Stupidest 'sin'

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I find all dietary laws ridiculous in an age of refrigeration but I find this takes the cake:

http://boltwolf.tripod.com/id52.html

It's not so much because it's a prohibition on hair cutting, they have that in Sikhism too, but with them it applies to both sexes. In Sikhism and Rastafarianism, it's like, 'grow your hair as a spiritual journey because hair is a gift from God'. In Islam, it's more like, 'women, don't cut your hair because we say so and because you'll go to hell if you do!

Though, if you read that website I posted, that guy's page about homosexuality was interesting and surprisingly thoughtful.

Another 'sin' I find ridiculous is prohibitions on masturbation.

I think 'haircuts lead to hell' still wins, though.

Last edited by puddingmouse on 07 Apr 2011, 5:26 pm, edited 2 times in total.

The most ridiculous sin is the ban on mixed thread fabric. How the hell else is one supposed to keep one's knickers up without elastic?

Last edited by MotherKnowsBest on 07 Apr 2011, 5:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Reminds me of primary school; if you don't obey this obviously arbitrary, cumbersome instruction without question, you will be punished. Its a great way to breed idiots.

I forgot that one.

You win.

That law is truly stupid.

From what I recall, Onan's sin was not actually masturbation, but rather denying to continue the bloodline. Also, the book stated it was more coitus interruptus than doing that.

EDIT: I am an exception. I did it accidentally my first time, it is not a sin because it was not a willful act.

Last edited by HerrGrimm on 07 Apr 2011, 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

The mix of material is called Shatnez and consists of linen or wool sown, knit, or corded together.

ruveyn

Don't forget about the sins JUST BY THINKING ABOUT IT...like coveting someone or something like that. I was so scared when I was in Catholic grade school...

If I understand that correctly, certain types of mixtures represent holy things, such as the material from which the coverings of the tabernacle and the curtains of the temple were made. Those mixtures were reserved for holy things and not to be made for common use. The same prohibition was made regarding a specific preparation of incense. Incense itself was not off limits, but rather a specific preparation or similar preparation to that offered in the Holy Place.

That was what I was taught about Onan.
And not a willful act? A likely story!

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Yup, I'm with you on the supposed masturbation ban - which, agreed, doesn't appear to be explicitly mentioned anywhere in the Bible, but does crop up medieval lists of Church penances.

When you find there's a human activity that:
- provides sexual pleasure and release without the risk of unwanted pregnancy, STDs or the emotional damage of sleeping with the wrong people
- helps you discover your body's responses, and so can improve your future sexual relationships (and which, in women, vastly increases your chances of experiencing any pleasure with a partner)
- in women, helps relieve period cramps
- in men, may possibly reduce the risk of prostate cancer in the absence of other sexual opportunities
- relieves stress and helps you sleep
....and you're told that God doesn't like it, you really have to wonder what kind of God you're dealing with.

As many people have noted before, most of these rules are about sex for reproductive purposes only, about women as breeding property, and about men's obligation to use that property for its (sic) intended purpose. The ones that aren't, are mostly about 'don't do what those dirty heathen foreigners do'. Modern considerations of relationships did not come into it, and anyone who says they do is trying to modernize rules which apply to a totally different era and mindset.

The idea of women as property and sex only for breeding purposes is exaggerated and never intended to be the norm. An unfortunate fact of ancient life was that women were considered property. The OT Bible recognizes this inequity and gives women within Israelite society certain rights to offset these practices.

Masturbation is merely shown to be improper and causing ritual impurity, just like normal sex. Onan's sin wasn't even masturbation, but rather disobedience to God and refusing to continue the survival of his brother's name through children. Men who "had an emission in the night" were just simply unclean and just needed to bathe and wash their clothes. They would only be unable to "enter the assembly," no different than if they had sex with their wives. Abstaining from sex was a normal observance during holy days and going off to war. Without women and being forbidden from "detestable practices," it is not surprising that anyone would "have an emission." But that only means they had to sleep in a reserved place outside the camp for a time, and that doesn't preclude them from military operations.

As a sin, that is something that has been misunderstood and misused over the years by various Christian denominations. While it is perfectly acceptable to view masturbation as improper culturally, this is a "law of man" and not a "law of God."

Onan was supposed to get his brother's wife with child.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levirate_marriage

ruveyn

It looks like some Jews still do that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_Leah

And a Jew who refuses to redeem his relative's widow becomes known as "the man with one shoe."

The whole "tabernacle instructions" part of the Bible mystifies me.
I can't find a way that this passage can co-exist with mainstream beliefs about the nature of the Christian god.
It fits the whole god-is-a-spaceman theory pretty well, though.
Also reminds me a bit of the Wizard of Oz...."Pay no attention to the man behind the carefully-measured curtain!"

Gossiping is a sin too apparently. I know that gossiping is bad but it's human nature to talk about what's going on around you. *shrug* I said this to a girl in middle school and she started to cry saying she was going to hell. I don't think God (of any religion or spirituality) cares about what you talk about at the water cooler.