if you took out the parts about jesus and sex

[slunken]

would you have any problems with "christian values" or do you think those values (the seven deadly sins, the other commandments) have nothing to do with christianity?

if so, do you think christianity would maybe be the best place for a person to learn those values? what other options might there be?

do you think people that reject the parts about jesus and sex are more inclined toward not following the other so-called "christian values" (i'm thinking little things like lying, cheating, stealing, turning the other cheek, loving thy neighbor, etc) as if it were some kind of black or white situation?

[Elphenor]

A) No, but they didn't originate from and are not exclusive to Christianity

B) No, the values can be taught without the superstition i.e. "be good to each other" doesn't need to be accompanied by mythical stories it's just something that makes sense

C) No

[slunken]

but are there any common institutions other than religion that exclusively teach these values.

[Order 66]

well i don't think you could make jesus and christianity mutually exclusive in the first place

the general "good" things (be altruistic, don't be a dick, ect) are jesus' teachings ... so taking him out of the picture you have all the cray old testament stuff. i mean not that the ten commandments or seven d. sins don't have some common sense teachings but some of that stuff is antiquated and silly

i think if modern christianity relegated itself to just jesus' teachings it'd be a legit thing you could better yourself on. but with the religion comes all these whacko contingencies in today's world like stem cells are immoral, evolution isn't real, ect

[MyOneAndOnly]

there are 613 commandments. Not 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

[MyOneAndOnly]

i think the literal christian values are generally shit. The biggest of their "values" that I find ridiculous is the acceptance of Jesus as the only path to God.

if you look at the commandements in the Torah or Old Testament most of them are pretty horrible. I think a lot of christians today don't even understand what their scripture even says.

Values are not inherrently religious. You don't need a religion to teach you.

[Order 66]

[Shallowed]

There's a lot more objectional content than just that stuff.

[slunken]

i don't have an opinion one way or the other i was just curious

[Eulogy]

You don't have an opinion on the third part?

[Eulogy]

Also most young children's television goes through basic morality. Barney is probably more effective than church. Right?

[Eulogy]

And also parents can do it I guess.

[ilikeplanets]

you can't take the sex out of jesus

[Elphenor]

Share and be nice

[ilikeplanets]

i've never been christian a day in my life (was born into a very reformed jewish family) and the concept of original sin has always boggled my mind. sex and procreation is perfectly fucking natural, even important, and yet all this guilt...? i understand not wanting to be controlled by lust but to already be screwed just because you were born out of sex...? why?

a sidenote: i went to synagogue up until i was bat mitzvah age (13) and i think i heard Hell/Gehenna mentioned only once. not the focus for sure

[vixnix]

There are liberal churches that are more open minded in terms of the bible's veracity and divine origins. I suppose that's what the spectrum of Christian practice comes down to.

Because my own church is open to the idea that the Bible is a human authored document, containing the biases and inadequacies of the ancients, we do attract members who have no conventional faith, but enjoy being in community with others, and enjoy singing hymns and hearing a sermon on a Sunday morning. There are only about 60 in our congregation, despite the fact that our auditorium seats something like 250.

The thing is, if that's all it comes down to for a person, they're less likely to commit a lot of time and energy to it. So the 60 people at our church are odd, because we're the tiny handful in a large city full of people, who want to continue on with the traditions of Christianity - like meeting for a service on a Sunday morning.

But yeah...I think Church can be a great place to get support, if you want to live according to your values, and your values are aligned with Jesus' teaching. Liberal churches can absolutely be that - even if you are an atheist and have no faith in intentional creation/God/divinity. And I would really encourage you to become involved...just because there are valuable properties involved, that can be inherited by our generation as places where we celebrate the traditions of the past that we find affirming and inclusive today, and consider how we can live according to our highest values, by interpreting our life events through the various morality tales and parables given to us in the Bible.

I really like John ******* Crossan...he was excommunicated from the Catholic church for having too many problematic views...but he has a lot of very interesting things to say I reckon...here's a short vid:

[ilikeplanets]

PRAISE JEEBUS

LORD 'AVE MERCY

[reprise85]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_atheism

[ilikeplanets]

hey that's cool and probably me

[ilikeplanets]

you too, right?

[reprise85]

yeah probably.

i consider judaism to be one of the more reasonable religions, at least how people i know celebrate it and how i was brought up with it. it's not really different from any culture celebrating where they came from with rituals and basically saying try to be a good person oy vey would you. i was not brought up with the idea of a personal god.

i mean i dont believe in a god or anything supernatural really, but that doesn't mean there aren't things we don't understand as of yet

[duovamp]

Are we excluding the anti-science and subjugation of women from Christianity too, or just the aex and Jesus shit?