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> It is impossible to understand the biblical narrative of the binding of Isaac Huh? It is quite easy to understand for me. Abraham and Sarah were childless a

by scns 3y ago

> It is impossible to understand the biblical narrative of the binding of Isaac Huh? It is quite easy to understand for me. Abraham and Sarah were childless and Sarah was infertile/too old DRC. Abraham prayed for an heir and miraculously Sarah gives life to Isaac. Yahwe demands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the most precious "thing" he has, to test his belief. Since Abraham does as he is told, a angel stops him from killing Isaac in the last second. Then he is promised by Yahwe his descendants that his descendants will be plentiful. A myth/fairy tale IMHO but to each the most. Dawkins said that the god from the old testament is one of the most vile characters humans ever made up. To sick/tired to give examples, there are many.

boomboomsubban 3y ago
>Huh? It is quite easy to understand for me. Imagine if someone came up to you tomorrow and said "God talked to me and told me I also need to sacrifice my child." You'd assume they were crazy, hopefully to the point of calling the authorities. It's impossible to look at that story from a modern context and think Abraham's actions are remotely right or rational. Why would anyone trust a god who does that? But if child sacrifices are a somewhat common thing, Yahwe looks like the good god who doesn't actually make you kill your kid, just asks that you're willing to kill your kid.
- lynx23 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - ffgjgf1 3y ago
    > is effectively crazy and bound for an asylum. It took several thousands of years for us to come to this conclusion. In the ancient word god/gods/divine spirit/etc. offered a perfectly reasonable explanation of how and why the world works. There were simply no better alternatives..
    - EnergyAmy 3y ago
      It didn't take "us" this long: Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. - Seneca There's just always been rubes
      - ffgjgf1 3y ago
        Are you trying to say he was an in a modern atheist or was just criticizing the state/organized religion? > There's just always been rubes Yes, especially now when actually both sides of the argument are full of them..
  - subjectsigma 3y ago
    Reading comments like this is so surreal. Millions of very normal, well-adjusted people around the world feel that God speaks to them. Have you literally never interacted with a religious person before, or are you just an idiot? My mother donates 10% of her income and volunteers at homeless shelters because she feels that God wants her to. Other than that she lives like pretty much everyone else. Oh no, so terrible! Someone get this woman into the asylum!
    - lynx23 3y ago
      Yes, I have interacted with plenty of religious person,s this is where my personal stance and comment above are rooted. Yes, I know these people are well integrated into society. But this doesn't change my analysis. I consider religious nuts at least untrustworthy and in some cases outright dangerous to others. If someone spends his whole life in such an elaborate hallucination, nobody knows what they are capable of if an extraordinary situation happens to them. BTW, I had the pleasure of being sent to a catholic school for eight years. There, I learnt that church-goers and their minions are not to be trusted. BTW, I appreciate you calling me an idiot. Nothing else expected, that is why I keep away from your sorts.
      - subjectsigma 3y ago
        Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve met this particular delusion before: someone who was bullied by a teacher or something and now they think they have it all figured out. I’m sorry you experienced this trauma or whatever. It has damaged your worldview to the point where someone calling you an idiot once is irrefutable proof that we should shun and discriminate against an entire group of people. Usually we call that bigotry though, and we don’t feel sorry for people who practice it. And while we are throwing out FWIWs, I myself am not religious.
        lynx23 3y ago
        > And while we are throwing out FWIWs, I myself am not religious. But judging from your way of remote diagnosing people over the internet, you are at least a very qualified psychiatrist, right? You aparently dont consider religious people untrustworthy and protentially dangerous. That is fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I don't share yours. EOT.
ffgjgf1 3y ago
> Dawkins said that the god from the old testament is one of the most vile characters humans ever made up. That’s just pure demagoguery. There are plenty of examples of much crueler cults we just don’t have as many surviving texts describing their practices. Compared to someone like Huitzilopochtli Yahweh was pretty chill…
f154hfds 3y ago
The story is much deeper than you give it credit: 1. God promises Abraham that his descendants will be numerous as 'stars in the sky' 2. Abraham and Sarah have 1 kid in their old age: Isaac, the only chance for God to fulfill the promise 3. God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his compliance indicates his faith in God's promise (that it can happen outside of his control, and beyond his knowledge) 4. God stops it and provides a 'ram in the thicket' as substitute, note the sacrifice still occurs. 5. Sacrifice is required to save the Israelites in Egypt from the angel of death, Passover begins. 6. We see a whole system and culture of sacrifices instituted in the tabernacle and later the temple as a method of 'atonement' 7. Jesus presents himself as the ultimate atonement or 'propitiation', closing the circle Essentially in the Bible sacrifice is integral to the entire story, beginning to end. In some ways the story of the sacrifice of Isaac is a peek into the nature of justice and how in the Biblical God's conception of justice wrongdoing must be paid for by blood, just not necessarily the blood of the perpetrator themselves. All members of Israel are responsible for providing their sacrifices indicating that no one is free from guilt providing the backdrop for Christianity's pessimistic take on the nature of Man.

by scns 3y ago

boomboomsubban 3y ago

>Huh? It is quite easy to understand for me. Imagine if someone came up to you tomorrow and said "God talked to me and told me I also need to sacrifice my child." You'd assume they were crazy, hopefully to the point of calling the authorities. It's impossible to look at that story from a modern context and think Abraham's actions are remotely right or rational. Why would anyone trust a god who does that? But if child sacrifices are a somewhat common thing, Yahwe looks like the good god who doesn't actually make you kill your kid, just asks that you're willing to kill your kid.

lynx23 3y ago
[flagged]
- ffgjgf1 3y ago
  > is effectively crazy and bound for an asylum. It took several thousands of years for us to come to this conclusion. In the ancient word god/gods/divine spirit/etc. offered a perfectly reasonable explanation of how and why the world works. There were simply no better alternatives..
  - EnergyAmy 3y ago
    It didn't take "us" this long: Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful. - Seneca There's just always been rubes
    - ffgjgf1 3y ago
      Are you trying to say he was an in a modern atheist or was just criticizing the state/organized religion? > There's just always been rubes Yes, especially now when actually both sides of the argument are full of them..
- subjectsigma 3y ago
  Reading comments like this is so surreal. Millions of very normal, well-adjusted people around the world feel that God speaks to them. Have you literally never interacted with a religious person before, or are you just an idiot? My mother donates 10% of her income and volunteers at homeless shelters because she feels that God wants her to. Other than that she lives like pretty much everyone else. Oh no, so terrible! Someone get this woman into the asylum!
  - lynx23 3y ago
    Yes, I have interacted with plenty of religious person,s this is where my personal stance and comment above are rooted. Yes, I know these people are well integrated into society. But this doesn't change my analysis. I consider religious nuts at least untrustworthy and in some cases outright dangerous to others. If someone spends his whole life in such an elaborate hallucination, nobody knows what they are capable of if an extraordinary situation happens to them. BTW, I had the pleasure of being sent to a catholic school for eight years. There, I learnt that church-goers and their minions are not to be trusted. BTW, I appreciate you calling me an idiot. Nothing else expected, that is why I keep away from your sorts.
    - subjectsigma 3y ago
      Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve met this particular delusion before: someone who was bullied by a teacher or something and now they think they have it all figured out. I’m sorry you experienced this trauma or whatever. It has damaged your worldview to the point where someone calling you an idiot once is irrefutable proof that we should shun and discriminate against an entire group of people. Usually we call that bigotry though, and we don’t feel sorry for people who practice it. And while we are throwing out FWIWs, I myself am not religious.
      - lynx23 3y ago
        > And while we are throwing out FWIWs, I myself am not religious. But judging from your way of remote diagnosing people over the internet, you are at least a very qualified psychiatrist, right? You aparently dont consider religious people untrustworthy and protentially dangerous. That is fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I don't share yours. EOT.

ffgjgf1 3y ago

> Dawkins said that the god from the old testament is one of the most vile characters humans ever made up. That’s just pure demagoguery. There are plenty of examples of much crueler cults we just don’t have as many surviving texts describing their practices. Compared to someone like Huitzilopochtli Yahweh was pretty chill…

f154hfds 3y ago

The story is much deeper than you give it credit: 1. God promises Abraham that his descendants will be numerous as 'stars in the sky' 2. Abraham and Sarah have 1 kid in their old age: Isaac, the only chance for God to fulfill the promise 3. God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his compliance indicates his faith in God's promise (that it can happen outside of his control, and beyond his knowledge) 4. God stops it and provides a 'ram in the thicket' as substitute, note the sacrifice still occurs. 5. Sacrifice is required to save the Israelites in Egypt from the angel of death, Passover begins. 6. We see a whole system and culture of sacrifices instituted in the tabernacle and later the temple as a method of 'atonement' 7. Jesus presents himself as the ultimate atonement or 'propitiation', closing the circle Essentially in the Bible sacrifice is integral to the entire story, beginning to end. In some ways the story of the sacrifice of Isaac is a peek into the nature of justice and how in the Biblical God's conception of justice wrongdoing must be paid for by blood, just not necessarily the blood of the perpetrator themselves. All members of Israel are responsible for providing their sacrifices indicating that no one is free from guilt providing the backdrop for Christianity's pessimistic take on the nature of Man.