DCP on the priesthood ban

[_Morley]

He could use reason.

At times the use of reason and religion do not mix. How can we explain the couple who died for their dishonest tithe? Was it fair? I don't think that god is fair and the Bible shows a rather unfair god. Did god consider the families of the soldiers who were swallowed by the red sea? His people were special and many suffered because of it. What to do? And what about the barbarians in Europe? Christ visited his people both in the old world and in the new. But I don't see him visiting the people in asia, europe or africa.

My emphasis.

What couple "died for their dishonest tithe"? I must have fallen asleep during this story. Do tell.

[_Willy Law]

From among all the nations, he chose Israel. From among Israel, he chose the descendents of Levi to bear the priesthood.

I thought even FAIR had poopoo'd this comparison?

[_EAllusion]

With apologists like why me, god doesn't need enemies.

DCP doubtless wants to be able to assert that God is benevolent and have that statement be meaningful. If the statement "God is benevolent" is just a tautology that asserts "God does whatever God does" that doesn't help us understand what sort of behavior God is likely to engage in. It doesn't tell us, for instance, if God will lie to us or not. And if that's the case, then saying God is benevolent is meaningless. DCP will argue for God's benevolence based upon alleged experience with God, be it personal, through nature, or by another party. Yet when faced with an example of actions attributed to that God that do not jive with his sense of right and wrong, he argues that his understanding is inferior to God's and therefore he is not in a place to judge him. But if that is the case, then DCP should no more be in a place to judge God's actions good than God's actions bad. So he cannot assert that God is benevolent and have that carry any meaning. Rather, God is just some incredibly powerful being who does what he does. Why worship that? Blind fear?

[_CaliforniaKid]

What couple "died for their dishonest tithe"? I must have fallen asleep during this story. Do tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananias_and_Sapphira

[_CaliforniaKid]

If the statement "God is benevolent" is just a tautology that asserts "God does whatever God does" that doesn't help us understand what sort of behavior God is likely to engage in. It doesn't tell us, for instance, if God will lie to us or not. And if that's the case, then saying God is benevolent is meaningless. ... Rather, God is just some incredibly powerful being who does what he does. Why worship that? Blind fear?

+1

[_Morley]

What couple "died for their dishonest tithe"? I must have fallen asleep during this story. Do tell.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananias_and_Sapphira

Awesome. Thank you.

[_Doctor Scratch]

The whole blog entry is really kind of spineless. I read it as saying, in effect, "I feel really bad about the ban, and I understand that a lot of people were really hurt and upset by it, but my leaders won't apologize for it, and so neither will I." I honestly don't think he cares that people were ever hurt or offended by the ban--the blog entry feels very disingenuous to me. He says at one point that he felt like he had kicked that black teacher "in the teeth," but I'm not convinced that he thought this was a bad thing. I imagine that this would have made him feel powerful over this teacher. It's that qualification that he keeps throwing in: "I know you were hurt, but...." "I know this was really offensive and wrong, but...." Well, clearly you either *don't* know, or you don't care.