Throckmorton is confounded because he simply cannot come to terms with the fact that his blessed holy book, ostensibly an inspired message from an infinitely wise and loving super-being, condones, and at times mandates, the enslavement of human beings as well as an assortment of atrocities, including genocide. Similarly, it condemns over 100 billion human beings to damnation, torment and/or physical torture. He just cannot deal with these sordid facts, so he acts as if the Bible is some other book, a decent book inspired by a better, non-maniacal deity.

But it is what it is. Barton should be applauded for reflecting true Biblical values.

http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/archives/interviews/Boorstin.htm

in relation to his book, The Lost World of Thomas Jefferson. I’ve been reading Boorstin’s The Americans: The Colonial Experience. Fascinating section on Colonial Virginia in the 18th century.

Perhaps Warren has decided to embrace ‘Christian’ Christianity (Christ first – everything else, Bible included, after that), rather than so-called ‘biblical’ Christianity ([a particular interpretation of] the Bible first – everything else, including Christ, after that).

Where I think you are getting ‘muddled’ is in your tendency apparently to accept that ‘particular interpretation’ of the diverse collection of writings that makes up the Bible. I don’t accept that interpretation (and would say that it was in fact ‘UNbiblical’, citing John 1 as my first ‘port of call’); consequently, I have no problem with Warren’s position.

I think you need to desist your apparent mental gymnastics, and work with people like Warren on practical issues, such as opposing homophobia. Don’t become obsessed by ‘intellectual disagreements’; instead, be practical and look for concrete results. That’s my advice to you, offered in good faith.

(BTW, Warren has, in the past, addressed the issue of rebellious children … but it was some time ago, and he can’t – especially in the light of the need for him to take care of his health – deal with every single instance of fundamentalist lunacy immediately as it arises!)

Perhaps Warren has decided to embrace ‘Christian’ Christianity (Christ first – everything else, Bible included, after that), rather than so-called ‘biblical’ Christianity ([a particular interpretation of] the Bible first – everything else, including Christ, after that).

Where I think you are getting ‘muddled’ is in your tendency apparently to accept that ‘particular interpretation’ of the diverse collection of writings that makes up the Bible. I don’t accept that interpretation (and would say that it was in fact ‘UNbiblical’, citing John 1 as my first ‘port of call’); consequently, I have no problem with Warren’s position.

I think you need to desist your apparent mental gymnastics, and work with people like Warren on practical issues, such as opposing homophobia. Don’t become obsessed by ‘intellectual disagreements’; instead, be practical and look for concrete results. That’s my advice to you, offered in good faith.

(BTW, Warren has, in the past, addressed the issue of rebellious children … but it was some time ago, and he can’t – especially in the light of the need for him to take care of his health – deal with every single instance of fundamentalist lunacy immediately as it arises!)

I have no agenda other than to state my honest opinion, which is as follows: Warren Throckmorton belongs to a rare species: a man who honestly follows the evidence where it leads him, even when that requires him to revise or abandon previously held views. That is rare enough under optimal circumstances, but Throckmorton followed through on his commitment to honest inquiry in the context of a culture war hot button issue with which he was publicly identified, and with the full knowledge that altering his prior position would bring about the enmity of many of the people who formerly elevated him. That’s not just a man of integrity, it’s a man of heroic integrity.

So why should that same man fail to grapple with true nature of the Bible and Christianity and pretend that it is something entirely different?

These numerous posts of his expressing shock and bemusement at Barton, Fischer, Lively and Pastor Worley of NC (Note: no mention by Throckmorton yet of the trio of Christian state legislators from Arkansas who this week advocated for the death penalty for rebellious children and who opined that good things resulted from slavery) – they all reflect his presumption that these scoundrels do not reflect real Christianity or real Biblical values. I am trying to point out that they do, and that it is Throckmorton who, in his decency, his compassion and his humanity, has departed from Biblical Christianity. He just won’t admit it.

I have no agenda other than to state my honest opinion, which is as follows: Warren Throckmorton belongs to a rare species: a man who honestly follows the evidence where it leads him, even when that requires him to revise or abandon previously held views. That is rare enough under optimal circumstances, but Throckmorton followed through on his commitment to honest inquiry in the context of a culture war hot button issue with which he was publicly identified, and with the full knowledge that altering his prior position would bring about the enmity of many of the people who formerly elevated him. That’s not just a man of integrity, it’s a man of heroic integrity.

So why should that same man fail to grapple with true nature of the Bible and Christianity and pretend that it is something entirely different?

These numerous posts of his expressing shock and bemusement at Barton, Fischer, Lively and Pastor Worley of NC (Note: no mention by Throckmorton yet of the trio of Christian state legislators from Arkansas who this week advocated for the death penalty for rebellious children and who opined that good things resulted from slavery) – they all reflect his presumption that these scoundrels do not reflect real Christianity or real Biblical values. I am trying to point out that they do, and that it is Throckmorton who, in his decency, his compassion and his humanity, has departed from Biblical Christianity. He just won’t admit it.

Just looking again at comment, I find it hard to understand what game it is you are playing.

Call me a ‘simple soul’, but, given your hearty dislike of the behaviour of the likes of Barton, I find it decidedly odd that you seem minded to use a bartonesque view of Christianity to ‘get at’ Warren.

Maybe you could explain to me just what is your agenda?

Just looking again at comment, I find it hard to understand what game it is you are playing.

Call me a ‘simple soul’, but, given your hearty dislike of the behaviour of the likes of Barton, I find it decidedly odd that you seem minded to use a bartonesque view of Christianity to ‘get at’ Warren.

Maybe you could explain to me just what is your agenda?