Luminesa wrote:A-Series-Of-Tubes wrote:
I don't think you want me to quote them all. Anyway, I see marrying a slave as actually worse than prostitution
If I understand Southern Baptists alright, individual pastors can preach pretty much anything, there isn't a promulgator of doctrine. In any case, it is on the subject of sex that the Bible most sets limits which are unreasonable and contradictory by modern standards. The strength of ownership that marriage provides a man, is essentially slavery. What strength of ownership it provides to a woman is rather irrelevant, given that the law of that time would not enforce it.
In this case, despite my joke above, the man might have misunderstood "taking a slave as a wife" being OK, and thought with or without reason that the sex workers were slaves, and justified to himself spending time with them as being a necessary stage of courtship.
If ^this had been going on for a while, a crisis could be precipitated by something as minor as a manager telling him: "you can stay a customer but we need you to stop offering marriage to the girls. Some of them, not telling you which, are married already. You can't marry any of the girls, got it?"
Christians don’t follow Leviticus anyway and understand that the Old Law was a stepping stone toward the crux of salvation, in which there would be NO slavery and NO people considered inferior. ANYWAY.
For the bolded bit, the marriage system actually does mildly favor women, especially when it comes to custody of children. More on topic, however, this crisis could have been averted if this man had gotten off the streets and into some sort of rehab for sex addiction (and for violent feelings toward women, especially seemingly toward Asian women).
But also possibly for deradicalization from christian fundamentalism.
You are completely on the wrong side with "christians would never do that" and should be capable of the more nuanced position that people can find support for any vile ideology by reading the bible for themselves, and not taking the Greatest Hits compilation from any particular Church.
Because where you're heading is that he did it despite being a christian, and arguing what the bible "says about prostitutes" is just going to get you into more trouble. The bible says some terrible things about prostitutes (and btw marriage, homosexuality, the proper way to raise children etc) and it also say firmly Thou Shalt Not Kill ... so he just picked different parts of it to believe most strongly.
You're in the position Muslims were, when people demanded they denounce "radical Islam". Thinking that without radicalization, there would be no more terrorism.
I'm calling on you, a Christian, to denounce "radical Christianity". Being those people who put too much weight on some parts of the bible. They may call themselves Christians, but you should denounce them anyway.
Because race being the main motivator, would make it a Hate Crime. Some twisted thinking about sex and "saving" the girls from slavery and oppression, would simply be a Crime. But a primarily religious motivation would over-ride the targets being of a particular race or occupation, and raise it from a Hate Crime to Terrorism.
If I were you, I wouldn't utter another word about what's in the Bible. That would only further associate you with Radical Christianity which stands too close to Terrorism at this time. You should renounce anyone who does terrible things for religious reasons. Even if that religion is Christianity.
