From what i understand it was acceptable, i don;t know if it was considered moral. Adultery is certainly part of our culture but we don't consider it moral.
Ozmo,
I think you need to read about "Greek pederasty". It was considered moral, very moral, and not by just a few Greeks, but by all of Greek civilisation for a long period of time. They even considered that the practice itself so "spiritual" moral and good that it was what separated them from Barbarians. Can you believe that?
These men who had sex with boys may have not felt any inkling of wrong doing becuase fo what their culture taught them. They also may have not been in any way in touch with God inside them.
Not all men had sex with boys....not all men commit adultery. So many people in this world, and i'm sure you'll agree, are so spiritually detracted. Probably wasn't much different then.
The entire civilization was out of touch with the god inside of them? How can that be? No, not all of them had sex with boys, but all of them thought it was moral and "beautiful", what separated them from barbarians.
I wouldn't believed it was moral becuase i would have saw the boys suffering.
How? How would you have seen the boys suffering? The act was specifically a one on one act. A mentor or teacher would take a little boy under his care, teach him morality and...have sex with him. How would you have witnessed the boys suffering unless you were the one having sex with the boy?
Are you saying that you are good, while they were all evil, everyone of them? Does this not contradict your belief that all humans are good and do not need forgiveness or a savior?
Remember not to confuse a small part of that culture with every man living in Greece at the time.
No, not a small part. It was all of Greece and for a long period of time that they believed the practice was "spiritual", good and moral.
i agree, that's why culture's progress, societies progress. That's what ultimately this Internet will do for the world.....help it progress. You remember 16th century Japan? Killing was normal. The value of life was viewed differently.
Progress? At that point in time, with such a civilized and advanced culture, I would call that regress, not progress.
Access wouldn't be the same as it is today and why would they want to? Why would they give any credit to it? Remember, not all religions are good, almost all have some truth in them, moral consistencies, but some have very few. In that culture, although they had access, base on their upbringing, environment, culture, the ordinary Greek wouldn't pay any mind to it.
This is where most christains are out of touch with reality. They think because it was around back then or even now that people have no excuse. Is that why you believe 80 billion will go to hell?
OzmO, I said that they had access to the Bible only in case the argument was made that they did not have access to it. Why would they want to have access to the Bible? They did want to, and they went through a whole lot of trouble to get access to the Bible. You need to read the "Letter of Aristeas" to get an idea of the trouble the Greeks went through to obtain the Bible. Once they finally had it translated, it was available at the Library of Alexandria, where Greek scholars, teachers, mentors, philosophers, religious leaders and all the people of influence had access to it.
Letter of Aristeas
http://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/aristeas.htmIt's not a little voice, it's more of a feeling. You need a book, written thousands of years ago that's full of manipulation, violence, etc... I guess, to tell you what's right and wrong, and i don't. I trust the voice of God and what God gave me, the sense of right and wrong, not someone else's interpretation which in organized religion is for the purpose of promoting and growing the said church.
Well, this book, the Bible, would have kept me from accepting such immoral practice as moral had I lived there in those days. The god inside the Greeks did not work. But the Bible had already established that such life style is immoral.
I don't need a scientific study to know when someone is suffering do you? (you asked for proof, so i said "scientific study", but real the proof is in the boy's suffering)
No, I don't need a scientific study to know when someone is suffering. But again, how would you have known boys were suffering in those days due to Greek pederasty? Unless you yourself were present in the act, either by participating or by witnessing it?
Also, how do you know a certain life style today is not going to create a "victim" or cause a person emotional trauma years down the road? In some cases, yes, scientific studies are needed to find out why all of a sudden a certain generation of people have damage of some kind, physical, emotional, etc. Some times it takes years to notice that people are suffering due to a certain practice, habit or life style. But when it comes to morality, I will not sit around and wait until a scientific study proves to me what is moral or what is immoral. I will go by what the Bible says. The Bible sets the moral standards and it is the final authority in my life.
OzmO, based on the above, I cannot share your beliefs without running into a dilemma. That is why I cannot rely on the little voice inside of me, or wait for culture to progress, or for scientific studies to tell me what is moral and what is immoral.
