by stephiebaby » October 28th, 2009, 1:19 am
"Now, I believe in God and am a devout Catholic "
Then what you are doing, whatever it is, is probably wrong. But if this is true, why are you asking our advice? Go to confession and follow the priests instructions.
Or better yet, cast off the shackles of your upbringing, think for yourself, examine the wider world and find your personal anecdotes do not prove god to the same degree as proving water, read about religions and discover you can just make up your own version of god if you are still desperate to hang on to it, most christians do that anyone, making god suit their lifestyle and prejudices.
So, according to your religion just about anything is wrong, unless it can be done in the name of god, usely at the exspence of people. But other than harming others nothing is really wrong and you can make your god fit your own desires, like so many of your cult do anyway.
"I think there are two main issues you should consider from a Christian perspective. One is the Biblical standard of monogamy. If these triggers (or whatever you are experimenting with) are sexual, is the sexuality compatible with the intimacy between a husband and wife? I would say yes for things like a strip trigger or a trigger to make your partner horny; but no for, say, making your partner promiscuous or reversing someone's sexual orientation."
What christians, especially catholics, have you been talking to? Changing sexual orentation would be ok? Are you mad? Unless the trigger is for no sex unless trying to conceive it would be wrong. Actually the biblical christians would probably have seen hypnosis as witchcraft and stoned or burned the poor person from the OP.
"The other issue is domination: the Bible is on the whole anti-slavery "
What bible are you reading? The bible gives instruction on which people it is ok to enslave, and which should be slaughtered because they are not fit to even be slaves. Instructions on rape and slave wives too. Try reading the whole thing, not just the few lines others feed you.
"(If anyone wants to argue that the Bible is pro slavery or pro polygamy, I propose we skip that argument -- it's all been said before. You can find "verses" that seem to support them, but reading a confetti of individual verses is not a good way to understand the Bible.)"
Yes, the bits and pieces approach is not the way to examine christianity, one must examine it warts and all, which is often impossible for believers. One must also examine it from the perspective of the people who made it up, not from omdern standards and beliefs. Many modern liberal christians would have been stoned by their biblical conterparts for being heretics.
"God works in mysterious ways. Unless you get a clear sign to stop, God must have had a reason for you to find out about hypnosis and such."
And a "good" christian would say temtation was the reason god let's you find these places, and by staying you fail the test. Your god is big on testing people and screwing with their minds just to see if they will fold.
"The problem with Christian extremists is that most of them do not read the whole bible"
That is a common problem for christians, not just extremists. You'll find the most balanced and comprehensive information about the bible from non believers who have read the thing to check the selected verses people try to feed us.
"Hm, what makes you think the Bible advocates slavery? I don't think it does"
Your opinion is irrelevent, try reading it. Duetronomy should be a good place to start, if I remember correctly there is plenty of violence there. Murder, infantacide, rape, slavery.
"The biggest miracle of the Old Testament is the Exodus, which is about God freeing a bunch of slaves."
Ah, but the right kind of slaves. God doesn't let his faithful enslave anyone, only those fit to serve. The rest are slaughtered. Women are only good as slave wives if they are virgins, if they are not virgins they should be slaughtered with the men and babies. And some women from some tribes can't be taken no matter what.
Also the whole christian religion is slavery. Obey and worship or spend eternity burning in hell. At least with human slavery you can choose to die on your feet instead of living on your knees. In christian mythology you live on your knees, or you live burning in hell.
"But the general trend is consistently anti-slavery."
No, the general trend is god looking after his people, and killing or enslaving the rest. Your tiny selection does not represent the bible, it represents modern societies values which believer want to claim as their gods original intent.
"Sorry for the long post, but I can't keep quiet when I hear bullshit about how the Bible is pro-slavery."
Yes, like many christians the truth about your mythology upsets you and you feel you have to defend the faith. But you failed miserably. You may have made tyourself feel better, but all you have shown the rest of us is massive ignorance of your own religion.
"You don't have to agree with me, but (as I said) I think there's a meaningful distinction between "tolerate" and "advocate." Slavery, polygamy, and bribery were all tolerated in the Old Testament "
Try reading instead of fighting. The bible does not just advocate slavery, it demands slavery as the will of god. You are trying to impose modern societies values onto the bible, but it doesn't fit. People have done a better job as god than your god, that fact you are trying to impose modern values onto your god proves it.
"Slavery in ancient Israel sounds relatively humane"
"When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod so hard that the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. If, however, the slave survives for a day or two, he is not to be punished, since the slave is his own property.(Exodus 21:20-21 NAB) "
Interesting. You see torturing someone so they die slowly over a day or two to be humane? Well you certainly are christian, there is no doubting that.
"what do you think would be better advice to a slave? "Serve kind of half-assed. Or run away. Start a revolution. Who cares?" Would that be better or worse?"
For a slave, pretend to serve, build your forces, start an underground, then rise up and slit their throats in the middle of the night. That is advice for the slave. Advice for the owners is "slaves be good, behave and serve your masters".
"I disagree: the Bible does not advocate slavery or say it is A-OK. The Bible tolerates it, regulates it, and makes it relatively humane, while acknowledging many times that it is a bad state of existence."
You need to read more of the bible than the examples given to you here. The problem is you do not want to know, you want to defend your beliefs.
" I haven't made any grand claims"
Yes you have, your grand erroneous claim that the bible merely tolerates slavery when it demands it. The bible tells the faithful which people to enslave, and which are not worthy and should be slaughtered. This is not merely tolerating slavery.
"Sure, I've thought about dumbing myself down, losing my intelligence,"
No need , you're already a believer.
" If I listened to one of these, and curiosity got the better of me, how would I know if I truly wanted to be gay, or if it was just the file?"
Read up on hypnosis, it's not magic.
"Curious, maybe. But I'm not willing to give up my lifestyle and the form of my relationships to try out a whim. That, and I've never really been attracted to any guy, actually. It's just the curiosity about the female form that has made me wonder. "
You've been conditioned. If you were raised differently it is likely your "curiousity" would have already been satisfied. And bi people like guys and girls, and people trying to stay straight out of fear or conditioning also have relationships with girls. Many gay men have had wives and children. Christianity is enticing for these people too as they can be married and not have sex with their wife because god only want's sex for procreation.
"Well...thank God that I'm attracted to women more than I am to men, right?"
I wouldn't bet the house on you knowing who you like, but you can probably thank your god for your current choice and desire to remain the same, as well as any confusion.
"I haven't noticed that people stay the same throughout their lives."
They do if they are desperately trying to avoid a change which goes against their worldview.