Your Sunday Morning Spiritual Missive

• Religious people scare me sometimes. To qualify: religious people who are so ignorant they don't understand their own religion and or the consequences of adhering to an intellectually or morally corrupt religion really scare me and here's what I mean. People in Nigeria are killing their own children because nutty leaders are accusing them of being witches. They refer back to a passage in Exodus that was mistranslated in the KJV "Thou shall not suffer a witch to live." Exodus 20:18. The word witch there should have been translated as poisoner and scholars at the time even knew it- it's one of the kings biases that plagues KJV, he hated witchcraft and was fearful of witches. Why would it say poisoner? It was a common problem among certain Jewish groups at the time it was written.




• Another is snake handlers. I don't know where to start with these folks but, the simple answer is the passages they misuse in Mark say depending on translation to the effect, "They will handle deadly snakes and drink poison and no harm will befall them." not, They will get bit by an eastern diamond back rattler, require (if they live at all) a lengthy hospital stay, endure skin grafts, treatment for massive organ failure, life long side effects... Another couple interesting things about these mountain folks practices- they really do drink poison, specifically strychnine which is often used in place of real LSD in the drug world and when dosed properly gives the same exact effect. Hmmmm. They oddly forget the passage though in Acts that seems to speak directly to believers themselves: "We should not test the Lord, as some of them did — and were killed by snakes.” 1 Cor. 10:9 and latch onto the one in Mark about snake handling that is an obvious reference to the Apostles then living and not future generations of people.




• I don't know which is more ridiculous these things as practiced by people living in the world today- it's 2009 AD not 9 BC for crying out loud!




• Or arguing about religion on the Internet.