The religion I practice, totally coincidentally, is the correct one!
There was once a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the use of peyote as part of a legitimate Native American religious ceremony.
The practitioners argued that their freedom of religion should supersede any law outlawing the use of peyote.
That ole’ hypocrite, Antonin Scalia, said that if people could use religious beliefs to justify their actions, then each person could “become a law unto themselves”, and that was untenable.
Religious beliefs, no matter how sincere, do not supersede one’s legal obligations.
We’ve already decided this. It’s tragic that this Supreme Court is receding from precedent.
In the interest of harmony and peace, I would like to quote a little old lady caller to the Larry King radio program many years ago: “I don’t know why we have a problem with Jews, Hindus, Muslims and all the others-aren’t we all just worshiping Jesus in our own way?”
Even A. J. Jacobs?
“I’ve done everything the Bible says - even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!”
I bet he left out a verse or several.
Especially the ones about stoning.
No, because Biblical punishments can only (according to Biblical law) be administered by a proper court for such judgments, which does not exist in modern times.
Only based on a superficial reading. However, careful study using traditional methods (such as can be found in the Talmud and its derivative works) demonstrate what apparently-contradictory verses ultimately mean in action and how they work together.
Who said that “Whenever you want to hear atheists laugh, have a believer tell them that a holy book makes sense”? Some skeptic, I’m sue.
Hello Sue, how do you do?
And different sects, claiming to use pretty much the same methods(leaving aside the Talmud), say pretty much the same thing.
Yet somehow don’t get quite the same results.
Isn’t that a vaudeville routine? Gallagher and Shean, 1901? Weber and Fields, 1914? Crosby, Stills, and Nash, 1969?
Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.
I mean the Rabbis in the Talmud itself disagree with each other on a whole lot of their interpretations.
What we really need is sects education.
Nevermind
Be that as it may, they find that they’ve resolved (in their own ways) the apparent contradictions to the point where they are observing all of the verses, not cherry-picking.
They may disagree with one another, but they find (each in their own ways) resolution to what appear to be contradictions between the verses.
And that gets you back to the same problem. Anyone trying to apply the biblical commandments to their life/personal beliefs would then have to pick and choose which way to resolve each contradiction because there is no consensus right answer.
As long as one is consistent in which authority he or she follows (or the hierarchy of authorities, if one particular one has nothing to say on a subject), they are not picking and choosing.
Unless they picked the authority to follow that tells them what they want to hear.