Please tell me there are more Atheists out there...

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*hasn't read any other posts, just title*

yes, i am a fellow athiest. I hate how peoples fear of death makes them sacrifice their lives following some image of a "god" or something like that for hope of an afterlife.

 

Historically speaking, different parts of the Bible were written at different times; the author of the book of Genesis was not the author of the book of Luke. I don't see why you can't decide chapter X of book Y is good stuff to live your by but chapter A of book B is information you don't agree with.

The problem, it seems, is the authority of the Bible. If we accept it as "God's book," then we have to take it as a whole (because God's hand guided the writing and selection of the books). But authority has been taken from the Bible. Few people today live their lives strictly according to a Biblical verse.

But I find the idea of a "re-write" of the Bible pretty hilarious.

 

Thessolonica and Corinth, in the time of Paul, were both filled with prostitutes, mainly from major roman temples in the areas. Paul tells both cities various things about women dressing modestly, respecting authority, and submitting themselves to their husbands because these are the exact things the non-christian women didn't do. Its kind of like smoking here at ODU.
If I were to say that smoking was a sin, and christians shouldn't even be suspected of it, I would tell christians not to hang out in front of the Batten Arts and Letters building. This is not because BAL is a bad place, or hanging out is a sin, but because that is where smokers go to smoke, and if they hung out there, people would think they smoked. In the same way, Paul wanted everyone in Corinth to know that christians were different, that they didn't live by the social norm, so he told them to act differently from the major sources of sin in the area.
I'm not sure what the exact reference to homosexuality you are refering to is, but homosexuality was viewed in one of two categories. The romans and greeks thought there was nothing wrong with it, the Jews and Samaritans said there was something very wrong with it. The new testament, in several places, agrees with the Jews and Samaritans.

 

Precisely. Although, being an atheist, shouldn't we (I am one as well) fear dying, because we don't believe we go anywhere?

For me, there is no fear of dying (although, yes, some deaths are quite painful). We rot in the ground. Oh well.

 

Well, prostitution and pornography run rampant in the western society of today, and fashion is quite skimpy... Do Paul's words apply to the current situation? Dressing modestly, respecting authority, and submitting to husbands would still seem like very christian things to do. They seem applicable today, yet they are not so vigorously upheld anymore, while many other things are.

It's not so much the picking and choosing that I have a problem with, but the picking and choosing combined with claiming the book is the word of God. The authority. Most of the different books in the Bible claim to originate from divine revelations, witnessing miracles and such. If you believe in such things, it's pretty arrogant to decide some part is not agreeable and another is.

With the pig example that I keep going back to, my guess is that the reasons for banning it were practical - pork that isn't cooked properly can be a lot more dangerous than for example cows. This is probably why muslims forbade it as well. But the Bible says it is a command from God, don't eat it, it's filthy. You can dissect, rationalazise and dispute almost any supposed command from God, if you start interpreting and puzzling out the circumstances and practical reasons for each command. And there lies the problem in picking and choosing. If you go down that road, you can't really use the book as an authority to judge things by anymore. You have to use your own judgement, your own morals and common sense. At that point, what do you need the book for at all?

There are parts in the Bible that I fully agree on - "treat others like you wish to be treated" is a great idea. But it doesn't make the book holy in my eyes. And if I don't think the book is holy, it doesn't mean I can't agree with some of the things it suggests.

 

There are a lot of parallels between modern society and roman society. Prostitution is not accepted to nearly the same degree, but still. If you go into any good church today, people will be preaching that we need to do all those things you mentioned. Any church who accepts it is not a good church, and before I get blasted for that, let me explain. A good institution of any religion is one that supports the tennets of that religion as they should be. If it does not, it is not a good example of that religion. If it distorts them in any way, it has problems. Also, remember that while God is perfect, people are not. You will never find a perfect christian or a perfect church, we all makes mistakes.

 

Wouldn't God much rather you go out and do the good tasks, instead of wasting 1 to 2 hours a day (or week, depending) praying to him? If is he omnipotent and omniscient, he knows you worship him. I'm sure he'd rather see results of his morals.

 

My impression of worship services is more instructional, on how better to live and how better to do good. I can't speak for other faiths, but in mine, there is the Sacrement Meeting, where after a bit of ritual, there are speakers, usually from the congregation, who've been given an assigned topic to research ans speak on briefly. Usually 2 to 4 such speakers talk on any given sunday.

There are also a couple other meetings where the primary function is education (one doctrinal, one more practical). Some members become involved in other meetings designed to facilitate good works (I'm on two such committees.)

 

Ah but Saber, we are not to "labor" on the Sabbath, even if it is "good" works, it's work nonetheless.

Of course, laboring (to help the poor) on the Sabbath is one of the things that got Jesus in so much trouble. Go figure.

 

So Sunday is a designated "lazy" day? I guess if God rested on the seventh day, we should follow his example, huh? Nevermind that crunching numbers isn't quite as strenuous as, say, creating a universe. I could go on, but I'm already starting to feel glares for my poor attempts at jokes.

 

Yeah, Fel, You've had better jokes...

Basically, We take a day out of the week to rest, worship and reflect on how we can better live during the next six days...

 

Who ever said prayer and work were mutually exclusive? I'm takling to God all the time. Whenever something comes to mind, He's the first one I turn to. You don't have to close your eyes or bow your head or clasp your hands to pray.
As for services, they serve the spirit much the way food serves the body. We all need time to relax and recouperate. This is what the sabbath is for. If you, like many americans, have leasure time anyway, the sabbath doesn't all need to be on the same day.
Worship and fellowship are needed to keep people from getting burnt out.