(Source: alphabetagaga666)
Arizona Milky Way by NicLeister on Flickr.
I remember being in the New Mexico dessert when I was in my early teens. It was the night before I set off on a ten day hike through the mountains with a group of kids my age and some parent chaperones. My dad and I were sitting in middle of the base camp beneath the mountains and looking up at the stars. He was supposed to come with initially, but he’d had an emergency bypass surgery a few weeks before and was advised not to go off into the wildnerness so soon after such a major surgery. Regardless, he thought it best that he at least travel down to NM with me and the rest of the group. It was the night before we set off and, thus, the night before he headed back to the airport and eventually home to Minnesota. I was along way from home and it would be the first time I’d spent such an extended period away from my family.
It was weird and my emotions were jumbled. But I remember staring up at those stars with him and just being amazed. We didn’t get such a view at home; we lived too close to the Cities.
Looking back, I don’t know how to feel. Partly I wish I could be that innocent teen kid with nothing more to worry about then seeing my dad off in the morning. Part of me wonders if my self back then would even recognize the bitter adult I am now. That was back the rift had formed between my dad and I. It was probably the last time we’d ever really bond. I actually cried that night under those stars thinking about him leaving that next morning, even though I knew I’d be headed back in ten or so days to see him again. I felt alone knowing I’d be without him there beside me. And I miss that worry because it meant that I still had that father that I felt actually cared.
This is an enormous chain and I’m sorry, but I need to say this:
The laws in the Old Testament were set forth by god as the rules the Hebrews needed to follow in order to be righteous, to atone for the sin of Adam and Eve and to be able to get into Heaven. That is also why they were required to make sacrifices, because it was part of the appeasement for Original Sin.
According to Christian theology, when Jesus came from Heaven, it was for the express purpose of sacrificing himself on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven. His sacrifice was supposed to be the ultimate act that would free us from the former laws and regulations and allow us to enter Heaven by acting in his image. That is why he said “it is finished” when he died on the cross. That is why Christians don’t have to circumcise their sons (god’s covenant with Jacob), that is why they don’t have to perform animal sacrifice, or grow out their forelocks, or follow any of the other laws of Leviticus.
When you quote Leviticus as god’s law and say they are rules we must follow because they are what god or Jesus wants us to do, what you are really saying, as a Christian, is that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was invalid. He died in vain because you believe we are still beholden to the old laws. That is what you, a self-professed good Christian, are saying to your god and his son, that their plan for your salvation wasn’t good enough for you.
So maybe actually read the thing before you start quoting it, because the implications of your actions go a lot deeper than you think.
/An atheist who understands Christian theology better than Bible-thumpers do.
^
(mic drop)
boom
whoa.
(Source: drunkonstevphen)
(Source: myfoursidedmemorymachine)
Oliver Lo | http://behance.net/oliverlo
Graphic design student at Art Center College of Design, based in Pasadena, CA, USA.
(Source: countingdowntofreedom)
