Posts by Thomas Harris33

Lawrence Torres56 said:You’re mistaken there; if you explain to your little one early on that our family doesn't subscribe to the whole God and devil thing, then the concept of hell carries absolutely zero weight for them. Kids at seven years old don't have a clue what hell even is, so naturally, they haven't developed any fear of it... fear, just like hatred, is something we parents instill in them.
We are believers, and my kid goes to religious ed, so if I ever bring up hell or burning, they’ll probably just laugh in my face—not because they’re religious, but because we never planted that seed of fear in them to begin with.

Bullying isn't really about whether a kid is religious or not; it’s about how they were raised. Someone who mocks a peer for skipping religious ed would just as easily mock them for having a blue pencil instead of a red one or using X instead of Y.

Besides, kids today are all over the place with after-school activities, everyone learns differently, and they all have different knowledge bases and grades, yet they don't sit there worrying about what's going to happen to them just because their classmate knows something they don't... I’ve certainly never noticed that being a burden on them... so, I really don't get why they’d suddenly start stressing over some Holy Spirit they don't believe in.

And, if we’re actually asking whether any kid needs this at the start of school, maybe we parents should be asking ourselves if any kid needs our own frustrations, our hate, our intolerance, and our prejudices... etcetera, etcetera. Where does it end? What are we actually teaching them? Even if you wiped religious ed from the schools tomorrow, none of this would vanish; it would just shift to something else, like T-shirts, hairstyles, or hair ties... and what have we actually accomplished?

Go ahead and teach your kids whatever you want. Eventually, that same kid will head to school and be taught in religious education that atheists are responsible for Auschwitz. It’s just the usual state-sponsored spread of hate and intolerance.

☕

Noah Grant59 said:The New Testament builds upon the Old. Nowhere is David condemned for taking down Goliath.

Now, I’m certainly in no position to lecture you.
I can only speak from my own experience as a man who faced massive injustice during wartime. I don't hold hatred toward the perpetrators, their supporters, or an entire nation.
I served from the beginning to the end of the conflict, and I feel I did what was pleasing to God.

When Roman soldiers crucified Jesus, one of the guards believed that Jesus truly was the son of God.
As far as I know, the soldiers aren't even cast as villains here—not even Pontius Pilate. Instead, the focus falls on the Jewish priests, though that is already a significant stretch.

Actually, if memory serves, the soldiers stripped Jesus of his clothes and tore them into four pieces, then cast lots for what was left. Theft, especially from a man on his deathbed, isn't exactly honorable behavior. That is, unless you're talking about Longinus, who apparently had a change of heart after stabbing him with a spear.

Besides, crucifixion is a Roman punishment, not a Jewish one. A Jewish execution would have been stoning.