From: ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata - FSO)
Subject: Re: Off Topic Topic
Keywords: maytag_repairmen?
Organization: HFS, Inc., McLean VA
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 03:03:13 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.164444.9627@walter.bellcore.com> kenl@origami.cc.bellcore.com (Ken Lehner) writes:
>In article <1992Nov8.033306.18807@hfsi.uucp>, ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata - FSO) writes:
>|> In article <n0d99t@ofa123.fidonet.org> David.Rice@ofa123.fidonet.org writes:
>|> 
>|> >DR> I do not consider Christians my enemy. I do, though,
>|> >DR> consider Christianity my enemy. A greater evil one
>|> >DR> would be hard pressed to find.
>|> > 
>|> >This is why Christianity so loves perverting sexuality, and
>|> >making it something dirty and evil: they say that sex outside
>|> >of marriage is "a sin," yet what if someone doesn't want to
>|> >be married? Or is already married elsewhere? This guilt results
>|> >in repression, which can cause a great deal of harm by being
>|> >expressed in negative forms---- forms which in turn the individual
>|> >is made to feel guilty about!
>|> 
>|> You have made the case for seeing Christianity as perverting
>|> sexuality.  May I present an alternate viewpoint?  Let us say that
>|> I buy something like a dishwasher.  With it comes an instruction
>|> manual that tells me how to load it, tips for arranging the dishes
>|> in an optimum way for cleaning, which settings to use and under
>|> what circumstances, etc.  Now I can look at the instruction manual
>|> and say, "This is just a bunch of meaningless regulation, I do not
>|> want to be confined by it" and proceed to operate the dishwasher
>|> in a manner contrary to the instruction mannual.  At best, the
>|> dishes won't come out very clean, at worst I could break the
>|> dishwasher.  And who was to blame?
>|> 
>|> Now Christianity sees human sexuality as a gift from God with the
>|> purposes of procreation and the expression of love between a man
>|> and woman.  It also includes a set of guidelines.  I suggest that
>|> one shouldn't look at the guidelines as inhibiting natural or
>|> creative behaviour, but as instructions for making the full use of
>|> this precious gift of God.  Taken in that light, it does not seem
>|> as threatening or unnatural.
>|> 
>
>(Hey, I'm disagreeing with the validity of his argument.  Does that allow
>me to continue this thread in sci.skeptic?)
>
>Oh, please.  I see a major problem with your argument; namely, you assume
>that the Christian description of and guidelines for human sexuality are
>like the dishwasher's instruction manual, in that each came from the
>manufacturer.  As far as I know, humans have not been given an instruction
>manual; rather, we've been given the tools (our brain, our senses, etc.)
>to figure out how it works ourselves.  A better analogy would be to use a
>dishwasher instruction manual written by your favorite religious leader.
>I'd rather investigate how the dishwasher works, try some experiments
>(carefully, of course), talk to others who've had dishwashers and had
>success with them, and see what best works for me.

It certainly is a Christian belief that God is the manufacturer.  It is also
the belief that the "instruction manual" came from Him.
-- 
John G. Ata - Technical Consultant | Internet:  ata@hfsi.com
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