabs the elephant by the leg, and says, This thing is like a leather tree!

The third grabs the elephant by the trunk and says, This is a hose... that moves!

None of them have a complete picture of the elephant.

We are all at different phases of our spiritual journey. 

To say that Christianity is 'wrong' is, in my opinion, incorrect. The people who are Christians are Christians because that is where they are in their spiritual journey.  They are right where they are supposed to be.

Likewise, for anyone to say "Joe is wrong for his beliefs" is also incorrect because Joe is right where he needs to be in his spiritual journey.

And, to me, it doesn't matter who is more advanced than who.  To say, 'Oh, well, the Buddhists must be ahead of the Christians because they are so peaceful' is also missunderstanding this concept entirely.

It doesn't matter who is more advanced, or closer to the truth than another.  What matters is YOUR spiritual journey. Not how you compare to another or who is 'older' or 'newer'.

We are all exploring this huge thing called God, and our understanding of this will come with time. With that said, I think I am exploring the tail, and I think, in this life, I got ->-bleeped-<- on.

My favorite quote in the entire bible, "Judge not, lest you be judged"

I think that sums is up very nicely.

Jessica

Quote from: Jessica on July 19, 2006, 11:00:06 AM
I think I am exploring the tail, and I think, in this life, I got ->-bleeped-<- on.

I think that sums is up very nicely.

Jessica

LMAO
AMEN SIS!

Quote from: Melissa on July 19, 2006, 10:43:42 AM
Yes, it is full of flaws, yet some people take every sentence literally.  I believe the bible is a tool for teaching and many of the stories are symbolic.

Melissa

I see sacred scriptures as humanities interaction with the Almighty.  Nowhere has it been shown that all the scriptures are historically accurate.  Some describe history.  Some of the stories are symbolic.  Some are taken from other faiths.  Some are ancient stories preserved from prehistoric times.  ALL of them are told in a way to show the power of the Almighty.

Chaunte

Quote from: Jessica on July 19, 2006, 11:00:06 AM
Likewise, for anyone to say "Joe is wrong for his beliefs" is also incorrect because Joe is right where he needs to be in his spiritual journey.

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' ~ Kahlil Gibran

I also believe you are judged by God by what is in your heart, not by how many times you go to church or by how many rules in the bible you break.  That is why I know I will never go to hell (if there even is one).

Melissa

Well heck, even if the bible ends up being more-or-less factually accurate, and God really does pay some attention to The Rules, he obviously pardons certain people for their transgressions or NO ONE is getting into heaven - as we're all sinners to some degree.

Is crossdressing (closest analogy in the bible to TSism) worthy of a hell sentence? I dunno...

But from what I read, the determination of getting into heaven or not is more a matter of faith and belief than a tally of your sins. You can be a kitten-killing pedophile, yet get into heaven if your faith is strong. And yet Ghandi went to hell, as he didn't accept Jesus (as far as I know).

So sin or not, I don't think TSism will bar anyone from heaven. A lack of faith however will (christians fee free to correct me).

Quote from: Kate on July 20, 2006, 11:00:11 AM
But from what I read, the determination of getting into heaven or not is more a matter of faith and belief than a tally of your sins. You can be a kitten-killing pedophile, yet get into heaven if your faith is strong. And yet Ghandi went to hell, as he didn't accept Jesus (as far as I know).

Faith in God, not faith in the religion.  Although Ghandi was Buddhist, he also prayed to the same God that Christians pray to, whether they want to believe that or not.

Quote from: Wikipedia
Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:

"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew."

Although each faith has a different set of protocols, I believe they are all accomplishing the same thing.

Melissa

I leave it up to God a "higher power"
To wether I go to heaven or hell when the time comes...
It's not for me to contemplate right now.

Chynna

I just try and be a good human.  You can't really go wrong with that.  I do it more for my own growth, rather than some external power though.

Melissa

Quote from: Melissa on July 20, 2006, 10:47:35 AM
I also believe you are judged by God by what is in your heart, not by how many times you go to church or by how many rules in the bible you break.  That is why I know I will never go to hell (if there even is one).

Melissa

I think all of us have been there (hell, I mean)... how worse can it get??


tinkerbell

Touché.

Melissa

Quote from: Melissa on July 20, 2006, 11:10:42 AM
...  Although Ghandi was Buddhist, he also prayed to the same God that Christians pray to, whether they want to believe that or not...

Melissa

I believe that Ghandi was Hindu and practiced Hinduism all his life.

Steph