This being The Straight Dope, I would hope giving a shit about the facts would be the point.
Context is important. The Mosaic Law was given to the Jewish Nation of that time and it makes it very clear about this. Don’t forget, back then, God established a Theocracy, in which he ruled through his prophets, later judges, later kings, and then when His Son came and was rejected, bye bye Temple and hello to a NEW COVENANT.
Google the words “New Covenant” and study this. I think this may help you get the wisdom you are desiring.
There are I believe 613 Mitzvahs (laws) set forth through Moses and much cannot be followed today because there is no Temple in Jerusalem and much of the “Jewish” Civil Laws don’t apply today because I believe they were given to Israel for that time. However, some of those Mitzvahs make a lot of sense to me and I follow, but I do not do such out of compulsion, but because they make sense. (Don’t eat pig for one.)
Finally, Jesus’s death took the sins of the WORLD on his shoulders, so an adulterer need not get stoned to death for his sins. Christ took the punishment for that person.
Now, if you still want to stone an adulterer, go live in Iran.
The earth is still here, right?
FYI, I try to keep the Sabbath Day as it was originally intended, on Saturday, although I wont say, I got it right, and all the Sunday worshipper a got it wrong.
I believe the 10 Commandments are special and above the 613 Mitzvahs, so I do put a much greater emphasis on them. But that is just me.
do you plan on starting a constitutional amendment to prevent people from working on sunday?
But we can still put an emphasis on the facts that are actually relevant to the matter being discussed?
Thanks for the info.
If I get your point right, you are making a distinction between laws of which you believe they were given to Israel for that time and those that still apply today. What do you base that distinction on? Couldn’t the law we are discussing here, the banning of homosexuality, also have been meant for a different time?
TM, in case their is any confusion, I don’t think you are a bad person or anything and I think you are expressing yourself rather well in this conversation(s). There are a few people I know who are religious and I am friends with them and we get along well. I’m sure if we met we would most likely be friends.
Robert,
Yes, the 9th Commandment says Thou shall not commit ADULTERY.
You got me thinking- why hasn’t there been a massive anti-adultery crusade like there has been other crusades? I wonder if it is because adultery is usually practiced behind closed doors. I mean, how many people knew JFK was getting it on with Marilyn at that time? in fact, I wonder how many guys were envious rather than ready to pick up a stone to stone him for it. (Just being funny folks. My humor is not always funny.) :smack:
Simple test I apply-
Moral laws usually continue on.
Civil laws don’t…to Israel at that time. Although many Jews today still apply Mosaic Law (Hassidic, Orthodox).
You’d also hope that, having been called out on bullshit once, he be more careful about posting it a second time. But no, 1954 was also not like that.
Maybe 1754.
Thanks Robert. I love you too. 
How many remember when Everything was Closed on Sundays?
Yes Boy’s and Girls there was a time when there was no were to go on Sunday except to Church or visit a relative. You might find a Drug Store open but that was it. Sunday was a day of rest for all, no exceptions except for our emergency workers, Police, Fireman, Nurses, Doctors, and Hospitals. As I look back that was the good times. Family together one day a week. Oh I forgot the restaurants were open in the evening in case you wanted to take your family out to dinner.
http://askville.amazon.com/remember-Closed-Sundays/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=16162515
No, it’s probably because heterosexual adultery involves a form of sex that is not repulsive to homophobes
Yes, but what about post 283?
So you are using your own rational thought to decide the matter. While I generally believe that to be a commendable approach, does it not mean you are treading on unsafe territory in terms of faith? I mean the Bible does not say that moral and civil laws are to be treated differently. I am not arguing with the distinction you are making, but I am wondering: Why do you believe that you are entitled to make a distinction? Because if you say that you can and that the distinction is valid, then you would have to be at least open to a debate with those who make a different distinction. At that point we would have moved away from the (not debatable) word of God to the (very debatable) human interpretation thereof, would we not?
And donut shops. God loves donuts.
I have a more basic question. How do you know whether a law is “moral” or “civil”. Take the laws of kashrut. Is that a civil law? The rules around proper slaughter of animals certainly seem to have some aspects of morality around avoiding animal cruelty. Of course, they also have some elements that seen to be health regulations. And others are just obscure. You can eat a chicken, but not a crow. Why? You shouldn’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk. Is that because that was a ritual to some other God? Because it’s disrespectful to the animals? ??
You shall not yoke an ox to an ass. Moral? You may not plant two types if grain in a field. Civil? Or is there a moral problem with mixing unlike things? You shall sacrifice the first fruits of a tree to God, and not them. Is that just husbandry? Cropping too early reduces the lifetime productivity of many trees. Or is it meant to remind you that all good things come from God?
I don’t think these are easy questions.
Regardless of when the law on Sunday opening hours was changed, I would not be surprised to hear that Christians have indeed opposed the decision at the time. But since that was a fairly long time ago, everyone has gotten used to it by now and for conservative Christians the matter is at best a lost cause. If you had a law today that said shops must be closed on Sundays, I guarantee you would meet fierce opposition toward any attempt to change that law. (We do have such a law over here in Germany and guess what happens whenever anyone suggests to change it?)
The same sex marriage is a fairly new thing. For conservative Christians it is not yet a lost cause. They are not trying to change anything, just to prevent a change which collides with their moral standards.
If I understand you right, your challenge of bigotry or hypocrisy is based on the assertion that Christians only profess to defend their faith when they oppose gay marriage, while in truth they do it, because they are repelled by homosexuality on a very emotional level. I suppose you are right for some of them and wrong for others. But it should not be relevant whether their Christian motivation is genuine, because in a multi cultural society the credo of one religion should not supersede the freedom of others.
I do not believe God changes, thus, what was MORALLY wrong then should be morally wrong today. Like stealing, lying, sleeping with mother, etc. the 10 Commandments are moral laws. Plus, they all make sense. Lastly, most of the Mosaic moral laws are carried over in the NT and mentioned as such prohibitions.
The Ceremonial Laws can’t be carried out because there is no Temple in Jerusalem, unless the Muslims rent out the Dome of the Rock. 
The Civil Laws I believe applied for that nation at that time, since God established a theocracy with them. No such government like that exists in America. :eek: