Recent content by InterestedAtheist

Thank you all for your replies. I don't want to break any forum rules, of course. Is it against the rules to discuss abortion? I looked, but couldn't find anything. If it is, could someone please direct me to the rule?

Is abortion an immoral act? If it constitutes the killing of a human being, then the answer would seem to be yes. But if if is simply the termination of a clump of cells, then no. So that leads us to the question: what is a living human being? Certainly, a pre-born organism (right from the...

It sounds like what you just did was try to accuse a person of being cowardly by saying that the person must be a woman.

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. I really hope things get better for you. It might be worth considering this: you say you're not Job or David. Well, in a sense, Job and David weren't Job and David either. They weren't able to say "Well, things are bad, but I'm a pivotal figure in the...

The people who said they didn't trust the fire trucks didn't really mean it. It's just that there were some people they always disagreed with about everything. And so when the fire trucks came along and those people said they were a good idea, the others said they didn't trust them simply for...

Are we talking about atheists or followers of other religions?

Unless they were captured or bought as slaves, in which case you can do with them as you like, because they are your property. As we have already seen. It's nice that the Israelites had rules to treat visiting foreigners well, but don't confuse travellers and merchants with human livestock.

There's quite a few mistakes in there. Actual mistakes, which I am sure you will be glad to see corrected. Let's see. In no particular order... There is no "problem for atheists." Whether the Bible supports slavery, opposes it or is indifferent to it, the outcome for atheists is the same...

I'm not promoting one view over another. I'm looking at the evidence and following where it leads. Again: exactly what do you think God meant when he said “Both thy bond men and thy bond maids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you (these were the descendants...

Because we're on a debating forum and I enjoy debating. Whether the Bible endorses slavery or not doesn't matter at all; but whether I can use logic, reason and research to find the truth of the matter - that's something worth doing. There is nothing wrong with claiming reasonable neutrality...

On slavery in, and after, the Roman empire: I commend you for your honesty in admitting that you are basically making all of this up. I think you should indeed read some history. You’ll find it considerably more complicated than your simplistic “Christianity was good, so when it took over...

On slavery in the New Testament: But this doesn’t encourage freedom for slaves. It shows Paul asking for ther freedom of a single slave for the specific reason that he liked him. If Paul had actually considered slavery to be a moral evil – as he clearly didn’t – he would have tried to help...

On slavery in the Old Testament: Think about it. The Bible clearly says that you can capture, sell and keep slaves for life. And now you look at a verse that says “And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death” and you say this...

On "love" and Christianity: If the Christian message is a message of love, then of course it could have nothing to do with slavery. Which is why, presented by the evidence that Christianity does support slavery, you immediately assume that there must be some other explanation. See the problem...

That was rather a long post, so I feel obliged to sort it by topic. The first: On neutrality and bias: I think we can agree that there are two “types” of answer. One, the Bible is pro-slavery; two, the Bible is anti-slavery, or at least neutral. Well, I can tell you I honestly don’t mind which...