FAMILY.TXT WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY ABOUT FAMILY VALUES? E. Pearlstein. Lincoln, NE July, 1989 "Family values" is a catch phrase often used by some religious groups, usually in a political setting. They imply that the Bible advocates strength-of-family. Apparently they don't actually read the book, as it would be more accurate to say that, on balance, the Bible is ANTI-family. The two statements often quoted as pro-family: "Honor thy father and thy mother" (Exodus 20:12), and "What God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Matt. 19:6, Mark 10:9) become just empty slogans when considered alongside the many specific anti-family statements and actions countenanced in the Bible: * Right from the beginning, the bearing of children is made a punishment. "In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children" (Genesis 3:16); and later, "Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days". (Matt. 24:19, Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23. See also Luke 23:29.) Not encouraging words for a young religious couple about to start a family! I thought that "family values" meant for children to be a blessing, rather than a curse. * Abraham actually started to kill his young son, because the god told him to, and that's presented as a virtue (Genesis 22:1-12, James 2:21). Hardly a good example of parental devotion and protectiveness! Even today we sometimes have people told by the god to kill their children, and they do it; it happened here in Lincoln a decade or so ago. And it's not at all uncommon to read of parents refusing medical care for their deathly-ill child because of some biblical passage. * Abraham's wife Hagar and their child Ishmael got booted out into the wilderness, for no reason except that his other wife, Sarah, was jealous (Genesis 21:14). The Bible shows no criticism, and Abraham and Sarah continued to prosper. * Most of us would say that incest is against the interests of the family. Yet Lot, whom the Bible considers to be a very good man, had sex with his two daughters (Genesis 19:33-36); and there was no punishment for either Lot or the daughters. Indeed, it might well be argued that Lot must have had divine help in this, since he was able to perform sexually despite being both old and very drunk! Of course, the poor girls had no mother to guide them, because some time earlier the god got peeved and killed her (Genesis 19:26), along with the two men who were engaged to marry the daughters (Genesis 19:14). * In order to gain favor with a king, Abraham said that his wife was his sister, and offered her to the king for sex. This happened twice (Genesis 12:11 and Genesis 20:2). Isaac did a similar thing (Genesis 26:6). And Lot (Genesis 19:8) once offered his virgin daughters to be used by a mob at Sodom. (St. Peter called Lot a "righteous man", 2 Peter 2:8) * Jacob tricked his own brother Esau of his inheritance (Genesis 25:31-33). Then he lied to his dying father about it (Genesis 27:19). And the god loved Jacob and hated Esau, the victim (Malachi 1:3, Romans 9:13). * The last of the plagues brought upon the Egyptians was the death of all their first-born children, because "The Lord hardened the heart of Pharoah" (Exodus 9:12, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10). Couldn't he have SOFTENED Pharoah's heart and spared all those innocent children? Maybe Egyptian families don't matter. * Jesus ridiculed his own mother in public: "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" (John 2:4) This, of course, was a direct violation of the commandment about honoring one's parents, which Jesus said he agreed with (Matt. 15:4 and several other places). On another occasion he refused to see his mother and brothers, answering their request with a wisecrack (Matt. 12:46-50). And when someone praised Mary, Jesus disagreed (Luke 11:27-8). * Although half of a family consists of women, the Old and New Testaments have enough approved-of degradation of women to make a book on that subject. (Woe to the Women - The Bible Tells Me So, by Annie Laurie Gaylor, 1981) * Jesus promised his followers great rewards if they would desert their wives and children (Matt. 19:29). And in the old testament too, it was good for men to "put away their wives" (Ezra 10:19). * Jesus says very clearly that anyone who wants to be his disciple must hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters (Luke 14:26). * And then there is: "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household" (Matt. 10:35-36). Does it indicate a pro-family attitude of Jesus, when such things are the reason for his coming? Is this a sample of the "good news" some evangelists keep proclaiming? X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm) & the Temple of the Screaming Electron Jeff Hunter 510-935-5845 The Salted Slug Strange 408-454-9368 Burn This Flag Zardoz 408-363-9766 realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510-527-1662 Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 415-583-4102 Tomorrow's 0rder of Magnitude Finger_Man 415-961-9315 My Dog Bit Jesus Suzanne D'Fault 510-658-8078 New Dork Sublime Demented Pimiento 415-566-0126 Specializing in conversations, obscure information, high explosives, arcane knowledge, political extremism, diverse sexuality, insane speculation, and wild rumours. ALL-TEXT BBS SYSTEMS. Full access for first-time callers. We don't want to know who you are, where you live, or what your phone number is. We are not Big Brother. "Raw Data for Raw Nerves" X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X