No Stupid Questions

Why is the question in the title phrased that way? Its couched so many times I had a hard time understanding if I was browsing lemmy or a furniture store.

Lame jokes aside, this is an important question to ask but I think that some of your assumptions aren't totally true. You're on the right track in that you see that there are other traditions that may believe or uphold one thing or the other, but assuming the bible says one thing or another is not that helpful. If I asked multiple people what they thought about Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King Jr., Simon Bolivar, or John Lennon, I'm just going to get different answers. Heck, I would get different ideas of those people just by reading different biographies. It doesn't mean that there isn't a single set of facts that we're all working with, but that our experiences and knowledge (or what we know so far) are going to shape our perspective on anything and everything. As we learn more and experience more, our perspective may change as well.

Book, chapter, verse only gets you so far; the understanding of context and references and hyperlinks that the bible makes between the books are important to understanding why something is written there. The books that make up the bible were written at different times to different people going through different things, not to us, today. That doesn't mean it's irrelevant to us, but that we're not going to understand it as well if we're ignorant of that. If I flew to Japan and expected everyone to speak my language and adapt to my mannerisms it would be pretty rude and I would not have a productive experience. The books that make up the bible act as a singular work that points to everything that Jesus of Nazareth did. "A unifying story that leads to Jesus," to borrow a phrase from The Bible Project. The bible is not a golden list of rules handed down from on high. It is a series of writings from different people in vastly different circumstances all inspired by the God of Abraham, Israel, and Jacob. There are laws and there is advice, but it is ultimately a work to tell about the story of a God who spends a long time with all humanity to show them a better way to live, ultimately in becoming like we are to exemplify it Himself. What that means to you is up to you. To many people who don't seem to 'be going the whole way,' consider that to them they are going the whole way, it just may not look like it according to your tradition or perspective. They may very well be working out their faith and are doing their best. Ask them why they do or believe certain things, give them the benefit of the doubt, come to your own conclusions. The bible is huge and varied and at times reassuring and other confusing. It's fine. This wasn't written to or or for or about me, maybe I can't relate to some things, but that doesn't mean I can't still try to learn something from it.

I grew up in a very conservative, fundamental, protestant tradition. In some ways, it was unhelpful. In other ways, I'm glad I had it as a foundation. Learning and experiencing more as I grew helped me let go of a lot of unhelpful notions (i.e. the bible is a set of rules, there is only one right way to be a christian, everything is to and about me, etc.). Heck, it helped to just travel and learn more beyond the eurocentric idea that all that Christianity has ever been is catholics and protestants; to learn about Ethiopian orthodoxy, St. Thomas' churches in west India, various early churches, and more. It helps to give people the benefit of the doubt. Be curious, not judgmental. When you see someone worshipping in a different way, ask yourself why, ask them why. Don't assume them to be heretics on the spot. Life in general is more productive and interesting that way.

Sorry to rant, here's a meme for your dopameme.