123 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
123 lines
6.9 KiB
Plaintext
FAMILY.TXT
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WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY ABOUT FAMILY VALUES?
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E. Pearlstein. Lincoln, NE
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July, 1989
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"Family values" is a catch phrase often used by some religious
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groups, usually in a political setting. They imply that the Bible
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advocates strength-of-family. Apparently they don't actually read
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the book, as it would be more accurate to say that, on balance,
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the Bible is ANTI-family.
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The two statements often quoted as pro-family: "Honor thy father
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and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12), and "What God has joined
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together, let no man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6, Mark 10:9) become
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just empty slogans when considered alongside the many specific
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anti-family statements and actions countenanced in the Bible:
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* Right from the beginning, the bearing of children is made a
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punishment. "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children" (Genesis
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3:16); and later, "Woe unto them that are with child and to them
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that give suck in those days". (Matt. 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke
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21:23. See also Luke 23:29.) Not encouraging words for a young
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religious couple about to start a family! I thought that "family
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values" meant for children to be a blessing, rather than a curse.
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* Abraham actually started to kill his young son, because the god
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told him to, and that's presented as a virtue (Genesis 22:1-12,
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James 2:21). Hardly a good example of parental devotion and
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protectiveness! Even today we sometimes have people told by the
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god to kill their children, and they do it; it happened here in
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Lincoln a decade or so ago. And it's not at all uncommon to read
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of parents refusing medical care for their deathly-ill child
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because of some biblical passage.
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* Abraham's wife Hagar and their child Ishmael got booted out into
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the wilderness, for no reason except that his other wife, Sarah,
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was jealous (Genesis 21:14). The Bible shows no criticism, and
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Abraham and Sarah continued to prosper.
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* Most of us would say that incest is against the interests of the
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family. Yet Lot, whom the Bible considers to be a very good man,
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had sex with his two daughters (Genesis 19:33-36); and there was
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no punishment for either Lot or the daughters. Indeed, it might
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well be argued that Lot must have had divine help in this, since
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he was able to perform sexually despite being both old and very
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drunk! Of course, the poor girls had no mother to guide them,
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because some time earlier the god got peeved and killed her
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(Genesis 19:26), along with the two men who were engaged to marry
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the daughters (Genesis 19:14).
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* In order to gain favor with a king, Abraham said that his wife
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was his sister, and offered her to the king for sex. This
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happened twice (Genesis 12:11 and Genesis 20:2). Isaac did a
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similar thing (Genesis 26:6). And Lot (Genesis 19:8) once offered
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his virgin daughters to be used by a mob at Sodom. (St. Peter
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called Lot a "righteous man", 2 Peter 2:8)
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* Jacob tricked his own brother Esau of his inheritance (Genesis
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25:31-33). Then he lied to his dying father about it (Genesis
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27:19). And the god loved Jacob and hated Esau, the victim
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(Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13).
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* The last of the plagues brought upon the Egyptians was the death
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of all their first-born children, because "The Lord hardened the
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heart of Pharoah" (Exodus 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10).
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Couldn't he have SOFTENED Pharoah's heart and spared all those
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innocent children? Maybe Egyptian families don't matter.
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* Jesus ridiculed his own mother in public: "Woman, what have I to
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do with thee?" (John 2:4) This, of course, was a direct violation
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of the commandment about honoring one's parents, which Jesus said
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he agreed with (Matt. 15:4 and several other places). On another
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occasion he refused to see his mother and brothers, answering
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their request with a wisecrack (Matt. 12:46-50). And when someone
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praised Mary, Jesus disagreed (Luke 11:27-8).
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* Although half of a family consists of women, the Old and New
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Testaments have enough approved-of degradation of women to make a
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book on that subject. (Woe to the Women - The Bible Tells Me So,
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by Annie Laurie Gaylor, 1981)
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* Jesus promised his followers great rewards if they would desert
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their wives and children (Matt. 19:29). And in the old testament
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too, it was good for men to "put away their wives" (Ezra 10:19).
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* Jesus says very clearly that anyone who wants to be his disciple
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must hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and
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sisters (Luke 14:26).
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* And then there is: "For I am come to set a man at variance
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against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the
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daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall
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be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:35-36). Does it indicate
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a pro-family attitude of Jesus, when such things are the reason
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for his coming? Is this a sample of the "good news" some
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evangelists keep proclaiming?
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My Dog Bit Jesus Suzanne D'Fault 510-658-8078
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New Dork Sublime Demented Pimiento 415-566-0126
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