One thing that befuddles me generally is the level of reverence and infallibility that this book garners. I often wonder why Christians could not question first of all the authenticity of a text, why they would not be bothered to know the circumstances and the reasons around which the text was written.

I think your dilemma starts from the fact that seeing as it is supposed to be some manual when you see the heinous and hideous things in some parts you begin to wonder if it is of God. Like where does the conviction come from that the book is the total undiluted thoughts of God. Now some parts of it pose stories that can be traced historically, how much of it matches with the actual facts? You hear people say things like oh Moses wrote this and that.....Shocking.

WHY HAVE HOLY OR INSPIRED TEXTS STOPPED BEING WRITTEN? IF THEY ARE STILL BEING WRITTEN DO YOU THINK THERE IS ANY WORTH TO BE PUT IN THE BIBLE TODAY?

Disagree with me all you want but if there was to be a new version of bible, call it the jet age testament. Where you have the letter of Adeboye to the Lagosians, or the Letters of Daddy Oleyedepo on tithe payment, Combined with the book of TB joshua, 1st 2nd and 3rd Chris Oyaks I am sure that version even if it manages by phee dee phee stroke of luck to pass in Nigeria.........the slavereligious masters that be will not even allow it.


So what made Joshua, daniel, Isiah and co better than the legend himself PASTOR GBEJERO or SAINT DIKEJI MIMIYERIJESU - BISHOP OF THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!

Yet another thread that would end in a creation vs evolution battle.

Real Housewives of Nairaland.

KiKatanga:

I have no idea what this means...

Its the pidgin english way of saying he is a good writer.

Sagamite:

When Israel targeted 4 pre-teens little boys on the beach with aerial bombing, that was not intentional targeting of civilians? When they missed with the first bomb and the little unarmed boys were running with their little legs for their lives and Israel sent a second bomb to finish the job because they dared play football on the beach, that is not intentional targeting of civilians?

When Israeli snipers targeted a teenager running from bombings with his mum and shot him in the legs, that was not intentional targeting of civilians? While his mother was wailing and perambulating on the spot in horror for it to stop and the sniper kept shooting at the boy, it was not intentional targeting of civilians?

When Israeli snipers shot an unarmed, skinny guy going to look for his family in a rumble who had just been blown into shreds in their beds to see if anyone survived, that was not intentional targeting of civilians? When this unarmed guy was on the floor wounded and the sniper shot him again in the belly, that was not intentional targeting of civilians? When the sniper then put the last bullet in his head, that was not intentional targeting of civilians?

Israel has killed more than 1000 civilians out of the over 1300 it has killed and Hamas has killed 2 civilians and 53 soldiers, and you think it is only Hamas that is intentionally targeting civilians?

So it is OK for Israel to kill civilians?

When Israelis are on the streets of Tel Aviv singing joyfully "There are no more schools in Gaza because all the children are dead", you think many don't know their crimes?

You honestly believe Hamas fighters are reetarded enough to be firing from their own homes?

Saga how body,
Let me start by saying war is not pretty.

If there is any side of this country losing the PR war it has got to be Isreal, this is why I it is hard for me to make some sense of saying something like intentionally targeting teens on a beach. If the Isreali policy is to kill palestinian civilians and in three weeks they have only managed to kill under 1,500 people then that policy is failing. Same cannot however be said of Hamas, lets take a look at an article in hamas charter (http://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/880818a.htm).


'The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and

kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the

rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind

me, come and kill him.' (Article 7)
I think the charter speaks a lot for itself, Hamas has come out to say it is a piece of history however it cannot change it. Hamas leaders would take an oath to this document, this is policy in black and white.


Does it happen that an isreali soldier would go bersek and shoot an innocent Palestinian yes it does, does it happen that a missile mistakenly hits where it is not supposed to hit yes it does. We can catalogue all of Isreal's mistakes in all this, they should take responsibility for that. However Saga even you should agree that it is stretching the truth to say that Isreali policy on Palestine is to kill innocent citizens when the opportunity presents itself.


Now to the numbers, I concede that there is no way to look at those disproportionate numbers and not be appalled by the civilian death toll so far. Gaza is a densely populated area, urban warfare is bound to claim a lot of civilians. It is sad but it is also the truth, hamas however has not helped this fight by its practices. Hamas has shot rockets from residential areas, from schools, beside hospitals, mosques. While it is certainly wrong to bomb a shelter full of refugees to get to hamas, can we really pause and think of how despicable anyone who will store and fire rockets inside a house where his 5 month old baby lives? What else am I supposed to think except that they do it so that when Isreal returns fire, they can show videos to the world and win the battle on the only front they can which is the media. That is what the lives of their loved is worth to them. Even the UN has come out to say that Hamas not once in this conflict has compromised a combat zone by storing weapons at UN schools. SO yes unless one is totally biased there is no way you can look at this conflict and say Hamas has not been using human shields.


I know previously you have failed to take a stand on this issue, but maybe you really should. It is easy for anyone to look at the conflict and say hey the civilian death toll is too high. But really what do you think both sides should do? If you were prime minister today of Isreal what would you do? If you were the leader of Hamas what would you do? And finally if you were to broker peace between both sides what would be your approach?
Those three positions would have different approaches, but I am hard pressed for any alternative for Isreal other than pressing on with what they are doing now.

ihedinobi2:
A sweeping statement is a generalization. How is my statement a generalization?

Indeed, who you are determines who you should spend your life with. But deciding who to spend your life with is not the same as actually spending your life in a contracted relationship with them. Up to the point of the decision it's all about you and what you want out of life. Once you enter the contract, you forfeit your right to do whatever you please and have whatever you want where your partner is concerned. That is how marriage is defined. If you know any other definition, go on and tender it.

1. Sex is a gift from God: You made an earlier statement to a quote I had on the very first part of the advice you gave. In my poser I tried to explain to you that Sexual education the way it is set up religiously to be precise was not the best way for people to really find out things about their partners before getting married. Deciding what one likes or does not like forms the sentences of the said contract between these two people and if they are not afforded the correct opportunity to make this decision people will constantly get unhappy or feel disenfranchised.
In one of your sentences you said most people are unhappy because things do not meet their expectations. What defines a good sexual experience differ from individual to individual. There is no one template that works for every body which you would give to the Pastors to teach everyone. Some people find out they like quantity others like quality, some quantity and quality. I was pointing out that starting this "exploration" when one is locked in the marriage is akin to flying in a magic carpet in a small prison cell.

rationalmind:

Lol, I tell you brother. You go dey read, belle go dey sweet you.

Some on this section also write excellently. The likes of plaetton, davidylan, ob1kenobi, Deep sight, PastorAIO, wiegraf(even though you have to read his posts repeatedly to get the point he's passing across ).e
.t.c

Sometimes when dem write ehn I go dey use vex look for uncle suwe and all the yeye engrish he tish us for night school.

rationalmind: Brilliant piece by Sam Harris on the Isreal-Gaza conflict.

Quite long but worth reading.

http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/why-dont-i-criticize-israel

I no know why I go night school, see the way the guy dey arrange english like ghana bricklayer

ihedinobi2:

1. Marriage is not about you and what you like.

Sweeping statement, you and what you like is a huge part of deciding to spend the rest of your life with somebody.
Tell that to the wife that does not like to be flogged like an ogbanje geh because of sex.

2. The perfect person is the person with whom you achieve the purpose of your existence. Their flaws are as perfect for you as their strengths.

Yet another sweeping statement. Knowing and deciding whether or not we can live with a flaw is more important than trying to force people to live with things they cannot live with.
Tell that to the woman whose husbands serial flaw is thinking he is mike tyson, the only perfect thing would be her chopping igbati

3. Marriage is hard when you marry for the wrong reasons and have the wrong expectations. It's like trying to dig with a fork or a pin.

Oh finally something better, but can you connect to number 1 and 2? Lets try this shall we,
The reason for marriage is not about you or what you like, accept the evander holyfield flaw of your partner because it is as perfect as your strength of chopping igbati



4,5,6,7...........

Putting Marriage in a box is the problem.

1. Sex a gift from God? When all you guys do is make sex such a big deal? I find it hard how you would religiously define a sex class and say what it intends to achieve. Its already a recepie for disaster when two adults have to wait until there is no escape route before they find out that one of them usually has pain during intercourse. Or that na when mama Ejiro go see say papa ejiro dey like to use cane on top bed for all the talk of explore your sexuality what if you find out in your marriage that you like it banana-ish and you partner likes it pawpaw-tically?

2. Simply say the perfect person does not exist and marriage is a compromise. Since when does God choose anything for anybody?

3. The first year of marriage is hard. Well at least it is for those that think they have to just pray about it and forget that he would take a piss even with the toilet seat down. 3 toilet infections later all the no-one like you singing has stopped in the house. Its hard because the most people do not take the time to know who their partners really are. Why? well pastor said brother emmanuel should only visit sister vero if he goes with another brother or two sisters.

4. 5. 6. 7. ...........

I be back

PastorAIO: Ah ha! Wiegraf and Chrisbenogor all of a sudden and on one thread. Folykaze you be magicksian. This your thread get power o!!

And to connect what Wiegraf said to what Folykaze OPed, just in case some don't get the obvious.... What happens in your environment, what nourishment you eat, events that you experience etc they all affect the neurochemical balance of your brain. A kid brought up in a happy environment will have a different neurochemical balance in his bloodstream from a child brought up in an unhappy environment , All other things being equal.

However, having said that I still believe in Free Will. Just in a different way from how a lot of others see it.

ant and sugar sontins.....

How do you see free will?


Off the record... There's some topics on the meaning of life and happiness and success.... That do not quite fall under religion per say. What do you think? Philosophy board?

Subscribing

#sendingtelegram to mnwankwo

Okijajuju1:



Indeed sir..


And see how the Shepherd is looking healthier than the sheeps..

They look like they are well fed on Sheep meat.

Finally you don show.......
Where you dey since abi you go sell bandage for Iraq

Sometimes I wonder if civil discussions are ever possible on Nairaland.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place -

It really does not matter at this point what the history is that brought isreal and its arab neighbours together. As far as this present escalation is concerned, the real question here is
WHAT SHOULD ISREAL DO?

On the surface so many things look unfair, Hamas seems to be the ones who have no moral boundaries. Its ok for Hamas to shoot rockets into isreal, its ok for Hamas to "Intentionally" target civillian populace with rockets. Isreal has every right to protect itself.

I dunno who is a lot more cruel here, the fighter Firing rockets from his backyard knowing fully well that it would be traced and his house brought down or the one that even has the patience to place a phone call to a house and say hey guys you have to leave now before we bring that house down.

Or maybe isreal should have sent peace envoys to go plead with the Palestinians to stop the rocket fire.


800 people Vs 36
I wonder which side should wave the flag first.

Thanks mukina I go manage carling cup no be small thing

In other news Mmonso Spiritual FC has been taken over by Arab investors who decided to change the team name to Nnukwu Mmanwu FC.

Jose Benny de la Hoya will been given a war chest of 100 billion cowries..... Watch out!

Mukina I need codes o I have played two seasons in the conference I need to upgrade to the fa cup mbok.

Jose Benny de la Hoya - mmonso spiritual FC.

TV01:
...and there are very few women on NL who like to face reality, deal with it, or remain calm and rational when it's pointed out to them.

We continue to bear with our women. But we won't indulge them in their irrationality .


TV

You self dey try the way you explain and explain. uncle tisha

Fact is, a lot of single viable men out there would not have single mothers as their first choice to get married to.
Having a child out of wedlock seriously dashes the chances of a woman getting married. Its not impossible its just not easy.

Before getting married to a single mother that has a daughter for instance the man has to put things into perspective, first of all is he ready to carry on the responsibility of another child that is not his. I know people have a messianic complex but not every body is ready for that burden, further more would it be easy to manage situations that arise from the way the man disciplines the child vs the way he does his other kids. Even kids born of same parents have some as the favorites, would both parties be able to manage it without rancor. I have seen a situation where the daughter becomes a randy teenager and accuses step daddy of touching her....... the list is endless

This is not about being sentimental, it does not make single mothers bad people. It just affects their chances of getting hitched Cinderella style, it is not a put down it is just reality!

Reality. ......perception. ......

TV's opinion does not mean jack to the countless mothers brothers fathers sisters out there who will counsel their intending brother against getting married to someone with a child already.

One can choose to ignore reality, ignoring the consequences of ignoring reality is a totally different ball game all together.

Glitterdust:

Its with his consent o.

When MIL called him to say that she came in and saw me taking my things and the kids, he asked her to let me go. What does that mean to u??

Severally, he had told me that if I want to leave, that I can leave with or without the kids. So I took the option of leaving with them.

Alright then if you say so.

babymama3:

@ OP,Nigeria has changed a lot for the better
There are NGOs out there that will help you keep your children
Don't ask him for any upkeep and if he doesn't provide anything,he up has no claims to the kids till they are of age and if you do your job well,they won't miss him
My aunt was abandoned and her kids taken away by husband but she eventually got them back thanks to the NGO
My best friend from high school was abandoned with three kids,she eventually remarried 4 years after and changed the kids first and last names and got her new husband to adopt her kids legally and the ex is gone from their lives forever.
This is 2014
Men can no longer walk off then return and want to claim relationship with kids they didn't raise or try and snatch them by force
The law today will work against him
Give him a year or two to establish relationship with the kids,if he doesn't,you are free to legally terminate his parental rights through the court and these NGOs will help you

Do not worry about this just yet but make enquiries later about what I am saying



As far as I am concerned a man who abandons me and kids has lost the children forever
I will take every legal route to make sure it stays that way

Normally I would let things like this slide but this is totally wrong. Is that girl power just mush mushes the way ladies think or what?

Technically she took the kids out of the house without his consent. She walked away from the house.

371. Any person who, with intent to deprive any parent, guardian, or other person who has the lawful care or charge of a child under the age of twelve years, of the possession of such child, or with intent to steal any article upon or about the person of any such child-

(1) forcibly or fraudulently takes or entices away, or detains the child; or

(2) receives or harbours the child, knowing it to have been so taken or enticed away or detained;

is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.

It is a defence to a charge of any of the offences defined in this section to prove that the accused person claimed in good faith a right to the possession of the child, or, in the case of an illegitimate child, is its mother or claimed to be its father.

372. Any person who being the parent, guardian or other person having the lawful care or charge of a child under the age of twelve years, and being able to maintain such child, wilfully and without lawful or reasonable cause deserts the child and leaves it without means of support, is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year

Any charge and bail lawyer can bring this case to an end before it even starts. SMH

jumzzy448:

Guess you didn't read from the start. Go back and read her story again, then come back to give your advice.

So I went back and read the thread all over again, I don't know about you but I try my best to be balanced when I make my view points known. Going by what has just happened then people would not even remain married. Single folks come in to read this thread and if this is what it would take for marriages to break down then why go into it?

Now let us look at the facts of what happened (according to her)

On thursday night, I had a minor misunderstanding with one of my husband's nephews and it resulted into a fight where the two boys pounced on me and beat me up. Hubby was not at home at the time so I called him but the phone went off after I mentioned what happened ..I called him severally but he refused to answer so I called my folks who advised that I should wait for him to come back.

That night, he didn't come baick but from the telephone conversations I heard, he was calling and speaking with MIL and his nephews.

On friday, I called him and spoke with him briefly. I was already fed up with the marriage and had decided that if he makes it back home that friday night that i'd tell him that since he was clearly unhappy in the marriage and constantly reminded me that he made a mistake marrying me that we should separate for sometime. He didn't come back that night and also didn't take my calls.

There was a misunderstanding on thursday and then on saturday she was out of her husbands house. The time frame was short to me and the fact that she was preggers triggered the question in my head of what state this marriage was at before this misunderstanding on thursday. It seems from what I gather she wrote

Glitterdust: The last time we had a disagreement, (that was last year) he left the house for 4 weeks. In those 4 weeks, he spoke with our daughter twice!

I am guessing what she is saying from here is that the last time they had a major disagreement was a year ago.....and even then he had left the house for 4 weeks. So there is a pattern here, telling us all the evil things he has done without for one mentioning what role she has played in all this is not being fair to the man.

Violence should not be condoned, however this does not make sense without proper context.

2. The boys are naturally wild but whenever their uncle comes back from work, the pretence starts. I just corrected one of them on leaving the living room door open and that was it. He raised his voice at me asking what I'd do and that was it.

After he asked what did she reply? What did he reply? Who struck first? that is what we should be asking
Anyone who just pounces on anybody because they got asked why they did not shut a door belongs in a psychiatric ward. So like I said it must have been enabled, of course restraint should have been shown on both sides. The nephews could have walked away or she should have picked it up somewhere else. Anyways they are wrong to have raised their hands on her and in my opinion deserve to leave the house. However let it not look like she was sitting peacefully and then she got attacked.


What really here is the problem? At least she admits that they were good prior to the incident, I also do not have a time frame for when he did the things he is supposedly done, did he constantly go out and come back by 12 am everyday? Is that the issue? Has he one time or the other gotten angry and said horrible stuff oh probably when was that?

In my very honest opinion, this issue is not yet enough for her to have packed out just like that. Unless of course deep down she should admit that she is no longer ready for the marriage, at least she should own up to it and not achieve it by painting her hubby as the only one who does not want it.


Anyways, what do I know.....

Glitterdust:

No. We were good that day and was why I called him to tell him and was shocked that he didn't respond. My brother, the truth is that I'm at peace now. I don't have to worry about the next cause of fight.

The reason I left was because I had begged him severally to get a house where we would live since he was always complaining about his nephews and how wild and treacherous they are. Yet he refused.

Oh well if you say you are at peace now then all fair and square. I am not a prophet of doom, human beings suffer from a short attention span, when events happen in our lives that have only a 3 to 4 month even a one year span we seem to think that it is forever.
When you made your vows in church that day you should have known what for better or for worse means, I am not saying you should kill yourself but he has not been violent to you thus far and I reiterate that technically he has not sent you away from the house. You left.

So lets say you are fixed good now, how about your kids? How about what they deserve? To be honest with you I do not think you have told us the full story here. Your husband should not behave this way leaving the house and not coming back, my experience however tells me that it takes two and until we hear his own side of the story I am afraid the jury is out. At least to me.

In all I wish you the best.

Cheers.

Glitterdust:

My brother, I am not a saint and make mistakes too. But I thought that as I am able to accomodate his excesses, that he should be able to accomodate mine too. But one thing I know is that something is wrong somewhere.

The last time we quarrelled, his entire family said I wasn't leaving. If I were that bad, they would have supported him to chase me out.

This isn't what I should be saying but some lady said he would never be happy in any marriage. I think its affecting him but he's in denial...

Well I agree with you that something is wrong somewhere. Just to ask a few more questions, was this quarrel another one off? were you guys already fighting before he left the house? Could you also throw more light as to the nature of your relationship with him prior to this recent fight and also what the fight was all about?

Asides from things becoming physical with his nephews which I think could have been avoided, I do not see running away from a problem as the solution. Thing is your position right now what purpose does it really serve? Technically, he did not send you out of the house. You have to find a way to get through to him, we cannot go back to the past but surely you know at what stage things in the marriage started to deteriorate.

My question is- am i right to tell her that her chances of getting married to another man are not damaged?

No you should not tell her that, she fully understands her position. Life is very unfair, the competition for good viable men out there is fierce and her chances do not get better with a child. Yes people can point here and there of one or two exceptions but here in naija o generally it does not help.

will you even consider dating one?

It depends on what the guy is looking for, guys have a wide range of things they might be looking for in a relationship. Dating for marriage however, errrrrrrrrrr well I suspect a huge majority of guys would not.

@ OP
Seeing as no one asked, do you think there is anything you have done that contributed to this?
I am just saying because sometimes things like this do not just make sense to me. People do not get upset for no reason. I see it too often here that we only hear one side of the story. Unless you are going to admit to us that prior to getting married to him he was a total a***hole.

I am just mostly saying it takes two, or there is some other underlying factor.

Lol @ Moses writing the bible I wish I had more time . But heck Wikipedia is there the bloke should read.

Hehehehe I sure say the size of some naija men own go rissshhhh like 50mb

Kay17: @braveguy
@mazaje
@weah96

Let's all focus on just one issue.

That is the authorship of the Bible. It is the most important issue, since the Bible is the only validation for the Christian God. If the Akannile girl or whatever has visions, it can either be from the Devil or God, so her visions are immaterial. Better still, God can plant visions in all our heads, if he wishes to.

My take on the issue of the authorship of the Bible is: the Bible as confirmed by braveguy himself, is written/chalked down by humans albeit under INSPIRATION from God. The manner of proving the inspiration is a sub-issue. However it is clear that in the perspective of the biblical writers they believe they were inspired. They have their opinion as to what Divine Inspiration means, but most importantly there is no external nor objective criteria of divine Inspiration!

So the Bible is nothing more than the self confessions of its writers. That's my take. Pls provide yours.

This is a topic I wish can be discussed here. I mean discussed and not bashed. I think I am at the point where I am no longer angry with religion, personally I think it is a huge misconception rather than a huge scam.

I would like to take the discussion out of this thread though just a simple thread to understand the history behind the bible, the accepted scholarly theories worldwide devoid of any divine mysteries. At least that way people can learn about the history of the bible in one place. Should be interesting.

Maldives .......beautiful place.

rationalmind: Bro, trust me the banking job is more interesting than unemployment

why you get sense like this lwkmd