I will break protocol today and post on religion….I do not debate or post on religion because it is an emotional issue that people can only think with their heart…..am I religious? I guess…I have my beliefs and they are just that….MY BELIEFS! And you have yours and personally I do not care what you believe.
In recent days I have read a couple of articles dealing with religion that I thought worthy of my attention and think that my readers may appreciate them….
There is a massive debate, if we can call it that, going on in this country about abortion and birth control….some say that birth control is immoral and we know what they say about abortions now don’t we?
It seems that there is a reference in the Bible on birth control….or shall we call it contraception?
(Newser) – If there’s one thing we’ve learned from all the controversy surrounding ObamaCare, it’s that the Bible is against birth control—right? Actually, not so much, writes Elissa Strauss in Salon. In truth, the Bible makes “both direct references and thinly veiled allusions to women using contraception.” Consider Esther, who became queen after marrying the Persian King Ahasuerus and ended up saving the Jews from a plot to have them killed. She, and all of the king’s potential wives, were required to anoint themselves with myrrh oil for a year. That’s a long time if it was just being used as a beauty treatment, but it was also used as an abortifacient and contraceptive at the time, suggesting its use may have “allowed Esther, who wielded power through her beauty and ability to seduce, to take control of her reproductive system.”
Similarly, the “long, sexy, romantic poem” contained in the Song of Songs makes many references to gardens, which some have argued could be a reference to myrrh and other plants that were used as contraceptives. It certainly seems the couple in the song is having sex for enjoyment, rather than to “be fruitful and multiply,” Strauss points out. Then there’s the ritual described in Numbers, in which a man is allowed to administer an abortifacient concoction to his wife if he suspects she’s been unfaithful. Even the story of Onan, who was punished for “spilling his seed on the ground,” is misinterpreted—God was angry he didn’t carry out his duty to his brother’s widow, not that he wasted his sperm, according to many biblical commentators. Strauss’ full column is worth a read.
Okay, if one is the religious sort I amy sure this will get their attention and invoke their ire…..
Cool. I didn’t know that one. Christians really hate it, but there are numerous cases of their god practicing/sanctioning abortions, too… yet no mention anywhere of being against it.
John, thanx for the comment and I have a post today on atheism….would really like your take on it…..chuq
Good post. I always wear a condom when reading the Bible 🙂
and a shower afterwards…….
They practiced abortion back then and every student of Biblical History knows it. The forerunners to our contemporary Christians . . . the ones who claim they live by “The Whole Bible” do not necessarily like to recall that back in those days it was perfectly proper to stone a disobedient child as well.
Ever noticed that there seems to be 2 Gods in the Bible…the vindictive one in the Old Testament and the Loving one in the New…..