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Originally Posted by Mother Of All Things Odd
It might do you some good to read the Bible.
did you know the Bible talked about the world being round before science did? It also taught about cleanliness deferring disease and is very accurately on line with what archaeologist are finding as far as history goes? And the Bible also tells people go out and learn wisdom being the principle thing.
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I think you're mistaken about archaeological support for the Bible. There is no archaeological record, for example, of the events in Exodus. (I couldn't find the reference I was looking for, but this one will suffice: www [dot]skeptic [dot]com/eskeptic/04-04-05.html. (I can't post links, hence the [dot]s instead of periods.
And unfortunately, the Bible also says things like, "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" ...8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. 10 Stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the LORD your God..."(Deuteronomy 13) And that's the mild stuff.
The point isn't to put your religious beliefs on trial, but since you brought the Bible up in the the first place, I would argue how the Bible is a very human document prone to very human abuses. It is perhaps not the best authority to fall back on in this particular instance. Christian Zionism and the likes of
"predicted that the Jews would have their own country again and as for war with the Arabs that has been going on since Sarah since Abraham into the handmaidens tent to father a child because they didn't have the patience to or the faith to believe" neither hold water nor help move us forward.
In any case, all this points to yet another trend in trying to discuss the Israel-Palestinian conflict: it's impossible to discuss Palestinian suffering without being accused of ignoring Israeli suffering. It strikes me as yet another way to keep the focus on Israel and marginalizing Palestinian issues in the process. This is the Israel bias we've been discussing in this thread. Frankly, I don't think anybody here is minimizing the suffering of Israelis at the hands of Palestinian suicide bombers, or is any less outraged at the deaths of Israeli civilian than at the deaths of Palestinians. But we need a bit of perspective here. Palestinians are a destitute people with a barely functional government, while Israel has power, wealth, organization, and the best military hardware US money can buy. Israel has broken its fair share of agreements - i.e. settlements - and aggravated the situation in ways only a vastly superior force can. If it didn't seem like the Establishment were so dead set against acknowledging the plight of Palestinian, discussing Israel 's shortcomings wouldn't be such a revolutionary thing to do.