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> The biblical passages about Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. Really hoping you'll unpack this more as that story ends with their violent destruction at the h

> The biblical passages about Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind. Really hoping you'll unpack this more as that story ends with their violent destruction at the hands of God, and I'm wondering if that's what you're advocating for here.

benjohnson 6y ago
There’s a lot to unpack in the story - some of the ‘god smites ‘em’ passages can be read as a warning that bad things will happen only because the behavior contains the seeds of it’s own destruction - or punishment if you will. For example - The passage about “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” sounds absolutely like God is a rotten SOB. But if you ever see the pain that flows though generations because one father abused his children, you can see that it more of a warning - do something horrible and not only will you suffer, but you’ll cause generations to suffer. So don’t do that.
- SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
  But in that case this seems like a poor metaphor - congenital syphilis was brought up and is horrible, but we're not talking generation after generation here. In that case anthropogenic climate change seems to fit the bill more than syphilis does.
disgsu 6y ago
“They” were ruthless rapists who ordered Lot to hand over his guests so that they could “know” them. Notice how the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are never spelled out in detail. We assume, based on our religious tradition, that the sin was gay sex and forget all the other sins that are alluded to. In our modern viewpoint, the story is about two happy gay communities that the evil God of Abraham destroys. However, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah were, at the very least, gang rapists. Furthermore they committed the greatest sin imaginable for a tribal society: they disrespected a guest. Note how Lot, rather than have his guests raped, offers his own daughters. All this under the threat of violence against Lot.
- SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
  So in that case the metaphor seems pretty stretched.

benjohnson 6y ago

There’s a lot to unpack in the story - some of the ‘god smites ‘em’ passages can be read as a warning that bad things will happen only because the behavior contains the seeds of it’s own destruction - or punishment if you will. For example - The passage about “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” sounds absolutely like God is a rotten SOB. But if you ever see the pain that flows though generations because one father abused his children, you can see that it more of a warning - do something horrible and not only will you suffer, but you’ll cause generations to suffer. So don’t do that.

SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
But in that case this seems like a poor metaphor - congenital syphilis was brought up and is horrible, but we're not talking generation after generation here. In that case anthropogenic climate change seems to fit the bill more than syphilis does.

disgsu 6y ago

“They” were ruthless rapists who ordered Lot to hand over his guests so that they could “know” them. Notice how the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah are never spelled out in detail. We assume, based on our religious tradition, that the sin was gay sex and forget all the other sins that are alluded to. In our modern viewpoint, the story is about two happy gay communities that the evil God of Abraham destroys. However, the citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah were, at the very least, gang rapists. Furthermore they committed the greatest sin imaginable for a tribal society: they disrespected a guest. Note how Lot, rather than have his guests raped, offers his own daughters. All this under the threat of violence against Lot.

SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
So in that case the metaphor seems pretty stretched.