How do Christians possibly rationalize these things?

[Didymos Thomas]

Look Christians enough of this believing in god to solve your problems because it won't solve your problems.

What if I told you that we already know this?

God isn't watching you. He doesn't even exist. God! I mean gees! I mean dam*!

Figuratively speaking?

[MITech]

If we need a god to guide us like a father guiding his son through life, how will we ever grow up. Because to me humans are still children who aren't intelligent enough to realize this.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by MITech

If we need a god to guide us like a father guiding his son through life, how will we ever grow up. Because to me humans are still children who aren't intelligent enough to realize this.

Hhmmm... isn't that precisely the point though?

[MITech]

Originally Posted by Solace

Hhmmm... isn't that precisely the point though?

So far yes but will we ever grow up though. How would growing up look like in society. Will we still believe in god or will we actually be ready to let go of our faith and belief in god.

[Binyamin Tsadik]

Originally Posted by Mephistopheles

Ritual Human and Animal Sacrifice

Slavery

Rape

Murder

I will speak from a Jewish Perspective.

Human Sacrifice is strictly forbidden. One may sacrifice Oneself only if it is a matter of the highest moral value.
Such as if someone holds a gun to your head and tells you to Murder someone, then you are required to say "Shoot me".

Animal sacrifice is not like most people think. We sacrifice animals all of the time in order to eat them. That is the essence of the Animal sacrifice. It is intended to be killed and eaten at the Temple.
I happen to be a Vegitarian, so I would bring a Bread offering and not A Meat one.
But before we can learn to treat animals right, we should learn how to treat people right.

Slavery was a fact of the ancient world. The Torah was not going to forbid slavery, because if it did, then people simply would not obey it. Instead, it brought many laws on how to respect and treat slaves morally. They were all laws against over-abusing a slave.
In later times, slavery was forbidden by the Sanhedrin (Jewish Court). This power was given to them by the Torah.
Also a person could be punished by being made a slave, or a person could sell himself as a slave or one of his children. The slave is never a slave permanently. The limit on slavery is 7 years. If a slave refuses to accept his or her freedom after the 7 years then they are made a slave until the Jubilee year and are automatically set free afterwards.

Rape is also strictly forbidden and if a woman was raped in the olden days then the Man had to pay a fine or if she wanted he would have to marry her and support her and be forbidden to ever divorce her.
Also if someone were to Rape an engaged or Married woman, then he would be put to death.

Killing and Murdering are two different things. Killing is not forbidden if it is a form of punishment or if it is in times of war. Also and Accidental Death is not considered Murder but the Killer is banished to the Levite city.
But Murder is forbidden and the source of this is "Thou shalt not murder"

[Solace]

But before we can learn to treat animals right, we should learn how to treat people right.

Now there's words we all should live by. Being from a place where certain hunting practices are constantly protested and scorned by the rest of the western world, I can't help but be sick to my stomache at the hypocrisy of their attitude when their countries are constantly involved in killing human beings.

[Didymos Thomas]

If we need a god to guide us like a father guiding his son through life, how will we ever grow up. Because to me humans are still children who aren't intelligent enough to realize this.

But somehow one human (you) just happens to be intelligent enough to understand? I'm a bit skeptical.

But let me ask - grow up into what? A god? If we are to be guided by god, at what point would we no longer have use for such guidance? Isn't good guidance better than being lost?

[Poseidon]

The general tone of this thread worries me.

The Bible recounts many tales of horror. People eating their children during times of famine. Genocide as a consequence of that nation being unable to sustain itself. The most beautiful man in the world being crucified for no reason at all, etc etc...

The moral of all of these stories is the same : Obey the ten commandments, or perish.

The word God, is a synonym for Good.

God is a complex noun describing the (Good) laws of nature, embedded within the legal system. eg: If you do not let your land go fallow (the sabbath) every seventh year, you end up with famine, and as a consequence : war, pestilence and death.

If you exploit people; lie, cheat, and steal, then your actions will be echoed throughout your society; and it will collapse into famine, pestilence, war, and death.

The Bible is a record of the last 6000 years (at least) of human history. There is a strong mystical content, but you do not have to agree with, or to have experienced that to realise the consequences of a legal system which thinks that lies are truth, and that the legal system itself need only serve the interests of itself.

The number of times that society has collapsed into war; ultimately because of corruption; is just pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Pitiful. Even animals are better than us.

[Solace]

People eating their children during times of famine.

They must've skipped this story in sunday school.

The Bible is NOT a record of human history. The Bible is a set of mythical stories, which had morals that were often applicable to the times but make little sense to us today, that are placed in a semi-historical setting. There's as much history in the Odyssey or the Illiad, and I doubt there's any more myth.

Society doesn't need to be corrupt in order to collapse into war. Men go to war because men like to kill each other. If ya don't think so, just flick on the television sometime. As for society, it can't become corrupt when it was never set up right in the first place.

[Binyamin Tsadik]

I agree that the Torah is not a History book although it has Historical elements to it. Rather it is all of the necissary steps to create a holy nation that will elevate the world to perfection.