The Bible

[stew]

I'll give a few examples of how I found them,

There whole way fo life is built around the Quran, which has been interpreted to suit the men as I said earlier. Women wear black and are covered up. Most of the women get out of the country as much as they because they cant express themselves here at all. Some are forced into marriage at the age of 10 by there families, marrying a 20 yrs old + man, some die early because of getting pregnant to early. The families are the main problem The quran was interpretating that men can marry outside of religion but women cant. Men can have a few wives aswell to go along with it. Women walk behind the man etc...

One of my friends friend is babysitterfor the royal family, they get out of this country as much as possible and dont wear the same clothes, another thing a friend sister works on a luxury cruiser in carribean, the sheik of saudi came along for a 3 month cruise and had load of whores for himself aswell. In dubai whores are lining the streets and cops ignore it. One of my mates fell asleep in a taxi and woke up in a cell. Yes if you fall asleep in taxi you get arrested. Its illegal to drink but all westerners do obviously.

In Qatar the ignornce of the place comes out in the driving, they dont use indicators, drive on wrong side and generally drive as they please, no rules for locals, one of my friends got crashed into by a local, he had to go court where no english was spoken, an interpertator was there but just translated my friends not guilty. His laywer was corrupt and he got huge fine,
and was told he cant leave the country till its paid, they all take a cut.

In work the companies, you cant leave the country unless you get exit visa from them which messed me up for sligo this summer, also if I wanted to leave company I just cant leave as they can have me banned from Qatar for 2 yrs but it doesnt matter if i get job outside thank feck.

The main labour force are indians, there treated like slaves, the middle east countries are just modern dictatorships with slavery, you wont see this in to many papers as your not allowed to highlight this inside.  Thousands of indians die at work and there families arent notified... in there is a great arrticle in the indo the darkside of dubai from a few month ago.
Lastly if you go out with your girlfriend expect her to be pestered by locals who shouldnt be drinking anyway and they dont care about you standing beside her. Constant harrasment. During ramadan youcant drink or eat in public, try driving at 50 degrees in middle of day not drinking water. They report you if they catch you, also goes for women wearing t shirt and shorts.

This place has tested my belief in Bible and God aswell, I see how blinded these people are and lot of it just makes no sense and you think I am that blind to the Bible. Why doesnt God appear now, the world is more fecked than ever, why 2000 yrs ago? In my whole life ive experienced no evidence of God. Who created the creator? Does the Bible answer these questions . The Bible creates such power for the Church its scary, peope are more open minded now and can see past that. Im just unsure of alot of things and my faith is currently been tested. No disrespect to Aerlik or anyone who believe wholeheartdly.

Sligonian the Bible tells us that Jesus will come back when we have hit rock bottom, just before we destroy ourselves completely, there is a lot of room yet for us to ruin this planet and for your experiences in a Muslim country to define your faith is ridiculous.

I believe in God and no man is ever going to shake that faith, nor no place or culture will ever shake that faith.

Muslim leaders have for too much power, this was the same in Christian based Churches however I dont think they are as powerful as they once were.

I walk into Church conflicted every week, I am repulsed by the fact that the Churches leaders, up to and including the Pope himself let these terrible things happen to those they were supposed to nuture spiritually and yet I realise that men did these terrible things and men covered up for them or shipped them off to different parts of the globe to avoid embarassment and all they did was repeat offend.

I go, say my prayers and worship God and that is that.

[SLIGONIAN]

When we hit rock bottom?, where is he when a person hits rock bottom the so called dark night of the soul? If what you is say is true, and you know it may not be, why would Jesus come back and judge us when we have completely messed up, Feck all will get into Heaven? Will they not?

Well Stew without going into specifics, it is the present to me, this place definitly challenges my beliefs in a Kind loving God but ,my faith is evolving through my life experience and I would say my experiences here are relevant not ridiculous. When things are great in life its easy to believe in a loving God, when things outside of your control shit on you it definitly tests you and your faith.

Why are we tested so harshly and fiercely by something that loves us? Like in the Bible God made his Son suffer to save humanity. Hardly an act of love towards his Son. Did Jesus not ask God to not go through with it? I always wondered whats the purpose of suffering? Is it to force us to change or to force others to change in our presence and why someone like Jesus have to go through that for us and we are no angels doesnt make an sense? Is it necessary and why the good guy and not the bad ones? Does it not turn you against God if are good?

Would you send your Son to be crucified for others who are messed up. Would your Son be entitled to think you dont love him?

Your second sentence troubles me Stew, no man, place or culture will shake your Faith fair enough. What about your health, what about severe physical pain everyday for the rest of your life? Would that shake that faith? There are millions more scenarios of suffering that you know something, if that persons says to me I gave up on God a long time ago, I would fair enough you have every right to be angry at God.

[Muhammed McCarthy]

Sligonian, Muslims are no different from any other faith....there are good, bad and indifferent in all religions.
At the end of the day people take comfort from their beliefs, no matter whether Christian, Muslim, Jew etc etc.
For every screwball Imam there is a similar Rabbi, Evangalist and so on.....I find it stange that they all claim to believe in God/Allah yet have so much hate.
As for the treatment of women in Muslim countries, for every horror story there are plenty of happy/contented women.
The old Mutawa in Saudi Arabia are gradually but firmly being pushed aside because the King realises that the youth want and are getting change.
I admire anyone who has faith, and the call to prayer 5 times a day would definately be beyond me......i can't even make mass for 1 hour per week.
I like the Middle East, enjoy workinh here and the culture and very warm people.......it's wonderful what a few words of Arabic can do for a westerner.

[long sleves]

Lads here is the bible sorted for yous lego style

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

[stew]

When we hit rock bottom?, where is he when a person hits rock bottom the so called dark night of the soul? If what you is say is true, and you know it may not be, why would Jesus come back and judge us when we have completely messed up, Feck all will get into Heaven? Will they not?

I know nothing of the sort, I do know that Jesus said he will return, I also know that a lot of people will have ample opportunity to get right with God before his patience runs thin. If dying was good enough for the son of God it is good enough for the likes of me. We have free will to live as we choose, God does not dictate how we live, he does however give us an outline on how we should live.

Jesus judges everyone that ever lived and there are millions upon millions of people that believe in him and they will be saved, others will join these people during tribulation when people choose sides and Jesus said that he wants us all to join him and that he didnt want to lose even one of us. Sligonian there would be no point of God building many mansions in heaven if they were going to lie idle now would there? 

Well Stew without going into specifics, it is the present to me, this place definitly challenges my beliefs in a Kind loving God but ,my faith is evolving through my life experience and I would say my experiences here are relevant not ridiculous. When things are great in life its easy to believe in a loving God, when things outside of your control shit on you it definitly tests you and your faith.

This has been a rough year on me financially, I lost a ton on my retirement, over $100.000. I have had a kid almost die on me and I had a seizure whilst driving my feckin lawnmower which tipped over on top of me. (1st one in twelve years) I also knew that after 9 years with the same crowd they wanted rid of me and people like me because we earned too much money and so I left there and took a big, big pay cut, I would say that this constitutes being shit on yet I never questioned my faith in God.

Why are we tested so harshly and fiercely by something that loves us? Like in the Bible God made his Son suffer to save humanity. Hardly an act of love towards his Son. Did Jesus not ask God to not go through with it? I always wondered whats the purpose of suffering? Is it to force us to change or to force others to change in our presence and why someone like Jesus have to go through that for us and we are no angels doesnt make an sense? Is it necessary and why the good guy and not the bad ones? Does it not turn you against God if are good?

'For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son', Jesus paid for our sins so that we could be right with God again. Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, God put his childrens needs before his sone needs, we needed him far more than Jesus did, Jesus is God, he died for us because he loves us, every one of us.

You focus on the negative a lot, what about the majesty and beauty you see every day sligonian?
I am no angel, I drink to much, swear too much although I have gotten far better at not doing this so much anymore and I am far from perfect, I enjoy looking at lovely wemen, ( yer quaire wan from countdown for example)  No one has to be perfect to be right with God.

Would you send your Son to be crucified for others who are messed up. Would your Son be entitled to think you dont love him?

I would not but I am not God, he did and I thank him for it every time I pray every day.

Your second sentence troubles me Stew, no man, place or culture will shake your Faith fair enough. What about your health, what about severe physical pain everyday for the rest of your life? Would that shake that faith? There are millions more scenarios of suffering that you know something, if that persons says to me I gave up on God a long time ago, I would fair enough you have every right to be angry at God.

Jesus comes back to save us, to give us an opportunity, even at the last hour for man to change his ways and to ask for forgiveness.

Nothing would shake my faith, I nearly died in a car accident 20 years ago, I had to learn to read and write again and I am taking medication every day of my life to stop me from taking seizures. (i have had 126 of them in my time)

I get debilitating headaches from time to time, at other times I feel like I am floating and although I have never been high on anything in my life I feel like I know what that feels like, this is all related to what I went through after that car accident. Faith is not something you can switch on and off, I believe in God, it is unfashionable these days but I believe in God and that will never change.

As for Jesus asking his father to stop what ultimately happened to him, I do not pretend to know the mind of God, I cant think at his level but it was fortold that this would come to pass, Jesus actually sweated blood the night before he was crucified such was his anguish, he was wholly human yet wholly God as well. how can any man understand this fully?

Sligonian, we create our own destiny, In your world right now men rule with an iron fist, women are treated like third class citizens and God forbid that you have a differing opinion than the locals, that could be big trouble. The problem is the issues are all man made, from the paedophiles in the Church to the attitudes in the Midle east, to Afghanistan and Iraq, wars and rumours of wars, all made by the hand of man, God gave us free will, this is not on him, this is on us.

[MW]

I think a bible study class is good if the facilitator knows what they are at and you are going for the right reasons.  If drawing closer to God is taking a back seat to rooting over the women in attendance then maybe the class isn't for you......

There was a girl in our class at uni who was a christian who apparently was a bit of a goer if she had a few drinks in her so maybe Aerlik is on to something.

I think that they got the chop as they where historically inaccurate - the stories conflict with real, recorded events.

If they are going to start cutting out bits because they don't sound real then Moses parting the red sea or talking to the burning bush sounds a bit far fetched. I'm not sure about Adam giving Eve one of his ribs either.  There might not be much left if they keep going like that.

Sea of Reeds

I've seen the burning bush - in St Catherine's Monastery out in the Sinai...no scorch marks on it either which I think conclusively proves the story...

[J70]

I think a bible study class is good if the facilitator knows what they are at and you are going for the right reasons.  If drawing closer to God is taking a back seat to rooting over the women in attendance then maybe the class isn't for you......

There was a girl in our class at uni who was a christian who apparently was a bit of a goer if she had a few drinks in her so maybe Aerlik is on to something.

I think that they got the chop as they where historically inaccurate - the stories conflict with real, recorded events.

If they are going to start cutting out bits because they don't sound real then Moses parting the red sea or talking to the burning bush sounds a bit far fetched. I'm not sure about Adam giving Eve one of his ribs either.  There might not be much left if they keep going like that.

Sea of Reeds

I've seen the burning bush - in St Catherine's Monastery out in the Sinai...no scorch marks on it either which I think conclusively proves the story...

Yes, the Red Sea parting is one of the few bible stories that might actually have some basis in historical fact! Some have pointed to a very nice correlation between the Exodus plagues and the eruption and destruction of Santorini (which is also thought to be the possible source of the Atlantis stories). Ash falls with associated darkness, recession of the sea followed by a tidal wave in the Nile Delta (Reed Sea) and several others I can't remember off the top of my head.

[SLIGONIAN]

When we hit rock bottom?, where is he when a person hits rock bottom the so called dark night of the soul? If what you is say is true, and you know it may not be, why would Jesus come back and judge us when we have completely messed up, Feck all will get into Heaven? Will they not?

I know nothing of the sort, I do know that Jesus said he will return, I also know that a lot of people will have ample opportunity to get right with God before his patience runs thin. If dying was good enough for the son of God it is good enough for the likes of me. We have free will to live as we choose, God does not dictate how we live, he does however give us an outline on how we should live.

Jesus judges everyone that ever lived and there are millions upon millions of people that believe in him and they will be saved, others will join these people during tribulation when people choose sides and Jesus said that he wants us all to join him and that he didnt want to lose even one of us. Sligonian there would be no point of God building many mansions in heaven if they were going to lie idle now would there? 

Well Stew without going into specifics, it is the present to me, this place definitly challenges my beliefs in a Kind loving God but ,my faith is evolving through my life experience and I would say my experiences here are relevant not ridiculous. When things are great in life its easy to believe in a loving God, when things outside of your control shit on you it definitly tests you and your faith.

This has been a rough year on me financially, I lost a ton on my retirement, over $100.000. I have had a kid almost die on me and I had a seizure whilst driving my feckin lawnmower which tipped over on top of me. (1st one in twelve years) I also knew that after 9 years with the same crowd they wanted rid of me and people like me because we earned too much money and so I left there and took a big, big pay cut, I would say that this constitutes being shit on yet I never questioned my faith in God.

Why are we tested so harshly and fiercely by something that loves us? Like in the Bible God made his Son suffer to save humanity. Hardly an act of love towards his Son. Did Jesus not ask God to not go through with it? I always wondered whats the purpose of suffering? Is it to force us to change or to force others to change in our presence and why someone like Jesus have to go through that for us and we are no angels doesnt make an sense? Is it necessary and why the good guy and not the bad ones? Does it not turn you against God if are good?

'For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son', Jesus paid for our sins so that we could be right with God again. Jesus and God and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, God put his childrens needs before his sone needs, we needed him far more than Jesus did, Jesus is God, he died for us because he loves us, every one of us.

You focus on the negative a lot, what about the majesty and beauty you see every day sligonian?
I am no angel, I drink to much, swear too much although I have gotten far better at not doing this so much anymore and I am far from perfect, I enjoy looking at lovely wemen, ( yer quaire wan from countdown for example)  No one has to be perfect to be right with God.

Would you send your Son to be crucified for others who are messed up. Would your Son be entitled to think you dont love him?

I would not but I am not God, he did and I thank him for it every time I pray every day.

Your second sentence troubles me Stew, no man, place or culture will shake your Faith fair enough. What about your health, what about severe physical pain everyday for the rest of your life? Would that shake that faith? There are millions more scenarios of suffering that you know something, if that persons says to me I gave up on God a long time ago, I would fair enough you have every right to be angry at God.

Jesus comes back to save us, to give us an opportunity, even at the last hour for man to change his ways and to ask for forgiveness.

Nothing would shake my faith, I nearly died in a car accident 20 years ago, I had to learn to read and write again and I am taking medication every day of my life to stop me from taking seizures. (i have had 126 of them in my time)

I get debilitating headaches from time to time, at other times I feel like I am floating and although I have never been high on anything in my life I feel like I know what that feels like, this is all related to what I went through after that car accident. Faith is not something you can switch on and off, I believe in God, it is unfashionable these days but I believe in God and that will never change.

As for Jesus asking his father to stop what ultimately happened to him, I do not pretend to know the mind of God, I cant think at his level but it was fortold that this would come to pass, Jesus actually sweated blood the night before he was crucified such was his anguish, he was wholly human yet wholly God as well. how can any man understand this fully?

Sligonian, we create our own destiny, In your world right now men rule with an iron fist, women are treated like third class citizens and God forbid that you have a differing opinion than the locals, that could be big trouble. The problem is the issues are all man made, from the paedophiles in the Church to the attitudes in the Midle east, to Afghanistan and Iraq, wars and rumours of wars, all made by the hand of man, God gave us free will, this is not on him, this is on us.

Stew,  thanks  for  the reply respect to your openess, I agree we just  cant understand everything on the level of human mind. Im a bit disappointed in myself considering im heading the opposite direction of you.  Sent you PM there.  Cant be as open as too many know me on here.

[Aerlik]

Well, week two of my Bible class has come and gone.

Tonight we were looking at the book of Genesis.  In the beginning and all that carry on.

I was hoping there might be a flat-earther in the class but it wasn't to be.  In fact it was pretty staid all along, except when one person mentioned the concept of redemption for new-borns who were born with original sin.  The chat about Limbo was not that profound.  Someone mentioned the Pope clarifying recently that babies who die before being baptised will go straight to heaven.  Can someone clarify that?

Anyways, the class was drawing to a painful close when up pipes this young blade about the fact she can't quite grasp the concept of biblical characters living to be several hundred years old.  Why, she wondered, is it that we only live to about 70 nowadays.  Was it God's way of punishing us for our sins that we live much shorter lives?  A long silence ensued.  I dunno if everyone else was busting to piss themselves laughing, but I was.  After what appeared an eternity, I suggested that it was a metaphor for wise, learned and respected individuals in ancient society being depicted as old.  Class agreement. 

Well, I knew there'd be questions but I didn't expect a comedy show.  Roll on next week.  Abraham and the lads take centre stage.

[J70]

Well, week two of my Bible class has come and gone.

Tonight we were looking at the book of Genesis.  In the beginning and all that carry on.

I was hoping there might be a flat-earther in the class but it wasn't to be.  In fact it was pretty staid all along, except when one person mentioned the concept of redemption for new-borns who were born with original sin.  The chat about Limbo was not that profound.  Someone mentioned the Pope clarifying recently that babies who die before being baptised will go straight to heaven.  Can someone clarify that?

Anyways, the class was drawing to a painful close when up pipes this young blade about the fact she can't quite grasp the concept of biblical characters living to be several hundred years old.  Why, she wondered, is it that we only live to about 70 nowadays.  Was it God's way of punishing us for our sins that we live much shorter lives?  A long silence ensued.  I dunno if everyone else was busting to piss themselves laughing, but I was.  After what appeared an eternity, I suggested that it was a metaphor for wise, learned and respected individuals in ancient society being depicted as old.  Class agreement. 

Well, I knew there'd be questions but I didn't expect a comedy show.  Roll on next week.  Abraham and the lads take centre stage.

Limbo? People possibly muffling laughs at the one person who takes Genesis literally?

A catholic bible class, I take it?

So they've got rid of limbo? Its hard to think of a more offensive religious idea than the possibility that an unbaptized infant would be denied entry into heaven.