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So it'd be better to have you - somebody who is obviously uneducated about what the Bible actually does say - chose what is and is not dismissed?
Do your historical research into the customs and religions of the ancient Near East. Then do some actual research into the background of Biblical writings - not just what you think the Bible says. Then you might begin to understand what was actually being said.
Until then...
Actually...I have. Just because I don't agree with your personal interpretation of what the bible says, I am automatically dismissed as simply 'not understanding'?
What you interpret the bible to say is also different from other people who claim to be Christians.... I am definitely not a deciding factor in what should or should not be dismissed in the bible, since I consider it a book of myths.
I have studied the bible, and religions for many, many years (both in church and out of church...I actually attended a bible study 2 nights a week at a local bible church for nearly 2 years). I am definitely not an authority, but to say I am uneducated and simply 'don't understand' because I don't wholeheartedly agree with you is ridiculous.
But I digress, we have gotten far off topic. I don't believe in the bible (or god for that matter) and you do, so there will always be a fundamental disagreement between us. No worries
After analyzing numerous feedbacks, I infer that religion does play a role in teen pregnancy. However, not a significant amount. It's all based on morals or what society should be doing. When it all boils down the whole religion view on teen pregnancy is basically to practice abstinence. Most religion teaches us (Not only teens) that pre-marital sex is immoral. In this case if the teen is not married then it is wrong. However, a host of teens seek abortions but that is another moralistic topic.
I'd edit that to say "100% physically literally" true. There are fundies that really get carried away with that one.
There are a lot of different genres of writing in the Bible. The Psalms, for instance, are poetry. When did we start taking poetry and saying it's physically literally true? The whole point of that genre is that it's highly emotive and expressive. It's feelings based, not statistics based.
The Psalms are 100% true, basically because feelings are true.
And where, exactly, can I get your latest edition of Omaha Rock's Handy Dandy Guide Book For Dummies, that explains exactly which passages in the Bible are physically literally and irrefutably true, and which are just Poetry?
Many people take the 23rd Psalm as their basic foundation for a belief that there is a Lord who shepherds them beside still waters and obviates a fear of evil. The whole concept of the existence of a personal God breaks down, if that and similar passages are deemed to be mere poetic musing based on nothing but wishful thinking and bucolic daydreams. The 23rd Psalm is not "true feelings" of an internalized poet, it is represented to be a factual statement which is held to be the bedrock of an entire belief system.
And where, exactly, can I get your latest edition of Omaha Rock's Handy Dandy Guide Book For Dummies, that explains exactly which passages in the Bible are physically literally and irrefutably true, and which are just Poetry?
Many people take the 23rd Psalm as their basic foundation for a belief that there is a Lord who shepherds them beside still waters and obviates a fear of evil. The whole concept of the existence of a personal God breaks down, if that and similar passages are deemed to be mere poetic musing based on nothing but wishful thinking and bucolic daydreams. The 23rd Psalm is not "true feelings" of an internalized poet, it is represented to be a factual statement which is held to be the bedrock of an entire belief system.
You're welcome to go ahead and think whatever you want to think about specific Bible passages. Just completely ignore all background research, historical context and scholarly commentary. Approach it having already made up your mind what it is, and what it says. You know, just keep doing exactly what you've been doing.
You're welcome to go ahead and think whatever you want to think about specific Bible passages. Just completely ignore all background research, historical context and scholarly commentary. Approach it having already made up your mind what it is, and what it says. You know, just keep doing exactly what you've been doing.
But you're doing the exact same thing, and so is everyone else who has ever lived! EVERYONE interprets religion and religions texts differently, depending on what they know about culture, historical context and scholarly commentary.... you're no different than any other believer (or non-believer, for that matter).
I think that's the point that was trying to be made.
Maybe some teen pregnancies are caused by the young woman, after unquestioning faith in her male preacher, really believed that her male lover would indeed pull out on time. For a woman to believe either male is foolish.
Maybe some teen pregnancies are caused by the young woman, after unquestioning faith in her male preacher, really believed that her male lover would indeed pull out on time. For a woman to believe either male is foolish.
Yes. The Journal of Reproductive Health had an article in September of 2009 which stated that there is a strong correlation between the level of religiosity in a state and the level of teen pregnancy. It was higher than states with fewer religious believers. My thoughts on this are that believers withhold crucial information regarding birth control from their children, instead blindly assuming that abstinence is the only answer.
Kids have sex, it's a fact. I did, my kids did, your kids do or will. Why not cover the bases and allow them the proper info to protect themselves?
Quite right, Balvenie. As well, the southern states have a "different" outcome on the achievement of Bachelor degree graduates, and even within that category, there's a lower number of hard sciences /engineering type graduates in the traditional Southern States. But then, the involvement and influence in such churches as Southern Baptist is higher as well.
What conclusions do we draw? Certainly, for my children, I"d rather hide them in a cave than have them suffer through a Christian agenda of winger-waggling, brainless demonstrations against "the evils of rock music", and in having your kids join you in protesting certain movies and denying Evolution.
The "Catholic girl" scenario is well-known (Billy Joel had it right...), but the incidence of good old fashioned unthinking sex in early teens is far more prevalent in those states and locales where critical thinking and personal (rather than God-guided) ethics and behavior are suppressed.
I read fundamentalist letters regularly in our local newspaper, telling us all how a mandatory return to school prayer and bible studies, and to the removal of much of the science curriculum, "Would turn America around!".
Such nonsense.
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