Well, it’s very gracious of you to allow people to believe the Bible … as long as they believe it the way you want. And you call me biased? Yes, Phil, you say they are wrong, and you are obviously completely entitled to your opinion, but do you really always put it in just so simple and non-barbed language? That is where the problem comes in, and even if you never do put it in just such a ridiculous way, linking to that slimy article is as if you had typed it yourself.

One of the things I’m getting at also, and I don’t know if you’ve caught it, is that you clearly don’t believe the Bible, but then pretend to know what it is supposed to mean! THAT ain’t right!

I agree that using the Bible to legislate morality is wrong, at least in the sense you mean it. No question. However, the problem with the term “legislating morality” is that you have to realize that we already have done that for a long time, and everyone agrees that we should. Wouldn’t you say that laws against murder should be considered “legislating morality”? So, when everyone happens to agree on a moral issue, legislating morality isn’t a problem. Of course, when you have just a group of people who happen to agree on a moral issue, that group will not see the problem with trying to pass legislation against it. It happens all the time, and it’s not only Christians who are guilty of this. You, however, then become the hate-monger against those groups, at least when they are Christian, apparently. Hypo…

As for hate? I certainly hate when my kids do certain things, but I don’t hate them. Jesus hated that some people had made His Father’s house a den of thieves, but He didn’t hate them. It would have been hard to tell, however.

Hate is a strong word, and I’ve seen it being tossed around a lot lately whenever anyone expresses their opinion that someone doing something is wrong. That does not show hate, and you know it. This is exactly what is wrong in the article, and your claiming not to see it.

You say: “I link to a piece about Hagee that lists the facts about him, and how he is an unbridled monster who uses the Bible to preach his brand of hate. See the difference?”

Lol @ “facts”. Good one!

So, why is Hagee slanderously reported to hate certain people just because he believes the Bible teaches that they were and have been mistreated as a result of their own disobedience to God? That holds no water. Yet, your critical eye cannot find this glaring weakness in the article you’ve linked? Why don’t you see that though Hagee believes that such and such is going to happen, that it isn’t something that he rejoices at happening or hopes for. The article tries to say that he secretly must because he is joyously awaiting his rapture, but that is a complete farce, and recognizably so by anyone who isn’t too busy drooling over reading of a Christian being ripped to shreds, however unfairly.

From the article: “Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United For Israel”.

All this talk of how Hagee is racist and a bigot and rejoicing at the slaughter of the Jews, and yet He has a ministry to try to rescue them. Very interesting way to hate someone, wouldn’t you say?!

Does your critical eye catch this, Phil?

And you call these “facts”? Oh, Phil! You’ll excuse me if I don’t bow at your “critical thinking”.

I never say people who believe the Bible are lunatics. I say people who take it literally are wrong, and people who use it to legislate morality are wrong, and people who use it as an excuse to hate are evil. See the difference?

I never say people who believe the Bible are far right, either. That’s ridiculous. Instead, I make a point of calling out those on the far right who use the Bible to hate or to restrict my freedoms. See the difference?

I link to a piece about Hagee that lists the facts about him, and how he is an unbridled monster who uses the Bible to preach his brand of hate. See the difference?

Your claims about me are based on false reasoning and incorrect evidence, and your conclusions are wrong.

Did your read the same blog I did?

@Phil
“The vast majority of religious people are good, decent folks”
Most? Including the 57 Islamic countries without church/state-sep whose religion tells them to kill unbelievers? Doesn’t this imply they’re good because their religious*? Show me a decent person in our own country and I’ll show you someone who would still be decent if they fully embraced rationality. Credit where credit’s due.
*I know it’s not what he meant but am making a point

@Blu-Ray-Venon
“we started iraq, now lets finish it”
Defining “finish” is exactly the problem. It was defined as :
+Dismantling WMDs, then it was
+Removal of Hussein
American presence will continually destabilize any country whose very religion dicates their governmental beliefs. There’s only one sane way to say “we’re finished, objectives achieved”.

@Cairnarvon
“Jesus was quite clear that all the laws in the OT (including the ones against homosexuals, clothing made out of more than one material, and shellfish) still apply.”
Yes, Jesus was Jewish and preached Judaism. He never conceptualized an entirely new religion. How on Earth could he say anything to/for christians when the religion didn’t even exist yet? He was a Jewish preacher and his “bible” is our Pentateuch/Torah. Funny how most xtians don’t even know this, eh?
Check (and yes, I know apologists reinterpret these):
Matt. 15:24 ; John 4:22

First, I’ve never seen or read where you’ve started out with any other premise than that anyone who believes what the Bible says is anything but a lunatic. Yes, I know you throw in a blurb about it not being everybody, blah, blah, blah … But that’s a weak attempt at shielding yourself from the obvious conclusion that you’re a hypocrite.

You say that people who believe their Bibles are far right (insert offensive word such as “lunatics”, here), and then you use the Bible to counsel them on how to behave. Nice!

You link to an article (hit piece) about Hagee that insists he is practically the devil himself, but only because he believes the Bible means some things that others don’t like. I’m not saying he’s right. I’m not saying he’s a good guy even; I don’t know. But the article simply said he believes the Bible teaches A, B, and C, and therefore he hates certain people and is a war-monger and whatever else.

That would be like me saying that any scientist who believes the universe to be billions of years old hates Christians. Some may, and some may just think what they believe is nonsensical, but it cannot and should not be inferred that believing one thing about any person or group of people means that someone is automatically a bigot, for example. You absolutely know better than that, but willingly put your blinders on because you are trying to advance your cause even if it means compromising some of the very traits about yourself that you, apparently, hold dear; i.e. being critical and skeptical. Wow! Truly, wow!

Wow… that was truly enlightening. Truly. Which “camel” is he swallowing, exactly? And in what way does he show a lack of integrity? If you’d like to qualify your rant with something more than just ignorant vitriol, please do so… otherwise I urge you to take the advice of one Samuel Clemens: “Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought of a fool than open it and remove all doubt”.