Religious Freedom Bill Does not Survive House Judiciary (Gay: attorney, weddings)

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

The flat earth myth is interesting given that Isaiah refers to the earth as a circle and was written 300 years before science ever got around to the realization. No where does the Bible refer to the earth as being flat.

Well a circle is one-dimensional; that says nothing about whether it is spherical or flat so it proves nothing either way.

While rabbits do not regurgitate food as some other animals do, they do eat partially digested plant matter (cud) through a process known as caecotrophy (perhaps reason enough to not eat them).

Stars falling from the sky?

There are in fact many examples. The Bible describes the earth's jet stream Ecclesiastes 1:6, that the earth is suspended in space Job 26:7, that there are valleys, mountains, and springs (Job 38:16) at the bottom of the ocean, that air has weight Job 28:25, Genesis 17:12 instructs to circumcise boys on the eighth day which is now known to be when blood clotting agent Prothrombin spikes in newborns, Job 38:31 accurately describes the Pleiades (gravitationally bound) and Orion (disintegrating). How did these sheepherders get all of this right, in some cases thousands of years before science figured it out?

What needs to be understood is that the books of the Bible are not scientific textbooks; the authors often use phenomenological language to describe natural occurrences. Sometimes they fall in line with what we now know scientifically, and sometimes they don't.

[joey86]

I would be impressed if the Bible had mentioned evolution, galaxies, gravity, germs, cells, or any number of other things that are central to the many fields of science. Instead, we have suggestions on when to cut off part of a baby penis.

[Cameron H]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

There are in fact many examples. The Bible describes the earth's jet stream Ecclesiastes 1:6

"The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits."

that the earth is suspended in space Job 26:7

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

that there are valleys, mountains, and springs (Job 38:16) at the bottom of the ocean

"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?"

that air has weight Job 28:25

"To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure."

Job 38:31 accurately describes the Pleiades (gravitationally bound) and Orion (disintegrating).

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?"

How did these sheepherders get all of this right, in some cases thousands of years before science figured it out?

SCIENCE!

Or magic...I mean, how else could they figure which way the wind blows, or when baby penis incisions are likely to bleed less?

[joey86]

The fact that the Bible doesn't mention that billions and billions of other stars have planets in their "Goldilocks zones" is like a father failing to tell a child about all of their siblings. If god created the universe, why couldn't he tell us anything about astronomy? If he created life, why was he unable to tell us anything about biology?

[joey86]

One question: Did any Christians take these verses to mean what you are implying they did before scientists came to these conclusions?

[Tryska]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

Not exactly sure what you are asking but I have explained this point in this post .

Once again, what I support is a bill that protects business owners from being threatened with fines and jail for not participating in a gay marriages as is beginning to happen in other states.

Has someone private business owner actually been threatened with fines and or jail for such? Other than justices of the peace, whose job it is to marry whomever shows up at a Courthouse with the appropriate paperwork? (not in a private church mind you - at the courthouse)

[gtjared]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

"The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits."

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

"Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?"

"To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure."

"Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?"

SCIENCE!

Or magic...I mean, how else could they figure which way the wind blows, or when baby penis incisions are likely to bleed less?

I was going to put a post with the verses but you killed it with the O'Reilly reference. I can't believe that these are verses that people will use to point out the scientific accuracy of the Bible. The Bible has a lot of great stories that help people, but it also has a lot of really screwy stuff, and people arguing that it should be taken as scientifically accurate are delusional.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by J2rescue

Yet loving someone does not equal agreeing with everything that person does.

In the word of God, those words were preceded in the Bible by this...to Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.

I see the problem here...being gay is not something someone DOES, but something someone IS. It's not a sex act, but an orientation toward the same sex. I believe this is the root of the problem with a certain sector of society that thinks they are experts on a subject that they know very little about and won't listen to the people who actually do know something about it - in other words, ignorance.

Another huge problem is that many of these hateful "Christians" (not true Christians) don't realize that a large percentage of the American gay population also identifies as Christian. In most of the new stories I hear on this subject they act as if gay people are not part of their own belief system when that just is not true.

If we could get past these two roadblocks I think there would be greater understanding and acceptance...but some people will not even try due to their deeply held personal hatred and disgust for gays. It's truly not religious conviction or there would be many other religious convictions held to a similar standard.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Oh you poor thing, bein' purse-cewted for not being able to run a business with a Straights Only sign on it.

It's the year 2015. Get over it.

No worries. The Bible teaches us that it is a blessing to be persecuted for one's faith. You would find very few business owners willing to display a "Straights Only" and this kind of thing has nothing to do with this debate. At any rate, I still choose to discuss these matters openly as long as it remains legal.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Well a circle is one-dimensional; that says nothing about whether it is spherical or flat so it proves nothing either way.

What needs to be understood is that the books of the Bible are not scientific textbooks; the authors often use phenomenological language to describe natural occurrences. Sometimes they fall in line with what we now know scientifically, and sometimes they don't.

The Bible does describe super natural events that science can neither prove nor disprove. Apart from those events, in fact there is nothing in the Bible that has been shown to be inaccurate. This in itself is a remarkable given the numerous authors and span of time the Bible was written.