Did Ayn Rand misundestand the Bible?
This is not related to evolution or whether there is a God.This is about big wide brushes. A statements like I am my brother's keeper is it's self a misquote. The real words are Am I my brother's keeper? It is a sarcastic question by a murderer. Another verse is taken out of context when Jesus tells a rich man to give away all his wealth. He didn't tell him to because he was wealthy. He did it because he knew that man could not give anything. Jesus had a friend that was rich. That man offered a burial place for Jesus at the end of his life.The verse is followed by it is easier to for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. Do you know anyone with children that does not take care of their children even though they have money? They exist. The Bible is not just one verse, it is many. It is a a guide to living getting along with others, raising a family, and looking at things.
Of course, we all know people often criticize a single line or verse while missing the general context, so Ayn wouldn't be alone in this respect.
My only defense here - and this is just coming off cuff - is that, to me, she didn't mis-understand the religious *impulse.* Most of what I heard or read from her about religion was, for the most part, aligned with what I was taught in terms of theme or underlying ethos.
But then again, I wasn't *raised* in a church per se, so I can see how somebody with more in-depth knowledge would be like "Whoaaa...that's not right."
To be fair, people misquote (and misrepresent) Rand all the time too though - create bogus myths and what not - It's part of the game I guess, especially ONLINE where people don't even read the original person before getting hyper-opinionated, you know?
Good insight though @rlewellen
Peace,
+B
Now there are a few that are close to stand alone e.g. the commandments and the law, but even the law has commentaries on it.
You established your point well and soundly
Observe the sequence of events:
Cain murders his brother Abel.
God appears to Cain and asks him where his brother is.
Cain responds rhetorically, disavowing responsibility for his brother.
God condemns Cain, accusing him of murder and lying.
Clearly this story is not meant to imply that men are always responsible for the well-being of others, but rather is simply a straightforward condemnation of murder.
Perception : Man’s senses are his only direct cognitive contact with reality and, therefore, his only source of information. Without sensory evidence, there can be no concepts; without concepts, there can be no language; without language, there can be no knowledge and no science. I cannot find any place in the Bible where there are directions on how to acquire information through the senses. The role of man's mind. The rest will take quite a bit of time, days or weeks perhaps for me to give you a valuable answer.
Regarding this verse, it's important to realize that "keeper" essentially means "master." After all, if one man is the keeper of another, that would essentially mean he is the other man's master, while a man who is kept by another is either a servant or a slave. By claiming that he was not his brother's keeper, Cain was disavowing responsibility for -- and ownership of -- his brother. You cannot be responsible for someone you do not own and are not in charge of.
Personally, I always thought it was rather interesting that God never corrected Cain by saying that he was in fact his brother's keeper, but rather merely proceeded to accuse Cain of murder and lying...
Regarding the verse about the camel going through the eye of the needle, there's a rather healthy debate even among Christians as to what the phrase actually means.
http://www.biblicalhebrew.com/nt/camelne...