From: dgray@menudo.uh.edu (Dennis Gray Jr.)
Newsgroups: alt.atheism
Subject: Weekly bible lesson (have an open mind!)
Date: 11 Jan 1993 06:19:00 GMT
Organization: Academic Computer User Services
Reply-To: DGray@uh.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: menudo.uh.edu


Our lesson this week comes from First Samuel chapter 25:
	
	25:1 And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered
	together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at
	Ramah. And David arose, and went down to the wilderness of
	Paran.

	25:2 And there was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in
	Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand
	sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in
	Carmel.

	25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his
	wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and
	of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil
	in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.

	25:4 And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear
	his sheep.

	25:5 And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the
	young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet
	him in my name:
	25:6 And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity,
	Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house, and peace
	be unto all that thou hast.

	25:7 And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy
	shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was
	there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in
	Carmel.

	25:8 Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let
	the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good
	day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto
	thy servants, and to thy son David.

	25:9 And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal
	according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.

	25:10 And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is
	David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now
	a days that break away every man from his master.

	25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh
	that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom
	I know not whence they be?  25:12 So David's young men turned
	their way, and went again, and came and told him all those
	sayings.

	25:13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his
	sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also
	girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four
	hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff.

The story turns out in a "moral victory" for Davis's team, but here's
the real message in this scripture.  You see, being God's choosed
people, we have the right to take other people's sheep and other
goods.  We can especially do this if they do not recognize that we are
far superior to them and bow at our feet and offer us anything we
want.  After all, we didn't kill them immediately upon arriving here,
did we?  Hell, we didn't even take their sheep without demanding them!
That's right!  And damn it, that's what it says in The Book!


-dennis

This important lesson has been taken from a sermon presented to a
local church.  It has been adapted to reflect modern christian
attitudes in the light of the everyday obvervasions by the writer.
All opinions expressed here are those of the writer, the poster, or
God himself (your choice of which particular god) and clearly not
those of the University of Houston. Support Services, The division of
IT or anyone else here at the University, its affiliates or employees
of said university, related departments or contractors...
--
Dennis Gray, Jr.                                        DGray@uh.edu
"You askin' to become a pile of zeros?  I could put you away so good
that Peter Norton couldn't find you with his arms unfolded."
			  - Lincoln Spector