What gives on this forum?

[Rage]

If Christians can't agree on what the bible actually means, I don't expect we will do any better with coming up with a hard and fast definition os mustachianism, unless the MMM prophet himself wants to speak on the matter.

This is a truly baffling analogy.  If the adherents to a 2 thousand year old religion based on a book - the New Testament - that is, in our language - a translation of a copy of a copy of a copy of.. we don't have the originals, and the oldest copies we have aren't identical and are nonetheless written in a different language altogether from that spoken where the events described occurred - if these followers cannot agree what it means, then how are we to know what Pete - a guy who lives about 2 miles from me - meant by all these blog posts?

[sheepstache]

If Christians can't agree on what the bible actually means, I don't expect we will do any better with coming up with a hard and fast definition os mustachianism, unless the MMM prophet himself wants to speak on the matter.

This is a truly baffling analogy.  If the adherents to a 2 thousand year old religion based on a book - the New Testament - that is, in our language - a translation of a copy of a copy of a copy of.. we don't have the originals, and the oldest copies we have aren't identical and are nonetheless written in a different language altogether from that spoken where the events described occurred - if these followers cannot agree what it means, then how are we to know what Pete - a guy who lives about 2 miles from me - meant by all these blog posts?

I wish Christian disagreements were over different versions and translations. Most I know can come up with plenty of disagreements based on your basic King James version. It's a matter of which aspects they want to emphasize and which they want to ignore.

[Villanelle]

If Christians can't agree on what the bible actually means, I don't expect we will do any better with coming up with a hard and fast definition os mustachianism, unless the MMM prophet himself wants to speak on the matter.

This is a truly baffling analogy.  If the adherents to a 2 thousand year old religion based on a book - the New Testament - that is, in our language - a translation of a copy of a copy of a copy of.. we don't have the originals, and the oldest copies we have aren't identical and are nonetheless written in a different language altogether from that spoken where the events described occurred - if these followers cannot agree what it means, then how are we to know what Pete - a guy who lives about 2 miles from me - meant by all these blog posts?

Even when using the same translation of the same book, they disagree. Many, if not most, of the disagreements are far more about interpretation than they are about which translation is being used.  And unless the MMM prophet is going to come into the forums and settle these disputes, we, like the Christians, are going to have to look at personal interpretations of the same words and the varied results of that. 

So yeah, I think it's a pretty apt comparison.  People read the some words and come up with different interpretations, different views on what is most important, and different approaches to integrating the teachings into reality. 

[scrubbyfish]

Even when using the same translation of the same book, they disagree. Many, if not most, of the disagreements are far more about interpretation than they are about which translation is being used.  And unless the MMM prophet is going to come into the forums and settle these disputes, we, like the Christians, are going to have to look at personal interpretations of the same words and the varied results of that. 

So yeah, I think it's a pretty apt comparison.  People read the some words and come up with different interpretations, different views on what is most important, and different approaches to integrating the teachings into reality.

+1. I loved this analogy!

[Rage]

If Christians can't agree on what the bible actually means, I don't expect we will do any better with coming up with a hard and fast definition os mustachianism, unless the MMM prophet himself wants to speak on the matter.

This is a truly baffling analogy.  If the adherents to a 2 thousand year old religion based on a book - the New Testament - that is, in our language - a translation of a copy of a copy of a copy of.. we don't have the originals, and the oldest copies we have aren't identical and are nonetheless written in a different language altogether from that spoken where the events described occurred - if these followers cannot agree what it means, then how are we to know what Pete - a guy who lives about 2 miles from me - meant by all these blog posts?

Even when using the same translation of the same book, they disagree. Many, if not most, of the disagreements are far more about interpretation than they are about which translation is being used.  And unless the MMM prophet is going to come into the forums and settle these disputes, we, like the Christians, are going to have to look at personal interpretations of the same words and the varied results of that. 

So yeah, I think it's a pretty apt comparison.  People read the some words and come up with different interpretations, different views on what is most important, and different approaches to integrating the teachings into reality.

I think there is some value in the analogy overall, especially considering that most Christians seem to think that Jesus was just flapping his gums with respect to loving your enemies, giving all your money to the poor, non violence, humility, really anything that Jesus taught come to think of it, and wind up with a religion that bears no resemblance to its own core teachings.  I see things around here that are analogous to that. 

But I still don't agree that the source material is in any way confusing or needs explanation from the Prophet; we don't need to debate around here whether the "eye of a needle" is actually an esoteric reference to an ancient expression for the door to the area where the animals are kept, or if "spare the rod" meant the rod that a shepherd would use to guide sheep, rather than meaning that you need to beat the shit out of your children.