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Originally Posted by irateplatypus
unright, i know what you're saying and agree with much of it. going back to my original point, there is too much social and political dogma associated with Christianity. i think christians have tried to make their faith relevant in too many ways that aren't central to the faith itself. instead of legislating morality... we should live morally ourselves and spread the hope of Christ through our personal relationships. holding a protest sign with a hateful message has a deleterious effect on the church's image. a person seeing the sign on the news perceives only the contextless information the sign provides. the christian has repelled people with dogma that has little to do with Christ's ministry and the people unfamiliar with Christ have the impression that they know something of the bible through the irresponsibility (and sometimes ignorance) of a poor example. it's a lose/lose situation.
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You are right in that most who oppose Christianity oppose it because some Christians generally warp the message of Christ in to serve their own interests. I'm sure you'll find few that oppose the actual message of Christ, himself. The problem lies in the small details.
Christianity is roughly 2000 years old and it's manuscript, The Bible, was written in an archiac from of hebrew. It has been translated and re-translated to an incredible degree. This means that the original story is incredibly diluted and warped to begin with. I speak both English and French and even in these two contemporary languages, messages don't necessarily translate exactly. The jist can be understood, but grammar, vocabulary, adjectives, colloquialisms, etc.. all change the meaning slightly. Sometimes outright biases are thrown in either intentionally or not.
Strong messages like "Thou Shalt Not Kill" survive more or less intact because it's simple. More complex messages are interpreted more ways then you can shake a Great Schism at.
Tkae the famous anti-gay verse: Leviticus 18:22 which is
V’et zachar lo tishkav mishk’vey eeshah toeyvah hee. Does that translate to "Homosexuality is absolutely forbidden, for it is an enormous sin" or as "Ritual anal sex between two men in a Pagan temple is forbidden."?
It's a moot question. Arguing the point from one side or the other means that you are drawn into a Christian debate. Since I'm a Non-Christian, it's not my place to argue or preach the dogma of a religion that is not my own.
Christians have a hard enough time interprating what message is to be learned from the Bible without actively encouraging others into the fray.
Source :
Religious Tolerance.org