Today's Theist Memory Verse, VII

"It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." -- Mark Twain

The Setup

Deuteronomy 22 is, like most of the Bible, unconscionable. Before this passage, it speaks of killing women who can't prove their virginity, killing a married woman for getting raped, etc.

The Passage

If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; Then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)

The "Moral" of the Passage"

It is another abominable sentiment about women. There's a number of things wrong with this passage; injustice too great to describe. If a man rapes an unmarried virgin and they are found, then the man must pay the father fifty shekels of silver (as much as God values a man at in Leviticus 27:3) and marry her. The woman gets raped and then has to marry him... the injustice is egregious. It also shows that women are very much considered property. The woman belongs to the father and thus the transgression is against him, not the woman. Since he has taken her virginity, she is of no value anymore (except perhaps if the father wishes to sell her into slavery, as the Bible explicitly permits).

And if they are not found... what then? She is no longer a virgin. If she then is married to another man, she will be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:13-21). Any way you slice it, if a woman is raped, it can only work out for her if she is married at the time and the rape occurs in a field (Deuteronomy 22:25).

Connection to Modernity

The virgin in question is most likely a young girl (as was the way then). So, a child rapist, according to the Bible, gets to rape as long as they aren't "found." If they are found, he has to pay a fee to the father and then marry her.

Until Kennedy v Louisiana, this got the death penalty in some places. Otherwise, it usually comes with life in prison (not to mention the torture incurred in prison due to the nature of the crime). Anyone who thinks that (1) child rape is a crime against the father, and (2) it merits nothing more than a fee paid to the father, is immoral.

Out of Town & Blog Recommendations

Hey all,

I just wanted to make a public note that I'm out of town for several days attending a friend's wedding. Posts and comments will be a little delayed, but rest assured, I'm working on some replies to Ray's recent postings. I also have an entry on Ray's view of evolution and science upcoming soon.

I wanted, also, to make a request for blogs, websites, or any other feeds to which you subscribe and enjoy. This is a request to both Christians and non-Christians. If you're a Christian and you read a blog you think might be useful for me, please post it as a comment (as I read several Christian blogs). This is a request for any blogs on science, religion, and skepticism. I subscribe to over 100 blogs (what a backup I am accumulating out of town), but I'm always weeding some out and on the lookout for more.

All suggestions are much appreciated.

Ray Has Damned the Midwest

The curse of Allah is on disbelievers. Evil is that for which they sell their souls: that they should disbelieve in that which Allah hath revealed... They have incurred anger upon anger. For disbelievers is a shameful doom. (Koran, 2:89-90)

Ray has posted an odious cartoon in his blog instead of a text article. The "moral" of the cartoon? Well, firstly, there is no scientific explanation for weather, it is a tool of God to inflict pain, torment, suffering, and sorrow on humans, depending on their actions -- or rather, on some of the actions of some of the people around them. Fires, floods, tornadoes, cancer, financial woes... there are no natural explanations for them, they are of supernatural origins -- used by God to punish the sinful Americans. Of course... that's why there were no weather disasters, diseases, or hardships back in the Christian times of the Puritans, Pilgrims, etc.

What Ray fails to notice, though, is that there are no raging wildfires ripping through the Middle East. There are no mud slides destroying homes and killing people in the Middle East. There are no floods destroying the Middle East (God can make a desert flood just as easily as he can the Bible Belt). So, it's obvious, then, why God is punishing Americans.

Christianity is false; Islam is the one true religion. The Qur'an clearly states of Christians, Jews, atheists, and the other disbelievers:

The curse of Allah is on disbelievers. Evil is that for which they sell their souls: that they should disbelieve in that which Allah hath revealed... They have incurred anger upon anger. For disbelievers is a shameful doom. (Koran, 2:89-90)

Isn't it obvious why, then, America has natural disasters? It's because of people like Ray Comfort. Ray Comfort has damned the Midwest to suffer floods. Ray Comfort has damned California to suffer wildfires. Hurricane Katrina? Yes, that was Ray Comfort's fault as well. Allah is angered by Ray Comfort who teaches that Jesus was the Son of God, which the Qur'an clearly states is wrong and wicked. Ray Comfort and his Christian message is causing us all to suffer natural supernatural disasters.


There's another thing wrong with this post, though. Is Ray dishonest, a liar, or forgetful? One of the commenters on the post, Geoff, points out the first one:

"Of course I would never say that fires are punishment for gay marriage, or that floods were a punishment for poor folks in the Midwest."

--Ray Comfort

You should have added...

P.S. But I will express these ideas in other forms, like cartoons and interpretive dance.

The Qur'an and the Bible both paint a very wicked, sadistic picture of a perfect being indeed. Is He simply unjust and unfair that he would slaughter the innocent along with the guilty, the babies along with the adults? Or is He simply not powerful enough to punish only those guilty by striking them dead rather that sending forth a natural disaster? Or is He a terrorist of the worst sort sending forth such natural disasters so that bigots like Ray Comfort can point to them and say "Convert and agree with me, or there's plenty more where that came from!"?

Bad weather and Hell: just two of the death threats Ray Comfort is armed with.

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Posts by others on this topic:
- Of Microbes and Men

Today's Theist Memory Verse, VI

"The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of woman's emancipation." -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton

The Setup

I decided to go with something from the New Testament on women.


The Passage

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. (Ephesians 5:22-24)

The "Moral" of the Passage

The Bible makes it clear, as does the Qur'an, that men are superior to women. In the Old Testament, it was quite explicit, as it is in the New Testament. Here women are told to submit to their husbands "in every thing" as though the husbands were Christ. Why? Because the husband is the "head of the wife." Later in this chapter it also says that women must revere their husbands.

The Christians who refused women equal rights had the moral high ground in terms of Scripture.

Today's Theist Memory Verse, V

"The Bible is a book that has been read more and examined less than any book that ever existed." -- Thomas Paine

The Setup

As always, to set this up, God, literally God, the perfect being, is dictating to Moses about what a woman needs to do after giving birth. He has given instructions on circumcisions and spoken how the woman needs to purify herself...

The Passage

And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or dove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before the LORD, and make an atonement for her; and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female. And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean. (Leviticus 12:6-8)

The "Moral" of the Passage

The moral of this story is that God expects animal sacrifices. God, the perfect being, is pleased when an animal is killed and specifically what kind of animal. God's personal preference is a burnt lamb and pigeon/dove; however, God is not intransigent. If you can't manage his favorite, the second on his list are two turtles or two pigeons. God makes it quite clear that if you kill these animals for him, the woman will then be "clean."

Santería, anyone?