Unfortunately, they don’t give you the passages for each question, but the quiz is fun. Take it twice. Answer based on what you really feel is the right answer- how to act in each situation. Then take again and answer the way you think the Bible directs. See how alike or different these are.
Posts Tagged: Bible
18
Jan 09
What’s Morally Wrong With Homosexuality?
I think this is a preview/trailer for a DVD but has some good stuff in it.
7
Jan 09
Are the Religious Obsessed with Sex?
The Year of Living Biblically
I’m reading a new book, and it seems that within the Judeo-Christian traditions, people have always been obsessed with sex. I began reading, “The Year of Living Biblically” by AJ Jacobs, and thought I would blog about it as I move through the book. So, far it is pretty good, but I’m barely half-way through the first chapter, and I’m a slow reader. So bear with me.
Got Religion?
So, Jacobs decided to begin a journey of living as biblically litterally as he could for a year. Jewish, but raised fairly secular, his life hadn’t had much of a place for religion. But following his previous book, which involved reading the entire Britannica encyclopedia from cover to cover, he was looking for a new book idea, and thus embarked on this project. Jacobs, like myself, sees how influential the Bible is in today’s culture, and that played a role in his decision. He starts with a premise that many religious people today, even those who claim to take the Bible literally, pick and choose which passages they want to observe and which they don’t. So he isn’t going to do that, or so is his plan. He is going to jump in with both feet, and be as 100% literal as he can be. He writes:
If I had a God-shaped hole in my heart, this quest would allow me to fill it.
That’s a very cool notion, but there lies a problem. For a number of biblical admonitions are now illegal, and/or require other people (like his wife’s) full acceptance and participation. but I’m a big fan of spiritual quests, and setting out upon a journey to find something that you are not sure is there or isn’t! I was hooked a few pages into the introduction. I think Religion would “work” for more people, and play a role in making the world a better place, if more people took that approach- that of choosing to go on a journey open-minded enough to see what one might find along the way. Too often, a person embarks upon, or holds fast to their beliefs out of fear. They don’t want to see what they find- they want to know and confirm that they are right so that they do not have to explore and come to new understandings.
Be fruitful and Multiply!
Jacobs writes:
Conception was a huge preoccupation of the ancients. … Bible’s most famous stories center on the quest to get pregnant.
He doesn’t say much (yet?) about why that might be, but I think it is is a really significant note. It explains much about why homosexuality and abortion are probably the two hottest controversial issues that seem to divide us today. I’ll write more about my thoughts on that later. Interestingly, the few stories he decides to consider at first (Sarah and Abraham, and Rachel/Leah and Jacob, don’t seem to be a positive image for the notion of “true marriage” as a marriage between 1 man and 1 woman for procreation! In both cases (my interpretation) the focus is not upon the family unit of man, woman and child. But rather, the focus is on women, who can not bear children who try anything to create a baby (let’s get real- they wanted a son and not a daughter), and who in the end could only get what they wanted though God’s action. Human procreation meant nothing/ was not possible in these stories. This is worth thinking more about.
Prayer
I’ve just passed page 20, and Jabobs is talking about beginning a prayer practice. These few pages have been wonderful reading, and I think I am really going to love this book. His honesty and openness about what he is doing is refreshng and touching. He writes roughly a page about what he is doing and then says:
I glance at the clock. I’ve been praying for only a minute. I’ve promised myself I’d try to pray for at least ten minutes three times a day.
Reminds me of when I started to meditate! How much can happen/ go through your mind and your body in a minute!
Off to work now, looking forward to reading more and will post again! Have you read the book? Anyone interested in getting it and reading along? We can have a dialogue as we go?
19
Dec 08
The Queerest Bible Story is getting even queerer.
I keep meaning to write about this, but haven’t, so rather than let it sit in my drafts, thought I’d put it out there.
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/3073728/36779164
4
Nov 08
The Bible Tells Me So… is BS!
So often, people are turned off by religion, and by the Bible, because it (possibly both) are expressed as being “the Word of God,” or as “God said…” This is a real problem, because it enables men and women to turn over all responsibility to that God. I remember as a kid, it was easy to try and use the excuse, that because someone told me to. And my parent’s comeback was always, if they told you to jump out the window, would you follow that too? I took from that the notion that to release responsibility of one’s own actions was silly and potentially destructive.
The same holds true for those who act, and blame it on the Word of God, or because “God says…” Even if you believe that God did say [fill in the blank], or it was from the Word of God, it is important to take responsibility for your part. YOU chose to act in what ever way, say or do whatever, based upon a choice. You may feel it is the only choice. But even if that is the case, you chose.
Blind obedience and Faith are not one in the same.
29
Oct 08
Why Even Atheists should Care about the Bible
What do you believe?
Even atheists should care about the Bible. Care about does not mean believe in or support or follow, but to ignore how influential it is in today’s culture is a bit like sticking your head in the sand.
Queer Look at the Bible was originally (and will return to be) a podcast I began back in 2006. For a variety of reasons, I stopped adding episodes, and it has sat, dormant since then. This isn’t confession, and I have no need to sort out all of the reasons, but one of them, was that by the time I started to produce the podcast, my own personal beliefs had changed dramatically. Perhaps one of these days, I will write more about my own beliefs, but for this post, suffice to say I think there are three types of people who ought to follow my blog and podcast.
- GLBT people who are Christians and for whom the Bible holds meaning. Maybe those who already feel somewhat liberated from more conservative fundamentalist readings, but also for those who are still stuck hiding within their churches and struggle with their sexuality and their beliefs.
- Open-minded Christians and people who are willing to think outside-the-box and consider different perspectives.
- Atheists and other non-believers who do care about the world in which we live, and for lack of a better descriptor- our culture.
So how about that last broad group- atheists and non-believers. For me, this includes people who don’t necessarily not believe, but aren’t practicing believers; people who aren’t sure they want to believe, but are afraid to admit that they don’t for fear of what might happen; people for whom it isn’t an issue of “believe in” who realize that being a religious person is about action not thought or feeling; as well as those who are sure there is o such thing as God- the true atheist.
No matter where you fall in the spectrum, you have to admit that the Bible affects everyone and everything. Attitudes based within it affect the laws and government. Consider the backlash to gay marriage. The very notion that marriage is fundamentally about one man and one women… Or how prevalent prayer is… We even have a vice presidential candidate that believes creationism should be taught as science.
No matter if the book or the belief system has personal meaning for it, it shapes much of our world, our government, and the establishments that make up our lives and our culture. So how do we combat that without taking it (The Bible) away from those who have faith in it? For they deserve to believe as they wish. The world really is big enough for everyone’s perspective. The way we maintain a balance and let the believers and the not believers exist in peace is to broaden the discussion. To be able to answer and counter oppressive viewpoints by offering other ideas. By bringing light and reason to the mix.
What the Bible has to say- how to understand it, and what it may or may not mean is a topic for everyone if we are going to move our world, our lives and our culture forward instead of backwards into the dark ages.
21
Oct 08
Queer Look at the Bible
gayest jesus ever
A number of years ago, I produced a news magazine program on the local public access cable station called “The Gay Nineties.” Almost every time I was at the station to edit, there would be some bible thumper in the studio, taping their sunday sermon and ranting on about homosexuals and other deviants. One evening, taking a break from the editing booth, I sat down next to a woman waiting to get into the studio. We chatted for a few minutes- she telling me about the scripture she was using this week, and didn’t I like the new scarf a friend had blessed her with so that she would look good on camera. After a short pause, she looked at me and asked what program, I worked on- that I seemed like a nice boy ( I was considerably younger than she) and she hadn’t seen me around before. I told her the name of my program, and she looked a little surprised, but remained pleasant. I didn’t hear any ranting about gay people coming from the studio that evening!
Too often, the radical religious believe they own the Bible, and equally too often gay and lesbians abdicate participation in the Body of Christ- they hand over this document-the Bible- and allow it to be used as a weapon against them. But can the Bible be like other hateful word-weapons? Can some of the power be drained away, and a greater truth be found in a different interpretation of the meaning?
5
Feb 09
On the Wisdom of the Bible as Policy Tool
Well thought out post worth the read!
A New Thing: On the Wisdom of the Bible as Policy Tool | ReligionDispatches.