All of you have been weighing heavy on my mind

SystemShock said
I appreciate the offer; however, when it comes to religion, every time someone asks me if I genuinely want to discuss something, it sounds to me like the only genuine discussion is the one when I accept what they say without a rebuttal. I feel I am genuinely discussing the topic right now.

Adultery, homosexuality, misogyny... sure they all are different topics on their own, but they don't need to be unpacked separately in this context. I am making a very simple proposal: our values and views on those topics have changed; therefore religions need to apologize for what their texts say. Everything the Bible says is "the word of God" (meaning, taken literally), until something doesn't fit wit our current set of values or science disproves it, then it requires study to understand, or plain we can't understand, or it is just a parable. The fact is, as time goes by, more and more of what the Bible says shifts from "the word of God" to it requires study to understand, can't understand, or its a parable.

But they do need to be unpacked separately. They are all not the same thing, and the intensity, cause and frequency of each of those issues varies throughout history. Some cultures have bigger problems with these issues than others. The historical backdrop will color people's views and experiences.

The root causes and cultural norms of the times have to be taken into consideration when discussing tricky subjects. And because they happened doesn't mean God approved of them. But like I said earlier. This isn't a religious theology thread. We can visit these questions in pm or a separate thread.

All I ask for is fair consideration. I'm fine with rebuttals, but I'm not fine with having a one-sided debate. I'm not saying you're doing that now, but in my experience, I've had people attempt to do that with me, and I won't engage with someone who won't have a truly open dialogue with me. Regardless, it's going to take a new thread and lengthy posts to cover what needs to be covered to do the topics justice. I'm not going to be able to cover all of that in a short time frame, so expect it to be a lengthy thread.