What had happen' was.....: Jul 7, 2011

Thursday, July 7, 2011

My Common Sense is Tingling: Marriage Equals… | The Angry Black Woman

I saw the above image with the following comments:

Every time I hear about how marriage has ALWAYS been between one man and one woman I want to go through the Bible and bring all this up. The infographic is very helpful.
Next I need a list of all the different kinds of marriages throughout history. Because not only have we had polygamous marriage for forever, but it hasn’t always been one man and several wives. Plus, there’s that whole penchant Egyptians had for marrying siblings (there is evidence that this wasn’t just a practice of the royals, either).
But for those who only believe in what the Bible tells them, this is the best weapon.

I do believe what the Bible says about marriage. Does the Bible tells us that Levirate marriages, concubines, polygamy are prescribed as commandments or condoned? No, the Bible merely tells us that they happened and we have no evidence that God was happy about it. As a matter of fact the times at which God actively and miraculously matched men and women together (Adam/Eve and Isaac/Rebbecca. are examples) were single, male/female relationships. Other marriages being discussed were the choices of people. God didn't tell them to do that.Also in a Levirate marriage the woman who married her dead husband's closest living male relative it was a real marriage and she was supposed to be a full wife. Their children were to carry on the lineage of the dead husband and provide the woman the protection that a widow looses in that culture.

Now it gets interesting. ~~Because the Bible does mandate that if a man rapes a virgin he has to marry her.~~ The Bible does not mandate that a woman must marry her rapist. The Bible also talks about how to marry a woman who has been captured in war. It seems crazy to our modern sensibilities. I mean why would a woman want to marry her rapist? We are repulsed by the idea because today women have options. In Ancient times, they had no options. A woman who had been raped would not have the protection of a husband. It was better for her in that time to be in a marriage where she could not be divorced. God gave them this command for the woman's protection. If one carefully studies the Hebrew you can see when it's talking about when a woman is being forced or when a woman is choosing to have sex. Both cases are discussed.

As for two of the relationships given in the chart, there are misstatements..

Genesis 16 is about Hagar being Sarah's slave and becoming Abraham's concubine. The chart says that a wife's property becomes that of her husband's. I should hope so! And vice versa! By this time, Sarah and Abraham had been married for years! Being barren, Sarah thought she could help God out because they had been promised children. Sarah knew legally, the child Hagar would bear by Abraham would be his and Sarah's. That was the practice of the time and no where does God say "Good idea! All those who follow me should do the same thing!!!"

As for Exodus 21:4, the whole law is not given:

² “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ ⁶ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.- Exodus 21:4-6

The law is not about mating slaves together like cattle. Thank America for that, not God. Instead the scripture it talking about giving permission to a slaves to marry.

So why did God allow people to mess up marriage so bad, if monogamous, male-to-female marriages are better for us and His will? Jesus answered this for us:

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning.

Does anyone really think that these other aberrations of what marriage should be is any different than the evil of divorce, made necessary by our sins? I don't. Why should we go and further mess up what marriage has become? Why make it worse? We should just go back to what God has called "Good", not to "I'll let you slide until I decide to judge you in hell".

Marriage Equals… | The Angry Black Woman

FacePalm of the Day #100 - Debunking Christianity: The Implications of Evolution are Enormous

John Loftus posted a short paragraph that never ceases to amaze me

I've previously quoted from Jerry Coyne where he tells us evolution is a fact. Here are a few of the implications: The God-hypothesis for the creation of human beings is unnecessary at best; the Adam & Eve story is a myth; human beings are not special nor even the highest creation; when we die we cease to exist just like every other species does. There are many others. Religion itself becomes an unnecessary hypothesis.

It seems that it doesn't matter what anyone says, he doesn't listen. Think about it. He protests too much. Micro Evolution is a fact. Small incremental changes caused by environment and mutation from within a species is indeed a fact. However, those changes explaining how a whale and a horse can have common ancestor as a land dwelling mammal....not so much.

Debunking Christianity: The Implications of Evolution are Enormous

“Being here in America doesn’t make you an American…” | The Angry Black Woman

“Well, I am one who doesn’t believe in deluding myself. I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American. Being born here in America doesn’t make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn’t need any legislation; you wouldn’t need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn’t be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D.C., right now. They don’t have to pass civil-rights legislation to make a Polack an American. No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver — no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.”