Born Roman Catholic I spent many Sundays in church listening to their interpretation of the Bible. I often wondered why the teachings were so different than the actual Bible. So one day I sat down and read the Bible from cover to cover. Then I read it again thinking that I must have missed something because I came away with many more questions that I had answers. Yet this book was suppose to have the answers.
Later, during Vietnam, happenings convinced me that God, or at least the God I grew up with, was not real So I drifted away from all religion but continued to read the bible and other religious books of other religions. I was hoping that at some point in my research I would find that I was wrong and the God of my childhood was real and I would return to my faith. This has not happened.
These days I find it interesting that religion is being used, once again, to attempt to deprive a certain segment of our population from enjoying some of the same rights and/or privileges the rest of us enjoy. So I started, once again, reading and studying the bible to find out why and again I came up with more questions. Some of my questions:
Genesis, Chapter #1 says "And God said let us create man in our image". Us and Our are plural so who was he talking to. Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one being at this stage in the book. It goes on to say that he did create man. Now keep in mind that Adam & Eve and the Garden of Eden are not created until Chapter #2. So who was created in Chapter #1?
The bible is used to be against homosexuals. Really? Then what about these?
-I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age what do you think would be a fair price?
-When I burn a bull on the alter as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord, Lev. 1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
-Lev.25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans but not to Canadians. Can someone clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
-I have a neighbor who insists on working on the sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?
-Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20 or is there some wiggle room here?
-Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?
-My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field as does his wife by wearing garments of two different kinds of threads. He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death in a private family affair?
See? When they chose only one passage in Lev. to go against some people it doesn't make any sense. Either follow it all or don't follow any of it...............
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Why have I forgot more than I remember?
I've realized lately that I've forgotten more about my life than I remember. I wonder if this is unique to me or does it happen to everyone. The big question is why? Were the memories lost so insignificant that they weren't worth remembering or did the ones remembered just take priority for some reason? Why does our mind selectively chose which memories to keep and which to discard or are we telling it to do so without knowing it.
Einstein once said "You shouldn't clutter your mind with anything that you can look up elsewhere". Well now, he didn't have the internet. If his statement is true then we need not remember anything because it would seem the internet has remembered it all for us. Except for the personal stuff that has never gotten posted to the net of course. And, more and more, with Facebook and sites like it even the personal stuff is finding it's way onto the net. One of the many reasons I don't belong to Facebook.
It's also strange that when talking to siblings about our childhood their memory of events is much different than mine. Not just major events but also small things that I remember and have always thought to be accurate. Now I'm not so sure. And there isn't any way to absolutely prove who's memory is correct. We were both there and had the same experience at the same time yet remember it totally differently. So we bring in yet another sibling and his or her memory is different than both of ours. Is this only happening to me?
"Obviously the memories are not important or you'd remember them" says my wife. Although I'm not totally convinced of that. If they are not important why do I want to remember them? This is nothing small you understand. Who years and even larger gaps are gone from my childhood that I don't remember. Places we lived, friends I had as a child, teachers, classmates, etc. So much is gone and I'm only now starting to realize it.
No I'm not concerned that it's elderly memory loss because, as I understand it, when this sets in you remember the old stuff and forget the more recent events. This is not the case with me. It's like, in some ways, my childhood never happened or only happened in stages. Weird............just weird.
Anyone else having this happen?
Einstein once said "You shouldn't clutter your mind with anything that you can look up elsewhere". Well now, he didn't have the internet. If his statement is true then we need not remember anything because it would seem the internet has remembered it all for us. Except for the personal stuff that has never gotten posted to the net of course. And, more and more, with Facebook and sites like it even the personal stuff is finding it's way onto the net. One of the many reasons I don't belong to Facebook.
It's also strange that when talking to siblings about our childhood their memory of events is much different than mine. Not just major events but also small things that I remember and have always thought to be accurate. Now I'm not so sure. And there isn't any way to absolutely prove who's memory is correct. We were both there and had the same experience at the same time yet remember it totally differently. So we bring in yet another sibling and his or her memory is different than both of ours. Is this only happening to me?
"Obviously the memories are not important or you'd remember them" says my wife. Although I'm not totally convinced of that. If they are not important why do I want to remember them? This is nothing small you understand. Who years and even larger gaps are gone from my childhood that I don't remember. Places we lived, friends I had as a child, teachers, classmates, etc. So much is gone and I'm only now starting to realize it.
No I'm not concerned that it's elderly memory loss because, as I understand it, when this sets in you remember the old stuff and forget the more recent events. This is not the case with me. It's like, in some ways, my childhood never happened or only happened in stages. Weird............just weird.
Anyone else having this happen?
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