I hope there is a god

Originally posted by stellspalfie
so you think its okay to follow the tradition of the local culture?

That's a broad question isn't it?

In the case of Mary and Joseph, their following Hebrew tradition was ok.
Are you trying to stretch some point beyond this scope?

No, IE. I do not think it is ok to follow any tradition of any and every local culture all the time in every circumstance.

Originally posted by sonship
That's a broad question isn't it?

In the case of Mary and Joseph, their following Hebrew tradition was ok.
Are you trying to stretch some point beyond this scope?

No, IE. I do not think it is ok to follow any tradition of any and every local culture all the time in every circumstance.

you (id like to think) would not have sex with or impregnate a child. if you were to visit and live in all cultures that do, you would not adopt that aspect of their culture (id like to think, correct me if im wrong). so sonship, why wouldnt you adopt that aspect of their culture?

Originally posted by wolfgang59
Read my OP.

Where in your OP is it explained why you hope there is a God?

Thread title; I hope there is a god. Then you said, "of course I do".

The rest of the post makes no sense to me.

Can you just simply answer the question? Why do you hope there is "a God"?

Originally posted by bbarr
My wife is pretty great. She's from Wisconsin, so she has a natural advantage. She insists we eat a lot of kale, which strikes me as depraved. Other than that, though...

I live in Wisconsin. Spent most of my adult life here. Lived and worked all over the country for decades. Always came back home to Wisconsin. I'll never move away again. Wisconsin is best. IMO.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
i asked you what [b]you thought was a morally acceptable age....you dont seem to have answered that question. why?[/b]

I don't recommend marriage for anyone under 25. 30 for men. I don't see it as a moral question. It's a question of maturity.

Originally posted by josephw
I don't recommend marriage for anyone under 25. 30 for men. I don't see it as a moral question. It's a question of maturity.

there are many ways in which marriage can be a moral issue. it would be immoral for a 40yr old man to marry a 10year old child regardless of how mature she was, would it not?

Originally posted by josephw
I live in Wisconsin. Spent most of my adult life here. Lived and worked all over the country for decades. Always came back home to Wisconsin. I'll never move away again. Wisconsin is best. IMO.

Does the cold weather kind of restrict the nonsense up there?

Originally posted by stellspalfie
there are many ways in which marriage can be a moral issue. it would be immoral for a 40yr old man to marry a 10year old child regardless of how mature she was, would it not?

For this criticism of marrying children -
Muhammad is your man, not Joseph.

Originally posted by stellspalfie

you (id like to think) would not have sex with or impregnate a child. if you were to visit and live in all cultures that do, you would not adopt that aspect of their culture (id like to think, correct me if im wrong). so sonship, why wouldnt you adopt that aspect of their culture?

I was brought up in this culture and would probably be so prior influenced, I would find it against my own cultural upbringing.

Is there some little corner you are hoping to get me to paint myself into here?

Originally posted by josephw
I live in Wisconsin. Spent most of my adult life here. Lived and worked all over the country for decades. Always came back home to Wisconsin. I'll never move away again. Wisconsin is best. IMO.

Best people I've ever met. Hopefully we'll be able to make the move from Seattle to Madison when we get around to having kids. Where are you in WI?

Originally posted by sonship

you (id like to think) would not have sex with or impregnate a child. if you were to visit and live in all cultures that do, you would not adopt that aspect of their culture (id like to think, correct me if im wrong). so sonship, why wouldnt you adopt that aspect of their culture?

I was brought up in this culture and would probably be s ...[text shortened]... pbringing.

Is there some little corner you are hoping to get me to paint myself into here?

you appear to be saying that the age of consent is purely a cultural issue and not one of morality. im sure you do not actually believe this, for example if a culture existed where men can marry and have sex with an infant, im sure you would say it is immoral regardless of the culture.

im not hoping for you to paint yourself anywhere, being a christian you are already in the corner.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
there are many ways in which marriage can be a moral issue. it would be immoral for a 40yr old man to marry a 10year old child regardless of how mature she was, would it not?

Suppose she's an orphan, at risk of becoming a child prostitute, and the local customs don't allow adoption for some reason, the man marries her, doesn't consummate the marriage and then allows her to divorce when she's old enough to fend for herself or marry someone more appropriate?

Contrived I agree, but it's always possible to find exceptions.

Originally posted by DeepThought
Contrived I agree, but it's always possible to find exceptions.

Yes there are always exceptions, but they typically rely on one wrong being the lesser of two wrongs, rather than it being right.
So when someone states that a given act is immoral they typically are implicitly saying 'assuming the people in question don't have a gun pointed at their heads, or other extenuating circumstances'.

In fact I could think of definitions of marriage in which I would readily say that underage marriage is perfectly acceptable. But again, that would be kind of cheating.

Originally posted by stellspalfie
you appear to be saying that the age of consent is purely a cultural issue and not one of morality.

I would say that the exact age of consent is at least in part cultural. I can think of no argument for why a particular age is better than any other. Humans continue to mature throughout their lives, typically making better decisions as they age (up to a point). But I am not convinced that this is a good argument for not marrying till you are fifty.
I am not sure what josephws recommendation amounts to. Does he expect people to sleep around until they are 25-30, or does he expect them to remain abstinent till then?

Originally posted by josephw
Where in your OP is it explained why you hope there is a God?

... the best bit would be god casting bodies into
the eternal lake of fire. A place reserved only for those that believe
in it and threatened others with it. Payback for spiritual bullies.