Go to How the Universe looks from here
- Add a comment
- Go to How can the Bible be True and not-true at the same time?
Shellfish is also a leading contributor to gout
and some people are deadly allergic, too. The warnings-off from these items might well have been supported by Bad Experiences! Interestingly, Mormons were warned off caffeine and tobacco long before doctors decided they were not, in fact, contributers to good health.
posted by
Ciel
on July 5, 2005 at 10:44 AM
| link to this | reply
laws of clean and unclean meat
are drawn from experience
this ensured that the imbiber of meat consumed non-poisonous substance
undercooked pork can give you trichinosis.
other substances in the meat can be harmful.
shellfish and catfish and other such absorb the poisons in the water around them. In the Mississippi River, etc., there are gov warnings against eating too much catfish and related.
shrimp and shellfish -- they absorb the pollutants in the water -- store it. you have read of the warnings against that.
it's the scientific method -- people discovered the meats that wouldn't cause illness and it was then declared the command of god.
still good guidelines -- be careful, it says.
posted by
Xeno-x
on July 5, 2005 at 9:03 AM
| link to this | reply
ciel
What could be a more vivid metaphor for insensitivity, cruelty and cluelessness than "cooking a lamb in its mother's milk"? This makes me shiver. Hemlocker
posted by
Hemlocker
on July 3, 2005 at 7:22 AM
| link to this | reply
ciel
There is much wisdom in what you say, and it can apply to almost anyone. Unfortunately, too many of us are stuck on the first step. Hemlocker
posted by
Hemlocker
on July 3, 2005 at 7:19 AM
| link to this | reply
Billycargo, I have read the Bible several times cover to cover...
possibly sliding a bit quickly over the begats... and enjoyed it as cultural history as well as for the spiritual content.
There are also clues about How It All Works that one may discover... Like the earlier incarnation of Jesus... (My teachers said, "You'll know it when you see it.")
posted by
Ciel
on July 2, 2005 at 9:40 AM
| link to this | reply
Ciel, a very good post. I think the Bible intimidates people (me) and
thats why some people dismiss it out of hand. I'm learning now that I can look to it for wosdom again. There's lots of truths there. I'm not talking Apostle's Creed type stuff. I'm more into th moral truths and the timelessness of certain actions inevitably bringing about a downfall. As for free will...I'm reading Wild At Heart right now and the author argues that God allows free will because he has a sense of adventure.
posted by
FreeManWalking
on July 2, 2005 at 9:20 AM
| link to this | reply
Ciel, what an interesting and well written post.
posted by
TAPS.
on July 2, 2005 at 7:34 AM
| link to this | reply
Gubby, some of those dietary laws are founded on principles of compassion--
eg, to not cook a lamb in its mother's milk. The same lists require that one's animals be fed before one sits down to his/her own meal. And 'an eye for an eye' is the simplest form of 'Do unto others...'
posted by
Ciel
on July 2, 2005 at 12:31 AM
| link to this | reply
I have read the bible, and even as an atheist,I have found some inspiration
But... I see no meaning in the endless geneaologies, or the dietary laws that go on for pages and pages (pragmatic once but in the modern day it just screws around with people's lives). And some things just aren't good, whatever anyone might say.... an eye for an eye? Some things are awful.
posted by
Gubby
on July 1, 2005 at 3:24 PM
| link to this | reply
Emptyhandedpainter, thanks for an eloquent comment!
There is an exquisite piece of artwork in bronze or possibly brass that shows the geocentric solar system that until the 1700s was the official Church's idea of Reality. It is lovely, all the orbits and retrograde loops looking like a cosmic flower! It is a false representation of Reality, but it is a true representation of how the Reality appears from Earth.
There is a value in seeing how a thing is true, even though it may not be the truth originally intended.
I beleive that everything has its own true and proper place in the Big Picture. It is only a matter of shifting persepctives until we find the true one.
posted by
Ciel
on July 1, 2005 at 1:50 PM
| link to this | reply
re bible truth and untruth
there are eternal precepts
these we should concentrate on.
we should not persist in believing the unbelievable.
much of the OT is derived, I think, from previous stories -- there is a seed of veracity around which a story was woven from the author's viewpoint.
the New Testament gospela were written long past when the events happened -- they have the author's viewpoints woven in their fabric.
much of how we perceive the bible comes from an entire school of thought that dominated the middle ages (the Dark Ages [wonder why they were called, "dark":?]).
if we pushed aside the intervening paradigm, i think we 0could see the bible in truth (read more validity).
myth and fantasy of those Dark Ages has clouded our perception.
posted by
Xeno-x
on July 1, 2005 at 12:46 PM
| link to this | reply
that's great, ciel
when i'm free, i can pick up any spiritual book and its meaning jumps out at me. i think it has a lot to do with willingness to hear. 'he who has ears, let him hear!'
posted by
avant-garde
on June 30, 2005 at 4:10 PM
| link to this | reply
You are so on your way, Sannhet!
You still have a lot of rules and stuff in the way, but don't stop, don't be concerned about breaking some of them, or seeing them in this same way. I promise you, some of them, when you unlayer them, will be utterly gone!
posted by
Ciel
on June 30, 2005 at 2:37 PM
| link to this | reply
See, this is what I like about naturally, wholesomely spiritual people:
They find their own ways in, their own paths across the wilderness... Metta, you bring more meaning than anyone I know to the concept of 'realizing the Divine!'
posted by
Ciel
on June 30, 2005 at 2:35 PM
| link to this | reply
Ciel -
What a great exercise! I tried it and saw one who is full of love and illuminated our surroundings. We didn't speak, but the distinct message I got was one of love and compassion. I may have to add this to my journeying routine.
posted by
sannhet
on June 30, 2005 at 2:35 PM
| link to this | reply
this is so beautiful... 
actually, when I read the bible, or other holy writings or poetry, I read them aloud to God - it is only when I read them aloud to God do I discern anything - there is a wonderful opening that happens with the words when read to His Presence...
beautiful.
posted by
Metta
on June 30, 2005 at 2:15 PM
| link to this | reply