Sara Pascoe reads a hilarious letter asking for clarity on God's Law
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- Опубликовано: 4 апр 2024
- At the turn of the century, the following letter was sent to Dr. Laura, a US radio personality who regularly and publicly deemed homosexuality to be a “mistake of nature.” A copy of the letter soon reached the masses, and now we bring it to you.
Comedian and writer Sara Pascoe joined us to read it at Letters Live at London's Royal Albert Hall in March 2023.
© J Kent Ashcroft 
Развлечения
“Why can’t I own a Canadian?” is the title of the letter. Circa 2002
Thanks; I knew I'd read this letter before but couldn't remember how long ago. Think it was in Funny Times circa W's presidency.
Well, we bite.
Eeeww! Why would you want to?
@@robinharwood5044 Well, Canadians are maple-y tasty. Plus they won't whinge about it till you're done.
@@sanseijedi😜
"Can I ethnically cleanse the inhabitants of a land because... y'know.. you.. "promised" it to me?... " Asking for a... friend*
Pretty ineffective "ethnic cleansing" considering the significant population growth in Gaza, the creation of "Save a Child's Heart" and "The Wish Ambulance". Thousands of lifesaving operations and other medical treatments have been performed on the residents of Gaza and the PA. These patients include the close relatives of Ismail Haniyeh, whose sole purpose in life is to wipe Israel and all its inhabitants off the face of the earth.
The IDF sends thousands of SMS messages, flyers, phone messages and roof taps in Arabic, warning of impending military operations, this jeopardizing its own soldiers and the effectiveness of the mission, in order to try to minimise civilian casualties.
Do you call that "ethnic cleansing"? Responding on behalf of a friend.
No need to reply.
This is a very important comment.
lol
Apparently, only if they're Philistines...or as we now call them, Palestinians.
@@AlFresco3442 The events and subsequent international reaction over the past six months have been truly dystopian to say the least ....
This letter was sent to Dr. Laura in May 2000. Writers for "The West Wing" courageously borrowed lines from it for an episode titled "The Midterms," which aired in October of that year. Now, in 2024, it still bears repeating. Kudos to Sarah Pascoe and "Letters Live"! Here is the story. According to Shaun Usher, "In May of 2000, a musician from Maryland named Kent Ashcraft wrote the...letter and sent it, anonymously, to Dr. Laura Schlessinger, a radio host who, whilst offering listeners advice on her show, had regularly and publicly deemed homosexuality to be a 'mistake of nature' according to Leviticus 18:22. No reply was forthcoming. However, a copy was also sent to a friend of Ashcraft, who shared it online, and before long the letter was everywhere. It even reached the inbox of Aaron Sorkin, who used some of it on an episode of The West Wing, for which Ashcraft eventually received payment."
I can’t imagine a more perfect letter for Sara Pascoe to be reading. It almost feels like she penned it herself.
I read somewhere that the guests get to choose a letter from a selection and sometimes even suggest a letter themselves, so I'm guessing that if this is true then Sara chose that letter because it fits her style.
@@krashd if they get to choose then she picked well.
Except for the word "obligated".
Perfect. The letter, the delivery and the comical twists. But, I need these answers ASAP, because apparently the world is about to end... again. Please announce the answers so we can all get our ritual killings finished before the Apocalypse?
Fun game: each time it shows the audience, pause and find the angry Christian.
I was thinking the same thing. It reminds me of the old story by Hilaire Belloc that ends 'And outside the fire we are watched by large and awful faces from beyond, and on those faces, there is no smile.' Quite terrifying especially the women.
Nothing makes Christians more upset than when their own holy book is quoted to them :)
Interesting to remember that everything the infamous Westboro Baptist Church said came directly from The Bible. Love 'em or hate 'em the Westboro Baptist Church absolutely nailed The Bible... If ever there were a question about who are the true Christians, you have to give that accolade to the Westboro Baptist Church.
@@TukikoTroy I absolutely agree! You really can't argue with it - not rationally anyway. It shows Christianity in it's raw, unbridled - and utterly obscene form. (Not a popular opinion😄)
@@michaelfourie345 Indeed it does. It is my sad lament that mankind is not long past these ridiculous inventions. It baffles and annoys me in equal measure that some people still cling to these preposterous notions, that the unscrupulous use to take advantage and that surely cause more suffering than good by a very large margin. (Saints preserve us !)
I loved this so much I had to listen to it twice and will share with my fellow Pastafarians in the church of the flying spaghetti monster.
R'Amen, my noodly friend...
See this is where you Pastafarians go wrong.The flying spaghetti monster is just a demon in disguise. All bow down to the voracious (but forgiving) vermicelli and his 12 meatballs.
@@sansovino4124 I'm concluding that this video upset you, based on who you're subscribed to. May The Church of the flying spaghetti monster expand your curiosity which is what you need to break out of the fallacious thinking you're experiencing.
@@sansovino4124
No, Saints Cous and Cous are the Chosen Grains.
We slaptised our youngest recently, I was so nervous about missing him with the slice of cheese but the lord guided it through the air from my hand to his face. He is of the faith now.
Half the people I know in England are stoned regularly, but are still alive.
👏👏👏🍀🍀🍀
I have stoned a lot of people personally. I feel certain they all were probably Sinners. But I have gotten stoned many more times. Does that move me ahead in the queue for Glory? Excuse me, I have stoned more sinners than you have, I'm moving in front of you.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 unable to sleep at four o’clock in the morning, your comment made me laugh and cheered me up !
this is brilliant! To whoever wrote the letter: You are awesome!
I wonder whether they ever got a reply from Dr. Laura.
@@bashermus9975 I wondered that too . Probably not . I think people who are like her can't be reasoned with . I would love to see this person interview Dr Laura as it would be fantastic!
I'm not sure admitting this does me much credit, but I was a guest on Dr. Laura's short-lived television program (2000-2001). It was an episode about financial education for teens and I was on a book tour for a book about the stock market and retirement planning. I feel somewhat redeemed by the fact that her show was canceled before my episode ever aired. 🤦♂
It’s ok, no one is perfect 💜
Financial education of teens is very important. If you hadn't been talking about that, she would have had more air time for spouting spiteful nonsense.
So they did book some real guests? I understand a lot of their guests were just members of production staff wearing different wigs.
i once auditioned for 15 to 1, i was the only one who banked. i was funnier than the anne robinson stand in, so they rejected me.
Some folk in the audience are raging 😂
Yes. I saw that too. Why did they even go?
Lot of stone faces for a British audience out for a laugh. And why don't they make a fuss about blended fabrics?
@@catnaplappdx5001 Right?
@@catnaplappdx5001 Kind of weird because in the UK it's not uncommon for the craziest aspects of Christianity to be mocked regularly on mainstream TV. Still, I take heart that most of the audience were laughing.
FWIW, the UK 2021 census showed less Christians (down to 46%) and more atheists (up to 37%).
@@catnaplappdx5001
Because, of course, their hair-shirts are from different beasts.
Humor is such a sharp weapon.
Especially when certain people see the source as fact :P
@@PYDPIPER What?
@@Ronnie-us8duunless I have severely mistaken events, the meaning is that many people reguard the bible (or some other 'holy' book) as being absolute truth & that pointing out some of the wild shit they proudly proclaim to believe - often while having no idea about it - is fun.
@@sjs9698 i don't think ezekiel 23:14 gets enough air time, the bible ought to have a parental guidance sticker, here's a taster:
14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust.
it gets better. soemthing about hung romans and emissions. that youtube won't approve of.
She has the perfect voice for Letters Live😊❤
The irony of it is so hilarious. Wonderful presentation
Ironically, the word irony has been misused for so long and so often it is indeed now a synonym of sarcasm.
The word you were looking for is not irony.
@@timtruett5184 You can't just leave it at that, you've got to say what the correct word is.
@@pineapplepenumbra ridiculousness is a more appropriate word there.
@@Ronnie-us8du I'm not sure which angle you're coming from.
Are you saying that the biblical nonsense is ridiculous, or that the criticism of it is ridiculous?
Who knew the Bible was such a comedic gold mine 😂
Any number of people who became atheists after reading it.
most of us! LOL
But... like a gold mine, you have to move a mountain of dross to get to the good bits.
I don't have the patience.
There's a reason why the church only teaches about 20% of it.
Pretty much anyone that's ever read it.
This is hysterical. It was even more funny when I saw it on The West Wing episode, "The Midterms" in 2000. Whole phrases were lifted by the writer. Funny, though!
I was beginning to think it was just me who watched The West Wing!
As the Lord's word is unchanging, so shall the comedy about it be.
The West Wing is brilliant. One of the best TV dramas ever made.
@@briancox9357 Currently re-watching it, to remind me how the US Election process works. What a shame none of the West Wing candidates are available for the 2024 run. This scene was one of the best.
Glad it wasn't just me who knows that speech well enough to realise what was happening straight away...
I would paddle from Texas to England if I could meet Sara Pascoe. 😊
Do it and you will!
QUESTION: WHO would you PADDLE on your journey from Texas to England. And are we talking about a direct red-eye flight from DFW to London-Heathrow or are you going by cruse ship? (Please don't say Southwest Airlines.) And will the paddling be constant, or will there be breaks for snacks and bathrooms? I'd imagine your hand and their bum would need a rest periodically. And finally, would this be someone who has consented to being paddled or are we talking about some court ordered corporal punishment? (And shouldn't we ask those on the plane and/or ship if they consent to be riding in the same vehicle as you and the potential paddled?
Nurse! Nurse! @jacklinde7568 is on the loose again
That right there is a lot of optimism about the people who like be spanked between those 2 locations. I am not saying you are wrong, but rather "Hands across America" is already legally trademarked and I wonder how you would get the marketing done with that. Never the less good luck with your trip and mind the skincare of your hands as chaffing may be an issue.
@@jackielinde7568 Wow. Such effort for a weak dad joke.
Dear Dr Laura - I'm a very meek person. Could you lend me £1,000 until I inherit the Earth?
I would ask for some money too, but I am altogether too meek.
Sorry, it's the Greeks who are to inherit the earth. Matthew made a typo. Blessed be the Cheesemakers!
@@Gynra Does that include TKEs? Asking for a fiend.
@@Gynra Q2: is it true that a city set on a hill cannot be a sh*thole city?
I made a copy of this letter many years back, I often look back upon it for guidance. As I am determined to own a Canada! There just so nice, everyone will want one soon.
As soon as she started that Question I knew where we were heading. That’s why we are often referred to as “the nice people who live in the apartment above the Crack House”. And sorry, but you can’t own us, however, being the nice folks that we are, some of us MAY be available for a short-term rental 😂✌️🇨🇦 I have to admit, while she was reading I kept thinking…”A MAGA Cultist would hear this and think: “ Ya…what’s your point?”. 🤦🏻♀️🤯😱
@@Canuckmom128 , As a guy who lives near Canada and travels there often. I always brag about two things: 1- Canada is way cleaner (street wise, walk ways) than U.S. and 2- The people are just way kinder and friendlier. Sure not in all ways. But to me Canada is doing something right :) And sure if I was a Christian I want to "own" the libs. But alas my days of believing in Hebrew Fairy tales is long past.
@@Canuckmom128 i don't see either of you making any sense.
Sara, what a wit. She makes my day anytime I come across her work. Thanks, Sara!
Not her work, she's just reading it. But yes, she's great :)
Takes me back, I remember when this first made the rounds. Still funny, and pointed, since homophobia is rearing its ugly head in NZ at the moment. We didn't have Sara Pascoe though, gold!
Awesome. Very well read. And funny as all get-out.
This channel continues to be the best!
Oh my GOD. This is my favorite one yet.
Dear Sarah Pascoe. Should I post a link to this Letters Live in my conservative families WhatsApp group?
That depends: are you dependent on any of them (financial or other aid) or wish to come to future family functions (weddings, birthdays) if not then yes, you should absolutely post this in the family group chat
Yes definitely! It will do them a world of good. I just love those "But the gospels say" types.......
And if that doesn't convince an intelligent person that the whole think is man made then there is no hope for them!
36 thumbs up, so… “ the whole think is man made “ means what? asking from the UK.
So religious people are not intelligent? I can think of many intelligent people who are religious and many who are not. It seems intelligence has nothing to do with being religious.
@@paulstuart4776 Would an intelligent person believe in leprechauns? How about a flat earth? At what point does believing in something that has no actual evidence for existing and is demonstratively false become stupid?
@@andyphillips7435 it means the bible didnt come from heaven via post
@@TBathory. My comment was only limited to the observation that some intelligent people are believers while others are not. Francis S. Collins is an example of the former while Richard Dawkins is an example of the latter. Both are highly regarded evolutionary biologists (and obviously intelligent).
sara knocked it out the park with this reading!
Dara O'Brien and Stephen Fry should be very proud of her 😏
Stephen should do one about Exodus and the "promised" land ... I'll not hold my breath waiting though ...
@@mathanmor Given current war in the neighborhood, I would rather/think it safer he picked another story to dismantle
@@danjohnston9037 Genocide can be so frightfully awkward to suitably justify, wouldn't you agree dearest boy? ..
@@mathanmor and that's what I'm talking about
I think Aaron Sorkin must've read this letter, some of these points were used almost word-for-word by President Bartlett upon confronting a religious TV host who didn't stand when he entered the room.
he did
What I like best about this video is the stern facies in the crowd. I think they would have walked out but did not want to cause a scene.
They are "being good". But it always comes out later.
Did this letter get a response from the intended recipient? Because I would LOVE to hear/read that if so!
I don't know whether Dr. Laura ever answered it, but anyone with even a passing understanding of traditional interpretations of the Bible could easily answer all of them. The letter is undoubtedly funny, but most of the "issues" raised depend either on a misreading of the text or on the ignorance of the reader.
@@balok63a40 I think the cherry-picking you call "traditional interpretations" (e.g. homosexuality is an abomination but not eating shellfish) is exactly what this letter is calling out
@@balok63a40 No idea who this Dr. Laura actually is but tell her not to worry, I've got about a thousand additions and elaborations I could contribute to it from my religious upbringing!
@@balok63a40 It was addressed to someone who insisted homosexuality is a sin, it was about their hypocrisy in picking and choosing some bits from the old testament.
@@ClockworkChainsaw A Christian would say that the moral law of the Old Testament sill applies, but the ritual laws were superseded by Jesus' sacrifice, and the remaining questions were directed to ritual laws. A Jew would say that one is forbidden from bringing a sacrifice anywhere other than in the Temple in Jerusalem; that the word used to describe the level of sin of a male homosexual act (תועבה) is different from the one used to describe the level of sin of eating shellfish (מטמא); that the laws of slavery are not applied in any country in which slavery is outlawed (דינא דמלכותא דינא); etc.
Imagine we didn’t have Leviticus to teach us right from wrong!
and there would be no jeans either.
A large portion of these questions were aired on The West Wing by President Bartlett iirc.
For those who didn’t see this episode, I don’t remember which one it was but it’s worth searching for even if you have to watch every episode of The West Wing to find it, which I heartily recommend doing anyway. A true gem of television.
@@catrionatalbot ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.htmlsi=_q05V0phDZBnGuOH
Those sections have been lifted word for word.
"The Midterms," S2E3. Claire Yarlett plays Jenna Jacobs, standing in for Laura Schlessinger. According to internet trivia, this letter came first, and Aaron Sorkin lifted bits from it.
Can’t emphasize just how much I love this lol 😂 love all her work
Brilliant!!
Absolutely brilliant!!
Bravo!
Brilliant.
Excellent!
you can spot the bible bashers in the audience, theyre the ones surrounded by steam....
Too many straight faces in that crowd 😮... the laughter at the end was reassuring 😊
@@doedecaheedronStraight faces? You should never perform in front of a German audience then. They might not even flash a smile during the whole act, but after the show someone might come to you and tell you, you were hilarious, and they had to put all effort in not to laugh out loudly during the show.
Sulphur and brimstone, more like.
So the episode from the West WIng is based on a true story. Jed Bartlett as Kent Ashcraft and Jenna Jacobs as Dr. Laura. Kent wrote this letter to Dr. Laura before the West Wing episode and the writers decided to use some of the letter in their episode.
wow wow wow! I think that is enough wow for now. 😊 I won' t beat about the bush here, Simon. Another stunning offering from you, yet again.
Thank you for bringing this letter to wider public. I am proud to live among such witty, sarcastic, and compassionate human like the letter writer. The power of written words, can cut sharp while still being polite 😂
Brilliant!
Interesting. Pretty sure i saw almost exactly this skit on an episode of the West Wing where President Bartlet schooled a right-wing Christian evangelical at the Whit House.
Not much whit in that house.
That scene was based on this letter.
@@klc4023 Indeed it was. And now there's some moron going around Twitter (It will *always* be Twitter) making what he claims to be legit rebuttals to this, from the New Testament. They're roasting him... LOL
Can anyone remember which episode this might be in?
@evertheless369 it's S2E3 - The Midterms
Can you believe that some people think that we get our moral values from our religion rather than from thoughtful contemplation about the concepts of fairness and equity while guided by our reasoning as it is influenced by our conscience and to a lesser degree the prevailing mores of the society we inhabit?
Yeah, that has to be the most ignorant thing Christians can say to someone, "If you don't believe in God how can you know right from wrong?"
I tend to just walk away if I get hit with that question.
@@krashd The very worst thing is the lie regarding the idea of hell, which they cruelly tell to children in order to psychologically control them. Those of us lucky enough to have the moral courage to recognize this as a lie and to see the world more like it really is feel like the character who escapes the cave from Plato’s allegory of the cave.
I think you are wildly over optimistic about human moral reasoning. Your notion of fairness and equality isn't even shared by most people today, let alone most humans throughout time.
Denying the influence of Christianity on the default ethics of the West is just bad intellectual history apart from anything else. Read some Greek ethics (for all its brilliance) to find how foreign their ethical sensibilities now seem to us.
@@LlywellynOBrien We are aware that the world is filled with sociopaths, religion does NOTHING to obviate that reality, in fact, it allows these sociopaths to manipulate others. (I.e. televangelist’s who extort money out of fearful old women, priests who sexually predate on vulnerable children, etc)
Yes.
Outstanding!
I made a wallet card of most of this years ago just in case a jesus person is getting really annoying.
You can get them to leave you alone faster by saying “hail Satan”
What a good idea
My favorite tactic is to ask, "So, human sacrifice - the Aztecs and Maya did it, the worshipers of Baal did it - what do you think?" Let them get really worked up and then casually mention Abraham and Isaac, then go in for the coup de gras and say, "So, what was the crucifixion of Jesus, then?" Sometimes they explode from the mental overload...😉
@@jeraldbaxter3532 Don't forget Japhtha's daughter (I'd have to check on the spelling of his name).
He made a vow to god that if he was successful in battle, he would sacrifice whoever came out of the door to greet him first, when he got home.
True believers in Jesus would agree with you. None of this stuff comes from the New Testament.
I'm doing English Literature dissertation at the moment, you've no idea how serendipitously helpful this was!! Who says procrastination doesn't pay!?
Dr. Laura, now that’s a name from the previous Century …
Brilliant :-)
It's easy to see the Christian apologists in the audience.
Epic!
lol there are some very unamused people in the audience and it makes me laugh.
Gray-haired woman with glasses is trying to figure out how to smite everyone else in the audience…
Seven words to make the algorithms love you.
Just the irony of it. When I was still a believer, the book of Leviticus I read more than once. Thank you, Sara, the backwardness of faith was revealed again. Wonderful. Thanks to the writer. Hilarious and all credits. Faithful or not.
I don't think my parents will ever find their way out like you did, but I just wanted to say that I'm happy for you at least and so gratified to see that it is possible. OK, enjoy your life! :)
I think we are all fed up with smiting. 12000 children dead, and the rest of the children being starved.
This has been around a long time. Don’t know where it started.
Brilliant!! lol ;-)
Loved the letter and also the episode of the West Wing (possibly the same year - Season 2 Episode 3) when Jed Bartlett uses similar arguments.
This is hysterical! It reminds me of a West Wing episode where President Bartlett proposes the same kind of thing, selling his daughter into slavery, gloves to touch a football, etc.
Love that you can spot the christians in the audicence from their sour looks. All of them want to scream "it's a new covenant!".
But their screaming would be pointless, and "fulfilling the law" is a meaningless phrase, and Matthew 5:18 says that they should be following that mosaic nonsense, anyway (never mind thatMatthew 5:17 contradicts the following verse).
Seriously, how carefully do these drongos read that sick book?
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
God love her... I mean I love her!
This letter sounds very much like the Aaron Sorkin script from an episode of The West Wing...Brilliant!!!!
This letter came first - it had been bouncing around the internet chat rooms for a couple of years before Aaron put it on network TV.
Truly putting religion in perspective.......
I love this, and I would like to share it with anyone that accuses me of “cherry picking” scripture
I fail to see how it could help your case. That's really the letter's whole point.
It puts a smile on my face whenever a passage from the bible is quoted about the abomination of homosexuality. Even as a non-christian, heterosexual man I am aware that it was the openly homosexual Kings James 1st (James 6th of Scotland) who ordered the Latin texted bible to be translated into English.
King James's Bible was not translated from Latin. The Old Testament was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic and the New Testament from Greek.
There was a similar piece that “ President Jeb Barlette” did in a room targeted at right wing radio broadcaster still powerfull 😊😊
Yep, the writer of the West Wing was familiar with this letter and incorporated it into that episode.
This is very close to the speech in the West Wing episode, The Midterms, which aired in October 2000. Both very funny. West Wing didn't mention owning a Canadian!
It's become a classic. It should be read out to all those revolting televangelists.
Sara is absolutely stunning, and yes I am in love
AN hilarious letter!
Very similar to a scene in "The West Wing" where Bartlet confronts bigots in a White House meeting.
ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.html
Leviticus is really an insane collection of old barbarian customs.
Reminds me of a similar speech from The West Wing
The letter is from 2002. Not sure if the show was inspired by the letter or vice versa. It's hilarious either way. ❤
I never watched The West Wing, but I searched for the clip after reading this comment section, and found it immediately! ("The West Wing bible lesson" will do the trick, looks like people have been uploading this for years)
@@tishw4576 Yes the WW adapted it a bit
ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.html
Hell, calling Dr. Laura. We have your reservation ready.
Anyone remember the scene in "West Wing" that makes use of these bible quotes?
West Wing episode "Midterms" Season 2.
A very satirical letter. The Christians in the audience are not amused.
Nah, I'm a Christian, and I think it's hilarious.
You mean extremists. mainstream know not to cherrypick from the OT.
Except, of course, there are no christians in the world.
christianity, if it ever existed, died out about 2000 years ago, to be superseded by fan fiction and the words of blatant plagiarists, liars and at least one nutter, none of who had ever met Jesus , some of whom didn't know the area, or Jewish ways at the time, and who didn't write anything until decades after his alleged life and death.
What do you mean, I'm too pedantic and must be no fun at parties?
@@pineapplepenumbra That, plus you don't know shit about history LOL ⛔
@@pineapplepenumbra I think you've got that completely backwards. No one was Christian while he lived, and Christianity only emerged as a religion 50 to 80 years after his death. And it's still going.
“Dr.” Laura Schlessinger was such a horrid fundamentalist scold, but I remember when The West Wing incorporated much of this letter in a monologue challenging a character based on her flagrant cherrypicking of scripture. It was such beautiful pushback to her hateful rhetoric.
They made it famous.
ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.html
Cherrypicking ? You mean, we can disregard part of the scripture?
@@gengis737 according to nearly everyone, yes! 😃
@@gengis737 are you keeping slaves? Did you even understand ONE sentence from this letter? Read your Bible. Are Christians actually observing Jewish food laws? Acts 10:9-16 would give you an answer. Yes, we can.
@@gengis737 As some of it contradicts other bits, and some contradicts observable reality, one would have to be literally insane to believe, let alone try to follow, all of it.
The people who aren't laughing, perhaps they are realising their faith may have a few holes being poked in it?
Not very well, or very honestly though Howard. That's not the law of God, it's the law of Leviticus, and not in any way applicable to our living faith. It's easy to poke fun at religion. A dead, corrupt man made thing, used for maintaining power and social conrtrol, and then conflate that sorry mess with God himself, or faith in God, as if those were the same things. It's a cheap shot we see every day, and we see people laugh and agree, as if their dismissal of insanely harsh religious edicts from three thousand years ago excuses their dismissal of God Himself and morality itself.
If you had said "their RELIGION may have a few holes poked in it" you'd be right, and so it should be, but this wasn't aimed at any particular religion, it was aimed at God, and those with faith in God, as if Leviticus was still in effect. You know it isn't. You know that God's ten commandments are the central foundation of western civilisation. All our laws, rights and freedoms are based upon them. Those are God's law, not the 613 other edicts the Levites came up with.We live by these ten laws, and expect everyone to do the same. It's what all UK law is based on. Over tens of thousands of years, through the Vedas, the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Confucious, they all tried and failed to codify right action in society, and didn't come up with anything near them. If you disagree with any of God's laws, or have an alternative set of principles to propose then please do so. I'm assuming you don't, because nobody does. Oddly enough, the harsh edicts of Leviticus had a purpose in God's plan which you don't get, because you haven't read or understood it, but it's clearly laid out. They were supposed to teach a lesson. One we learned, but you'll never get, because you don't understand it and reject the teacher.
Holding up this absurd out of place strawman, and trying to equate it with God's perfect unsurpassed law, is just what licentious people WOULD do, in order to avoid the rightful shame of being unrepentant sexual deviants. Yet God's law protects them too, even as they misrepresent it as ancient levitical law, and spit upon it while trying to make light of their fallen, sinful state.
@@JoesWebPresence Why do you equate God with morality, you also say god but mean the judeo-christian one, what about all the thousands of other gods that have been proclaimed over the years? As well as assuming that morality cannot exist without their being some greater entity to threaten us if we don't do x,y,or z, you have also assumed I have no experience with religion which on the contrary I have. You also call your god a teacher, would that include genocide of all creatures not on the ark because they didn't do what god wanted, because that is a very human and petulant thing to do. The strawmen you claim are all in the bible as laws that must be obeyed but you seem to gloss over this but claim others have a sinful state, sin is a construct just like every scripture ever written, they are all works of man to control others.
That's religion you are describing@@howarddavies3744 I'm talking about Almighty God. The giver of the law, and that's not just a Judeo/Christian concept. The vedas were similarly concerned with deriving the will of the divine. They've all had a go. Buddha, Lao Tsu, Confucious. The ten commandments is the central foundation of western civilisation, for a VERY good reason, and neither of us could imagine or survive a world without it. As an exaple, people in China don't usually stop to help if they see a car crash because the story of the good Samaritain is not a part of their culture. Westerners find it horrific, but it's just absent of one parable. Can you seriously imagine a world where the ten commandments were never given?
It's tragic to me that so many otherwise well educated people choose to remain willfully ignorant on these matters, especially the crucial difference between religion and faith. Religion is a dead thing. A man made artifice, used for cultural warfare and maintaining societal order, full of ritual observance and unquestioned dogma. On the other hand, faith is not mere blind faith as many assume, but a living, moment by moment faith relationship. Contrary to popular belief and religious dogma, the matter of God's existence is not some ultimately unknowable matter of conjecture.
In Romans 8:16 it says His spirit will witness with yours. That's an open invitation for a direct experience of God. Deeper than any personal encounter and beyond any doubting. The maker of your soul offers to touch your soul in an unmistakable way to confirm what we dismiss as impossible. How many ever take that offer up? The instructions on how to achieve that can be found throughout the bible, seek and ye shall find, enter through the narrow gate, etc, and they are different for each of us, but I believe they are best summed up in Hebrews 11:6. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
By all means be skeptical about religion. The religions you listed are all man made, corrupt and inherently evil, and Jesus Himself was fiercely anti-religious, but faith in God is not at all the same, and not, as many presume, some ultimately unknowable mystery. Sure, there's an initial leap of faith required, but if it is sincere, then that faith is rewarded, which encourages us to deliberately step out in faith, and again we are miraculously upheld, so we take another step, and another, and soon we are walking in faith in a relationship of love and trust with our creator. That's how faith in God grows, and it is very different to putting blind unquestioning faith in dead religious rituals and conforming to dogma for the sake of conforming to societal norms. Faith, like trust, builds when it is rewarded, and intimacy grows when we are guided into and out of situations that we had no way of arranging or addressing. Soon there is no room for doubt, and those hollow religious sounding words all come to life. Seek and ye shall find. The truth will set you free. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. The Lord is my shepherd. Fear not. Taking Christ at His word, we can be more than conquerors. We can rightly divide the word of Truth, and be discerners of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We can act boldly in doing the will of the Father, defeating wickedness in high places and conducting ourselves as true sons and daughters of the most high, instead of just meekly following priests and pastors in their hollow chants and rituals, trusting in a vicarious second hand relationship. God is a God of reason, and several passages make this point, but one that comes to mind is 1Peter3:15 "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." which is what I am doing here.
If you don't believe this is so, then you, or anyone else could debunk this idea once and for all in the space of an afternoon, simply by reading these verses (and maybe a few others as you may feel led ) and then sincerely putting it to the test. Try approaching God on HIS terms for once, according to HIS instructions, humbly and in faith, and see what happens, rather than pointing at an obviously corrupt religion and dismissing Him out of hand as if He and it were the same thing. It's way too easy to dismiss the straw man (hypocritical religious observance) and ignore the clear instructions that are there for those who have ears to hear. Instructions these religions do NOT teach or follow. He will meet us in His word! Rather than the bible being dry religious words, they can come alive in our personal experience, and He can communicate with us THROUGH His word, witnessing to us directly, spirit to spirit, with no priestly intermediaries and no room left for any doubt . . . if only we will humble ourselves, and approach Him in sincerity and faith. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain, and if what I say is untrue, then it would be so easy to prove it to yourself here and now, one way or the other. I genuinely hope that answered your question.
"The proud say. 'I'll believe it when I see it' but that was not how it was offered. The humble say 'I believed, and THEN I saw' for that is exactly what is written for all to see, if they have eyes to see, and a heart to understand
Nonsense about the 10 commandments. 2.5 of our laws overlap. Murder, theft and lying (in certain circumstances). And those are almost universal regardless of what faith a country followed. Adultery? Legal. No other god? Actually illegal as we have freedom of religion to worship whatever deity we want. Honour parents? The state sometimes takes children away from their parents. Etc.
As stated above@@kennyn1992 The laws of God are perfect. The laws you abide by are based on them. That they don't allign perfectly with the laws of your country doesn't mean THEY are wrong, it means the laws of your COUNTRY are imperfect! That people can commit crimes that overlap is completely irrelevant. You seem to worship the state, and put them in the place of law giver. Whether you think those laws are better or not, they ARE derived from the ten commandments and you haven't put forward any better laws, you've just pointed out most nations don't follow them to the letter thanks to secular intervention. Well how's that going for them? Adultery for example. The breakdown of the family unit. The lack of parenting. Single moms with five baby daddys. The state of education and the level of youth crime. The social security bill, How is that going for society? You might approve of ignoring this law of God for your own selfish reasons, but we can all see what the results of it are.
If you have a better set of laws, or a better way of wording them please share that here. If you disagree with any of them, please explain why. If you are unable to do either of these, then the ten commandments win, and western civilisation was right to build their entire society and its laws upon them.
Parts lifted from the West Wing.
Very good. Looking forward to seeing this done with the Quran......
I wonder when this was written. It’s very nearly the same as a monologue from one of the early seasons of West Wing.
ruclips.net/video/DSXJzybEeJM/видео.htmlsi=5xHOVw-D78k-5MhL
Price? “Market Price, of course.”
Take home message: Leviticus is unhinged
Sara Pascoe is an international treasure. Why have you Brits sequestered her and why aren't you finding her more work?
Very reminiscent of a scene from The West Wing. Which came first?
Likely the real letter. The scene you're talking about has a Dr Laura in proxy by naming the character differently.
I'd have thought "turn of the century" would have been a dead giveaway.
WW altered it a bit
ruclips.net/video/3CPjWd4MUXs/видео.html
Just as well we don't take ours as literally as some of our Muslim friends take theirs!! Plenty dead neighbours. At least the M's have full instructions like 'Throw the abominations from a high place' etc. Makes it pretty easy for them: they don't have to write in to find out.
Oh my "god", what an ending! (please release the responses of Your "god/s")
Chronological snobbery mixed with a bit of category errors… will be hilarious to read Shakespeare and the contributions he made to modern day plumbing.
A couple of those were from Jed Barlett's scolding of a religious nutcase on the TV series, "The West Wing"
Brilliant missive and brilliant delivery by Ms Pascoe. The style reminds me of The Screwtape Letters. And the only person who might do a better reading is John Cleese.
American church preachers could learn from her... : )
The absurdity of it all. I'm so tired of cultists and all this crap.
Yeah, but don't tell them they're in a cult (despite it literally being the very definition of one!) because they will not see the irony!
Only men may eat clams without sin. Leviticus 19:69
...wait, wait..if I buy a Canadian,..can I use the coupon? or must I by more than 1 at a time?
This holds my favorite law, the mixing of fabrics. (Just keep in mind that mixing cotton and polyester is an abomination. A nasty combo.)