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by Captain Birdseye on April 5th, 2006

Captain Birdseye

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Shouldn't questions, answers and ratings that contain "the Bible says" be confined to the Christianity section?

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Answers. 6 helpful answers below.

  • by Grandma Roses - my avatar is my real dog on April 5th, 2006

    Grandma Roses - my avatar is my real dog

    No, I don't think they should. In any search for answers to life's great questions, it is better to have as many resources as possible. The Christian Bible is not only a religious text, it is also one of the world's outstanding literary collections; it is no different from the Koran, the Book of Mormon or the Vedas that way . I would not be offended if someone referred to those in an answer. I might not agree, but I would welcome the input; if I disagree with the advice, I can just ignore it. That's what Freedom of Expression is all about on a site like this.

    The way the question is asked, it sounds as if someone wants to segregate answers that have a religious component from those that are strictly secular; this is censorship - a fairly mild form, but censorship nonetheless. If you don't like those answers, just pass them by; someone else might benefit from having a multi-faceted answer, even if you don't.

    If you don't like a negative rating that includes a Bible reference, that's just the way life goes on this site; you can always edit your answer to address the feedback.

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  • by Orange Mango on April 5th, 2006

    Orange Mango

    No, I don't think the answers that contain the phrase should automatically be placed there, but the majority of the questions ...sure, they should probably be. I can think of many questions of philosophy, popculture,& human nature, among others that could possibly require "the bible says" as a way to explain a common belief and thus a common behavior in humans. It must be remembered though that the answers on this site are to be taken with a grain of salt. We as users have the right to comment however we feel (...and feel however we choose about another user & their religious comments). It's the same as the freedom of speech debate, if we start limiting the views we don't agree with, then we limit our own ability to voice our own view. Ocasionally a user will decide to bring religion into an answer where it doesn't belong, it's his right to do it, ...& it's our right to rate the answer poorly.

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  • by Max Power on April 17th, 2006

    Max Power

    I didn't really read the other answers because I didn't want to be biased with this one from others ideas.

    I would say no. Sometimes yes. Mainly no.

    There are many so called christians who, very much so, like to tout what the bible says and in their minds it is the authoritive answer to everything but to others it's just plain annoying.

    I would like to point out and ask that we just have an open mind and see wether or not the advice from the bible is useful. We do not need to believe in the dogma of that persons religion but we can accept beneficial practices.

    The following is a report from Treasury of the Christian Faith by S. J. Corey concerning an interesting conversation between the Hindu leader Mahatma Gandhi and the former British Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin:

    “Lord Irwin paid a visit to the Mahatma in his ashram. During the conversation Lord Irwin put this question to his host: ‘Mahatma, as man to man, tell me what you consider to be the solution to the problems of your country and mine.’ Taking up a little book from the nearby lampstand, Gandhi opened it to the fifth chapter of Matthew and replied, ‘When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world.’ That from a Hindu!”

    Now if a Hindu can see benefit from a Christian book, what about us?

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  • by Answers101 on April 9th, 2006

    Answers101

    No, because we're supposed to spread God's Word and what better way than to spread His Word than by discussing the Bible within our everyday answers to everyday questions?

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  • by Anonymous on April 6th, 2006

    Anonymous

    I have a certain level of sympathy with this- as a non-Christian it can be quite irritating to ask a completly secular question and be bombarded with seemingly irrelevant religious rhetoric (as if I'll suddenly convert as a result!) I sometimes (not always) feel that the aim is more to spread about the answerers own beliefs than actually provide a helpful answer to the question- after all it hardly seems likely that a non-believer will consider following the advice given!

    However, these answers do often appear in categories concerning ethics and relationships and moral decisions, where arguably there are no universal "right" answers. The respondent is providing one perspective on the issue, which is possibly useful to some users, even where its not relevant to all. As long as it answers the question, I don't see that it really presents a problem- its rare when the "The Bible Says..." answer is the only answer to a question, so it serves as just one perspective amongst many: if a question has a male perspective, a female perspective, perspectives from different age groups and nationalities, perspectives from different schools of secular morality and different approaches to life, I see no reason why a Christian perspective need be left out of the equation. To a Christian strugggling with whatever the issue in the question is, the answer might prove valuable, even if it doesn't work for everyone.

    If you don't see the answer as particularly useful or relevant in a specific instance, just rate it accordingly as you would any other, and explain your reasons in the rating- other users can consider for themselves whether they agree or not.

    If you're regular net user you'll know religion has a habit of rearing its head almost everywhere- as long as we don't get taken over and start seeing Biblical answers in the Auto Mechanics section, I see no reason why it shouldn't stay as it is.

    Of course, there could be a slight conflict when it comes to questions of evolution. My personal preference would be to see "Creationist" answers only in the religious section; but I realise how much uproar and discord that would create, so its probably wise to take a tip from The Beatles here and just Let It Be!

    The ratings issue is a bit more complex. You have no idea how frustrated I get by people rating down perfectly decent answers in non-religious categories just because they don't coincide word for word with what it says in the Bible. (I saw a lot of this in the "Ghosts" category a while back: take heart in the fact that mostly these people just make themselves look ridiculous) Unfortunately, people rate unfairly- you can't move the rating without moving the answer, you can't start deleting ratings without causing arguments about fairness- how do we decide which ratings to delete and which to let stand? Read a few back postings in the Answerblog (bottom of homepage) and you'll see how endless this debate is! So yes, its annoying, but a little fact of Answerbag life.

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  • by Anonymous on April 10th, 2006

    Anonymous

    Not necessarily. Don't the Jewish people use over half of the same Bible?

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