While a good guide book for living a moral life, I do not want my life ruled by the Bible (or Torah or Koran).
Really, you are insane. But that pesky Constitution allows you to blovaite on your own skewed reading of the Bible.
HoundDaddlyLee, would you please explain your defensive posture? If I choose to live my personal life by Biblical guidelines, how does that imply that I am trying to make you live your life by the same standards? I may not agree with how you live your life (it's supposed to be a free country) but as long as you accept the consequences of your actions, that's your choice how you live your life. And in the same vein, as long as I accept responsibility for my decisions, I am allowed to choose to live my life by Biblical standards if I choose to.
THIS IS WHY YOU FAIL.
Slumba, it all depends on one's definition of failure. I would consider anyone who is divorced to be a failure at marriage. I consider anyone who has never married to not be a failure at marriage. I do not consider success to simply getting married - I believe you have to get married and never divorce before it is a success.
You're not looking to marry a woman with a large age gap and almost everybody your age has been married at least once.
I'm not looking to get married to almost everybody, so your argument is irrelevant. I'm interested in those women who aren't 'almost everybody' who are within a reasonable age difference.
If I remember correctly, you're wanting the woman to be a virgin too.
Virginity is the ideal, but I'm not limiting myself to only looking for virgins. (And while a widow is not my first preference, I would be willing to consider marrying a widow if the right one came along.) What is very important, is that a woman have a very low number of prior sexual partners. (The lower the better.) The more prior sexual partners a woman has, the less likely any future marriage will be successful.
You believe marriage can be the best thing in the world but with your self imposed restrictions, you may never experience the best thing in the world.
But I won't experience the worst thing in the world either, so that balances out some.
I get the impression these are his own personal beliefs, and he believes it would be better if people lived this way. I don't see why taking a covenant before God, or living your life according to these beliefs, is such a bad thing.
I agree. I also believe it would be better if folks didn't abuse drugs, alcohol, tobacco, their wives or children. I believe it would be better if folks did not take on more debt than they could repay. I believe it would be better if all folks were hardworking and industrious. I believe it would be better if everyone started and owned some kind of business, big or small, even if it was just a small side business. I believe it would be better if folks treated others the way they wanted to be treated, and did not do anything to someone else that they wouldn't want done to them. I also believe it would be better if folks were cautious about who they married, got married for the right reasons, and remained married and faithful to each other until death.
(That will really get the haters with their guilty consciences fired up. I believe differently than they live, and in their mind, that means I am trying to force them to live according to my beliefs. And if I try to live according to my standards, I am insane and some kind of nutjob who belongs in a psychiatric institution.)
All he is saying is that if he is to be married, God will put that woman in his path. I believe that. My better half believes it as well. It's not about action or lack thereof.
On many Saturday mornings, you will often find me selling honey at farmers markets or special events. I usually make $30-$50 an hour (including drive time, set-up, and tear down) at markets and shows. I make $200-$800 an hour selling wholesale and delivering to retail stores. I make a much higher hourly rate, and I make more gross sales dollars by selling to stores. However, I meet and interact with a LOT more women at markets. I've also noticed the women who go to farmers markets and shows (especially upscale events) are typically not your WalMart crowd. It is rare to see an obese woman, and the majority of women are physically fit, or only a few pounds overweight. While there is no guarantee that I will find a woman to marry at a farmers market, it does tilt the odds in my favor by putting myself in a place where I have the opportunity to meet women who are more likely to have some compatibility. (They care about eating healthy and being physically fit, and those are important to me.)
Who the hell do you think has been spreading the word of Jayzus after he died?* Snakes?
Nope. The churches. And of course, they will print what they find to be acceptable to <cough, cough> man.
I disagree. Many churches don't spread the word of Jesus. They spread teachings that are contrary to what Jesus taught, but they do it in Jesus' name.
Extreme Fundamental Religious views are dangerous to a free society.
Hmm. America was founded by Extreme Fundamental Religious views, and at its inception, America was the freest society ever known in recorded history.
It is why I love that our fore fathers realized that religion was a dangerous notion and put Separation of Church and State in the 1st Amendment.
The Founding Fathers did not believe religion was a dangerous notion. They intended for America to be a Christian nation, and for folks to be able to worship Almighty God in any way they wished. They believed it was dangerous for government to dictate how folks worshiped Almighty God, or for folks to worship in a specific church before they could hold a public office.
I see a very intolerant man with very intorlerant views.
I don't drink alcohol. I don't enjoy being around folks who drink much. I don't do drugs. I don't enjoy being around people who are doing drugs. I'm not a fascist or a socialist, and I don't enjoy being around fascists or socialists. Does this mean that I am intolerant? I consider myself to be tolerant because while I choose not to live my life like that, I believe it is ok for others to live their lives the way they want, as long as they are not infringing my rights.
I know a 50 yo guy who is relying on God to send him a woman and he's still alone. Go figure.
I know a lot of guys who married the easiest girl they could get, and then got divorced. Go figure.
(Matthew 19:6, 9). “What God has joined together, let man not separate . . . I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery”.
Um, that's NOT what Jesus said. Jesus used the word "porneia" which is NOT adultery. What is "porneia"? That's a good question, but we know that it is not adultery or marital unfaithfulness, because they used a different word for that, "moicheia". Supposedly, it has only bees since around the 15th century that folks have tried to say that adultery was included in the definition of porneia.
Porneia is
usually interpreted/translated as "fornication", "playing the harlot", and "Sexual immorality".
In the Old Testament, if a man married a woman, and discovered that she was not a virgin, she would be put to death for "playing the harlot". So I am not convinced that a girl not being a virgin at marriage was porneia - it would not be grounds to divorce the girl, as it was grounds for death. (I suspect this was in instances when a man married a girl with the understanding that she was a virgin. A widow who was getting married would not be expected to be a virgin.)
Adultery "moicheia" was also a capital offense. It was not grounds for divorce. It was already grounds for putting them to death. This also shows that moichiea was different from porniea.
Did porneia mean prostitution, especially temple prostitution to a pagan God? Perhaps. Some say it also refers to bestiality, homosexuality, pedophilia, or idolatry.
1 Corinthians 5:1 uses the word porneia, giving the example of incest (sex with a father's wife). So I believe incest would be a valid reason for the divorce Jesus was talking about.
Just looking at another man or woman with lust is being unfaithful. We're human, not perfect.
That is an attempt to rationalize and minimize wrongdoing, ie everyone does it.
Lusts, licentiousness, and lewdness are different sins from committing physical adultery (although Jesus did say they committed adultery in their heart). As such, they have different penalties than actual adultery.
Just because adultery is the only thing Jesus said as reason for divorce doesn't mean it's the only thing he'll consider.
Jesus didn't say that adultery "moicheia" was the exception for divorce. He said porneia.
Jesus didn't say he would consider any other reason. He said the ONLY reason was porneia.
Severe physical abuse and abandonment should be considered.
Those are sins that will be punished by God, and not by fellow man. (And just out of curiosity, at what point does physical abuse become "severe" physical abuse, and who gets to decide? And at what point does disagreeing, arguing, or disciplining a family member become abuse, and who gets to decide?)
it is quite clear that he is regarding the whole world, other than himself, as a hotbed of vice.
Vice refers to crimes of prostitution, pornography, drugs, alcohol, etc. I have made no such claims. I do believe there is a lot of promiscuity, adultery, and folks who disrespect marriage.
And if I believed that everyone else "other than me" was like this, I wouldn't even consider the possibility of looking for a wife. Simply the fact that I am willing to look for a wife who has never been married, has no kids, and who has a very low number of prior sexual partners shows I believe people other than myself can have similar standards.
Some "holier than thou" beat their drums the loudest and give religion a bad name but they don't represent the majority who has faith.
Faith without acts is dead, for even the demons believe, and they tremble.
Anyone can say they have faith, but if they don't live according to what they say they believe, then how much faith do they really have?
I still don't see how is he trying to impose his views on others.
It could be argued that I am imposing my standards on women, by declining to pursue relationships with women who don't meet my standards. In essence, I am forcing them to live up to my standards if they want to have a relationship with me.
But I don't believe that is forcing someone to live up to my standards, simply because they have a choice. I don't believe that women have a right to a relationship with me, just because they think I have qualities they are looking for. (Just as I don't have a right to a relationship with any girl who meets my standards and I am interested in.)
No, there are. However, the vast majority of those women marry young and stay married.
Hmm. That sounds like a very precious kind of marriage. I think the world would be a better place if everyone had a marriage like that.
