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This is typical of a "new testament" or "new covenant" Christian attempting to dodge old testament doctrine when it's convenient with diabolically opposed new testament scripture. The assertion is that Jesus formed a "new covenant" with mankind by dying on the cross. So with his blood, pain and suffering, he wiped the slate clean. That is...IF you "accept him into your heart, dedicate your life to him and constantly ask his forgiveness through the church or not, depending on your particular faith". The new covenant and whether it invalidated the old testament is one of the most hotly debated issues in all of religion. It's always funny to me when this comes up because "the bible as an authoritative source" people get deeper and deeper every time this happens.

Just to placate you, feel free to enjoy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament. Particularly pay attention to the "Christianity view of the Law" portion. If you're feeling brainy, take some time becoming a theology scholar so you can intelligently argue things like this -

"As far as the Ten Commandments, some believe Jesus rejected four of the Ten Commandments and endorsed only Six [4], citing Mark 10:17-22 and the parallels Matthew 19:16-22 and Luke 18:18-23. (cf. Cafeteria Christianity) While others believe he supported nine and claim that the Commandment concerning the Sabbath was redefined by Jesus (Mark 7:20-23, 10:17-22, Romans 13:9-10, Eph 6:1-3, James 2:8-11). Still others believe a partial list of the commandments was merely an abbreviation that stood for all the commandments because Jesus prefaced his statement to the rich young ruler with the statement: "If you want to enter life, obey the commandments". Since Jesus did not qualify his pronouncement, he likely meant all the commandments. The rich young ruler asked "which" commandments. Jesus gave him a partial list from the second table. The first set of commandments deal with a relationship to God. The second set of commandments deal with a relationship to men. No doubt Jesus condsidered the relationship to God important, but Jesus may have considered that the young man was perhaps lacking in this second set which made him obligated to men. (This is inferred by his statement that to be perfect he should sell his goods, give them to the poor and come and follow Jesus--thereby opening to him a place in the coming Kingdom.)"

The last bit about pi wasn't me, but it's typical of somebody adding something that appeals to them.

I've answered every one of these questions, as responded to by adventists, pentecostals, mormons, catholics and good 'ol fashioned southern baptists. After many years of everything from calm debate to exhausting, sweaty screaming, I've learned that it's not the individual points and their completely un-provable stance in history or applicability to modern life that matters. What matters is that the bible is not an authoritative source. The church is not an authoritative source. The preacher, priest, nun, pastor, lay leader, spiritual advisor, psychic, medium, witch doctor or babulau isn't either. The only authoritative source is your heart, soul, chakra, spirit, inner energy or whatever/however you choose to refer to it. What matters is what you think, how you feel and how you act.

That does not mean that you are required, needed or desired to open your mouth about your experiences, feelings or choices. The world doesn't need any more recruiters for religion. So if you want to get down on your knees and follow the flock, have fun with it and try not to crawl around the shit from the flock ahead of you. If you don't want to be in our industry any more, go away. We don't want or need to hear anything else from you. You're like a guy who joins NA then goes back to your buddy's houses where he got stoned every night to do nothing but gush about how great life is without weed. If you think you're better than us or better off than us...be better somewhere else. I can't speak for everyone, but I can proudly say that I'm damned happy doing what I'm doing and I don't need you or your whiny "my model's losing her scholarship because she's too stupid to read the morality clause" threads. That "saying it without saying it" shit has gone far enough.

Religion and it's offspring are the source of more bloodshed, corruption, political upheaval, social strife, tears, hate, anger, loss and fear than anything else since the dawn of man. That's a fact whether you believe we crawled out of the primordial soup or appeared in a flash of miracle and wonderment at the command of God, Rod, Obatala, Gitche Manitou, Zarathustra, Dagon, Izanagi, Odin, Ixpiyacoc, Chiconahuiehecatl or any of the other "Creator Gods" I found on wikipedia. So now you're a member of the their crew...congrats! Just remember that if you're with them, you're against us. Remember, we're the "corrupting influence that's threatening the world's children, women's innocence and drawing praise away from God". Enjoy a few more quotes from others on "your team" -

I am a Christian.
Jerry Falwell

I believe with all my heart that the Bible is the infallible word of God.
Jerry Falwell

I think pornography is a scourge on society.
Jerry Falwell

I am saying pornography hurts anyone who reads it, garbage in, garbage out.
Jerry Falwell

If I were doing something that the Bible condemns, I have two choices. I can straighten up my act, or I can somehow distort and twist and change the meaning of the Bible.
Jerry Falwell

There's an assault on human sexuality, as Judge Scalia said, they've taken sides in the culture war and on top of that if we have a democracy, the democratic processes should be that we can elect representatives who will share our point of view and vote those things into law.
Pat Robertson

We've got a major problem in our culture, as it relates to the Internet and pornography and child pornography.
John Ashcroft

Sex education classes in our public schools are promoting incest.
Jimmy Swaggart

If I do not return to the pulpit this weekend, millions of people will go to hell.
Jimmy Swaggart

I also enjoyed these -


"You can cite a hundred references to show that the biblical God is a bloodthirsty tyrant, but if they can dig up two or three verses that say 'God is love', they will claim that *you* are taking things out of context !" ? Dan Barker, "Losing Faith in Faith".

"Citing the Bible as evidence for anything is like saying that the sun is in fact a chariot of fire that races across the sky because we read about it in Greek mythology." ? Stephen Ban.

"The Bible has noble poetry in it... and some good morals and a wealth of obscenity, and upwards of a thousand lies." ? Mark Twain.

"The best cure for Christianity is reading the Bible." ? Mark Twain.

"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company." ? Mark Twain.

"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the bible is filled, it would seem more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind..." ? Thomas Paine.

"The Bible has been interpreted to justify such evil practices as, for example, slavery, the slaughter of prisoners of war, the sadistic murders of women believed to be witches, capital punishment for hundreds of offenses, polygamy, and cruelty to animals. It has been used to encourage belief in the grossest superstition and to discourage the free teaching of scientific truths. We must never forget that both good and evil flow from the Bible. It is therefore not above criticism." ? Steve Allen, on the Bible, Religion & Morality.

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." ? Isaac Asimov.

"The Bible is the greatest hoax in all history. The leading characters of the Old Testament would today be in the penitentiary and those of the New would be under observation in psychopathic wards." ? Charles Smith (1887-1964) U.S. attorney, author.

"To judge from the notions expounded by theologians, one must conclude that God created most men simply with a view to crowding hell." ? Marquis de Sade.