You may well be aware that many people, believers especially, like to cherry pick bible passages to confirm their biases. This is achieved sometimes by just quoting a part of the verse.
Pastors are oft heard to quote god as saying
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee
while omitting
I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.
and
Now the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,….
While it is very evident from the particular verse, it is addressed to a specific person and in this case Jeremiah[ Jer1: 4-5] that there is no way it can be applied to any other person apart from him, many Christians and their pastors have always taken the first portion quoted above to refer to them and has sometimes been used in the abortion debate as a reason to not legalise abortion.
Allow me to digress, whereas am not for legalising abortion in the sense that, since, it is a matter of personal choice, no one has a right either by law or by any other means to say what the woman in question should or should not do with her life. If any legislation is to be passed, it is only those that ensure that abortion is available on demand in a healthy and sterile environment.
My question, especially to those who think the words of Jeremiah refer to them and others, do they think this is true for children conceived through rape? If yes, do they accept that their god intended for the particular in the case to be raped so as to conceive?
If a child is born with deformities that without an operation, they are likely not to last a week out of the hospital, did god intend this to be the case? Does he care about the trauma the parents will go through following such a loss?
If a father makes her daughter pregnant or in the case of those women who a few years back had been kidnapped and held in a basement by an Austrian man who had children with them, is it that this is how god had intended this children to be brought to this world.
If we as humans find some of the scenes described above abhorrent, why would anyone think that a god who allows them to take place is a good god? How can the word good still have meaning when describing such a god?
Once again, an excellent debate topic. I’ll be keeping an eye out here for people’s replies.
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That makes two of us!
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Aaannnddd this is why you get ‘god works in mysterious ways’ – there is no way to square that question and a good god, the question is valid and god is all-good, so there is a mystery there… and that’s where they leave it.
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In essence am not going to get a proper answer from the god believers? Let me have some hope though!
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I have had discussions with ‘pastors’ to the point that they simply say ‘well, that’s what I believe’ and there it stops. You can get them to say they have no logic or evidence but not that god is bad.
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Now that is not promising, but lets see what happens.
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To maintain this line of thinking the Christian has to accept that their god favours the will of the rapist over the will of the victim.
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I will be waiting for the believers with that question should any one of them mention free will.
Did you get the kindle to work?
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Nope. I spent an hour online with their tech support and di manage to download the kindle app on my computer. Now i just have to figure out how to download the titles then get them onto my kindle. If you know do please send me an email… i need help 😦
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So you’re saying God doesn’t favor the rapist? Damn it! I need a different god!
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Hello my dear friend, Mak!
Wow, I have a lot of feelings about abortion, but I will try to stay on topic.
I just can’t tell a woman who has suffered an abusive relationship, rape or is on the verge of death that her growing fetus is a “blessing from God”.
It’s funny, as soon as I read your verse, I thought “that’s a big ‘pro-life’ verse”. And you’re right, it, as well as many others, are often taken out of context. Even as a Christian, I was such an immense reader and writer that I was consistently aware of how manipulative clergy and other Christians are with the Bible. Whatever the motive, the Bible can validate (or prohibit) ANYTHING.
A few years ago, my family attended a Word of Faith Church on a semi-regular basis. I want to say it was Easter time when I heard this particular sermon because it was about Jesus riding on a donkey as people waved palms and yelled “Hosanna!” The preacher of this church, which BTW has “Hosanna” in it’s name, goes on and on about the word meaning “VICTORY IS OURS!” I immediately turn to my husband and said “NO! It means ‘SAVE US, SAVE US NOW’!”
Unbelieveable!
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I think many people want the bible to say what they want to hear and twist it in so many ways to have their truth. It is for this reason I try to encourage my Christian friends to spend time and do the reading themselves, they will learn a lot.
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Exactly, Mak!
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I am a Deaf, gay man. In many believer’s eyes, I should be “put away” if not outright killed. When I pose this question to the bigots who are a part of this belief system, few can offer any clear response. Only once has someone remarked that I am the way that I am because of the “sins” of my parents. My reply: both of my parents are practitioners of this belief system and are routine in performing all requirements of their belief.
Funny how those who choose to defend their prejudices with half-truths
become mute when the other half of the truth confronts them.
Great post and point! As always, my friend!
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Thanks for your comments and visit.
It is an important question and we need answers
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The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away; he is good in all things, except sexual things – he’s terrified of a woman’s vagina.
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Very terrified and why I am yet to know
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Because he’s gay, silly. And he’s just afraid to come out of the closet because his believers hate gays. See?
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I understand now.
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