The affect of Christianity has had an positive affect on humankind overall

Again, thanks to my opponent for the debate . . . I definitely have my work cut out for me with the defence of my contentions. . . but here goes. . . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contention 1: The Bible upholds human dignity and has supported the sanctity of life ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ you state that "the Bible defines the value of human life in dollars and cents. . . " This, plainly said, is not true This Law firstly, is in the Old Testament, which means that it no longer applies to Christians, in fact all of the laws of the Old Testament no longer apply to us today, I could expound but I'd ask you to take me on my word. (if you want I can quote scripture in the comment section, just put a note at the top of your next argument). Now, grabbing random scriptures out of the Bible is a foolish way of debating against it, primarily because the Bible generally needs to be read in context. For example, imagine flipping to a random page of Uncle Tom's Cabin and finding the word "nigger" . . . . would you claim that the book is an exaltation of slavery and racism? Certainly not, so I would ask that you have the same respect for the Bible in your rebuttals. Now, I will shed some light on Leviticus 27. . . . A confusing chapter, however this does not at all put "prices" on people. I will refute this using history, People who "dedicated" themselves, or their children, would pay a price to the Levites. While zeal was encouraged it was not something that they wanted to be out of control. So, they put a maximum on the amount of money possible for you to donate when you dedicated yourself according to age. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contention 2: The Bible has created a base, from which societies can grow and flourish -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I agree, I should have been more wary with my words and I apologize. I thought that "though not all Christians" would satisfy primarily Thomas Jefferson's beliefs. . . . I was not as aware of Thomas Paine's beliefs about Christianity . . . However, regardless of the beliefs of two of the founding fathers, others were Christians, and their choices were influenced by religion. "Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religions." George Washington "We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!" John Adams and John Hancock My point with these quotes is to show that many of the founding fathers WERE religious, if not Christians. So, would you say that they just forgot their religion when they created the Constitution? I think not. . . . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contention 3: Christianity teaches that we should care for the poor --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, your entire refutation relies upon random verses out of the Bible with no context given. It is almost as though you googled, "Bible Verses against poor people" or some such nonsense. Anyways, I will deal with these verses one at a time, refuting each one . . . Jeremiah 5:4 I will use history to prove why this verse is not against the poor. It merely states a fact of the time, the poor were foolish . . . and don't understand the reasons why they were being punished by God at the time. This makes perfect sense and is very simple to understand. The poor people are focused on only survival, they have no money, many are diseased, and worst of all they are completely uneducated (I'm generalizing, please forgive me . . . ). Is it not fair to call them foolish then? Proverbs 22:7 Again, I will use history. The "poor" are as I said above, were uneducated, had no money, and were often diseased. They relied upon the generosity of "the rich" . . . .in this context, "slave" refers to anyone who relies on something or someone else. This is not calling us to make slaves out of poor people . .. . that doesn't make any sense. It is merely stating a fact of the time. Mathew 6:24 I will refute this by going back to the original language that the Bible was written in. "Money" in this verse is symbolic of selfishness and greed. They same Greek word for money was also the word for the god of selfishness and greed. Frankly I don't understand how my opponent got that the poor have "chosen to serve money" from this verse. I'm still scratching my head. . . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contention 4: Christianity teaches peace between people ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Christians understand that the Old Testament Law has passed away. So, while it is true that there is violence in the Bible, does it condone it? There is a time for peace, and there is a time for war, the Bible tells us that peace is better than war, but at times war is necessary. Your verses are amusing, but rather detached from the real argument. Exodus 22:24 and 2 Chronicles 14:12 both talk about the vengeance of the Lord, they are NOT condoning the slaughter of people. God is not telling us to go on a "jihad" against the Ethiopians. Is stating historical facts condoning violence? . . . .that doesn't make any sense. Is upholding the law condoning violence? Numbers 15:35 depicts a scene where that is exactly what happens. So, I suppose my opponent would argue that Capital Punishment condones murdering people, punishment is meant to deter further wrong-doing. . . .again, my opponent is wrong. .. . ------------------- Pros of Religion ------------------- The Christian faith provides a base of truth for all that we as humans deal with in life. It gives us the plaster with which we may mold our world view. Religion is NOT opposed to the pursuit of truth, it merely gives you an absolute truth to start with. The Christian religion does not advocate the hindrance of scientific discovery. Why? Because God created this awesome world for us to discover, why would he decide to try to "keep us in the dark?" It makes no sense. I would argue that science has never truly found something contradictory to scripture, nothing that we are absolutely sure of that is. . .. . speculations and hypothesis may contradict religion however true scientific laws do not. Is a religion that teaches people to care for those less fortunate really teaching us to "loath" the "worldly?" It calls for us to show love to those who are "lost." NEVER loath . . .. a sad misconception and certainly not true. These things prove that Christianity is a positive force in the world.