Originally posted by aharvey
I'm finding it hard to believe 1) that I'm finding BW to be the aggrieved party in this thread, and 2) how steadfastly you guys refuse to even consider his central point, that Jesus himself was consistent and unambiguous about the taking of a life. The responses I've heard to this have been:
1) BW, you're untrustworthy, so why should we believe you?
2) OT quotes.
3) NT quotes that have nothing to do with whether and when it is appropriate to kill.
4) "Common sense" arguments: what would you do if someone tried to kill you/your wife/etc.?
5) I've had a gun since I was a baby, and no one's gonna take that away from me.
Not one of you have seriously considered the implications of the possibility that in fact Jesus didn't give his approval to deadly response in any situation. What it seems to boil down to is that you are more than willing to wield the Bible in defense of any restriction, as long as it doesn't affect you personally.
Harsh? Let's take a few examples:
Evolution: None of you are evolving (not an insult, individuals cannot evolve, only populations), so it does you no harm to insist on a literal interpretation of the OT. So you do.
Homosexuality: There may be an exception or two lurking here, but it's safe to assume that most of you are not homosexual and in fact find the thought personally repulsive. Therefore, it does you no harm to insist on as many sanctions and restrictions on this behavior as possible.
Divorce: The "sanctity of marriage" is a key argument in favor of banning gay marriage. Never mind the fact that the vast, vast majority of people who would violate the sanctity of marriage in a world where gay marriage was allowed would still be those heterosexuals getting divorced. So why isn't there a far larger outcry against the far more widespread violation of this sacrament? Why not calls for a constitutional amendment banning divorce? Because, unlike homosexuality, this one might affect you personally. And even if you don't plan to get a divorce, you do NOT want the option taken away from you. Cattyfan started a very revealing thread not too long ago, criticizing people who get multiple divorces. Odd restriction, I thought; why not just divorces period? Well, turns out she's had a divorce herself, so she knows from personal experience that even a good Christian may find it necessary to violate the sanctity of marriage. But her understanding only applies to the first divorce; she seems to be certain that all subsequent divorces must have some other, unChristian cause.
Guns: I'm sorry, but there is precious little support for the idea that Jesus would be in favor of killing other people to protect yourself. I'd say he was pretty consistent in opposing this idea, and in fact some of his most wistful remarks were to the effect that the biggest obstacle most people would face in getting to heaven involved sacrificing your Christian principles in order to extend your puny temporary moment here on Earth. But hardly anyone here will even consider that idea, and you've made it abundantly clear that you're willing to do whatever it takes in order to extend your puny temporary moment here on Earth.
Bottom line seems to be that you're willing to be very, er, aggressive in your support of particular Christian ideals, but only to the extent that they don't apply to you directly. Which makes you only human, I guess!
