Thursday, May 27, 2010

Leviticus

11:24-46
I suppose that anyone who labors in a group must claim religious exemption from working, if they become "unclean". But what about the goof-off who "accidentally" becomes unclean? "Whoops! Oh, boss, look what I did! I touched that dead chameleon. Clumsy, clumsy me. But hey, far be it from me to put my fellow workers at risk. I tink too much of all youse to needlessly endanger you with my presence! See ya' in the mornin'!" And, not to beat a dead horse (Get it? Beat a "dead horse"? Ha-ha!), but i can imagine a mischievous person touching a deceased mouse, then running from pious person to pious person, touching them and saying, "Nah-nah-nah-naaah-nah, you're unclean!". Humor aside, it simply does not seem reasonable to suggest that holy displeasure could be connected with the touching of apparently random animals, dead or undead.
12
These verses are simply atrocious and inexcusable. The verse 2 message is that you are offensive to God when you menstruate! A lot of the Bible thus far has been well-intentioned, with a somewhat redeemable code of behavior, but these verses are frankly noxious. A woman in childbirth is also offensive to God, and she remains "offensive" for weeks after? Verse 5 is the most frighteningly abominable of all, to suggest that a female child doubles the mother's period of uncleanness. I'm a little speechless. A reasonable person would be excused for laying down the Bible for good at this point.
21:7-8,13-15
The Lord seems to be saying in these verses that a person's purity is forever dependent upon what happened to that person in the past; in effect, that people cannot change, or repent of past offenses. This is not inconceivable, but it does contradict later biblical allegations that forgiveness is divine.
26:14-35
These punishments should have been happening for a long time, and should be all around us now. But they aren't. Or they're happening at such at such a slow pace as to escape observance. The Lord does not speak of them as being slow in coming, however. Their absence is compelling evidence that the Bible was in no way divinely inspired.

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