This all has me thinking about the point of the rules prohibiting fornication if rape is okay (or lightly punished)?
Is God okay with rape?
- Thread starter AgnosticBoy
- Start date
bbyrd009
“I don’t know anything. Ever…” DGently
not the one i was looking for, but it does give a mention, https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Tamar.html
ya, things were a lot different then i guess; even now for women in the mideast, although i guess thats changing
Bible Gateway passage: Leviticus 19 - King James Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Turn ye not unto idols, nor...
verse 20 — And whosoever lieth carnally with a woman, that is a bondmaid, betrothed to an husband, and not at all redeemed, nor freedom given her; she shall be scourged; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.
21 — And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, even a ram for a trespass offering.
- King James version
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So, it’s okay for a powerful man to abuse a low-power woman. As long as he’s rich enough to make a major offering to the Temple. That is basically what this is saying.
And she gets beaten.
Maybe it’s consensual and freely-choosen sex between the “bondmaid” and the rich man. However, that is not a moral dimension which the human writers of the Bible view as central. Weirdly. And in either case, he pays a fine and she gets beaten.
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I agree with the young woman I heard talking with her friend in the bookstore.
She said, God and Jesus might possibly be true. But I cannot believe in the Bible.
She said, God and Jesus might possibly be true. But I cannot believe in the Bible.
Those points that you bring up are probably just customs of a patriarchal society. The rules, or at least a good number of them, seem to be tailored for that. I question why a god would be interested in making rules to tailor to a culture, especially if they are supposed to apply absolutely and universally. it's easier to believe that man came up with those rules, and then brought in God, to bring fear to their population, and to make it seem that those rules were sacred. Joseph Smith of Mormonism probably used the same tactic when he told his wife that he had a calling to start a polygynous relationship.
And formalized into a system, and locked in concrete.
And I agree with you that it’s written by humans. Very human. Not even the more interesting flaws.
Bible Gateway passage: Leviticus 19 - King James Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy. Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father, and keep my sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Turn ye not unto idols, nor...
verse 33 — And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
34 — But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
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This is a beautiful part. In fact, it’s another way of saying the Golden Rule.
And yet, it’s only 12 verses away from the ugly part. This whole section of Leviticus is a hodge podge, and that’s just the fact of the matter.
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