Ageless Morality or Outdated Context?
A candid reflection on the contradictions of biblical ethics
I just wanted to share this little monologue I wrote via private message with a Christian. I can get quite eloquent when I'm fired up. :)
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"You donāt get to have it both ways. You donāt get to argue that the Bible is inspired by ageless moral perfection and then insist that the 'difficult' passages of the Bible need to be understood through the context of things being 'different back then.' Either the morality in the Bible is ageless and perfect, or it ages because it is far from perfect.
Surely, a morally perfect, omniscient being would have had the foresight to realize that genocide, rape, and slavery might not look as good on His CV in 2024 as they did in Old Testament times.
And you know, perhaps things might not have been so different from modern times if the writers of the Bible had spent less time commanding the Jews not to eat shellfish or wear clothes of mixed fibers and instead wrote something as straightforward and commonsense as: 'Donāt treat women like chattels or spoils of war.'
Imagine that. Imagine if a morally perfect being had bothered to etch a little note in the margins somewhere, advising the Jewish people not to be so horribly misogynistic. So much suffering and torment could have been spared."
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About the Creator
Cindyš
Hey, Iām Cindy ā a K-pop newbie turned addict with a keyboard and way too many opinions. When Iām not screaming about talented artists, Iām writing poetry or ranting about my life.
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Comments (6)
Congratulations on making the Leaderboard!
Congratulations, Cindy š
Wow! Girl congratulations on winning third place for The Emerging Creator this week ššš„³ Such a masterpiece āØ
Lol, this is why I'm an agnostic š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£š¤£
āā¦ might not look as good on his CVā¦ā hahaha wow, thatās powerful, scathing, and kinda hilarious all at once. Also, youāre right. everything you said so cleanly, in ways that seem clear and fair and beyond debate. The Bible did not age wellā some messages can still contain wisdom but they need to be weighed against common sense, science, and the good of modern society. My favorite Bible passage is the one about a group of kids making fun of Elishaās baldness. Then he curses them in the name of the Lord, and God (being petty beyond all belief) summons bears to maul 42 of the kidsā¦ all because they laughed at some dudeās bald head! I think if 42 kids laughed at my bald head it would be kinda hilarious, canāt imagine being hurt enough to want to see them murdered by Holy Bears bears. The whole passage is just jarring and absurd, to think that a godly man would be so vain about his scalp that heād meet the jeering of children with violence and that God would provide said violence in the form of a divine mauling is justā¦ totally mad. Like a fever dream. To me thatās the perfect example of the Bible contradicting itselfā and it chews the idea of biblical fundamentalism to pieces. The others would be Adam and Eve and the fact that a 2 individual breeding population would never sustainably procreateā and also implies LOTS of inbreeding in genesis. The other one I like is the story of the ark, which again, breeding pairs of two arenāt sustainable, but also: clearly that boat wasnāt physically large enough to house 2 of every animal, along with the food theyād need for a 40 day cruise. Also, how would Noah and his fam ever clean that much animal shit? But objections based in science donāt really motivate people who relegate all their belief to biblical faith, thatās why the story about the bear mauling is my go to. If you ask a fundamentalist whether that literally happened, and if so, why? How would God condone brutal, senseless violence against children like that? they sometimes start to realizeā¦ either the Bible isnāt literal or God is a raging sociopath. All this being said, I think the Bible still has some beautiful parts, mostly in psalms and the New Testament. But I canāt understand why modern people would willingly take the Bible literally, or think that it should provide any moral guidance without modern correction. Anyway, sorry for the long winded comment! Iām glad you shared this snapshot of your convoā it speaks to a frustration Iāve often felt in similar conversations, and I think you said it so succinctly and powerfully that it would be a shame not to share it.
Wow, this is an incredibly powerful and eloquent piece! š„ Your words really challenge traditional views with such conviction and clarity. ššÆ