Cherry picking. People have their preconceived morals and pick and choose their favorite commandments.

Words are mental markers and living, societal art to attempt to clarify definition for the sake of communication.

We barely understand the shit we say to each other in our own english about philosophy, what makes anyone think that books, penned from multiple authors, mixed in with cut up versions of folk tales, written in dead languages whose colloquialism we will never understand, could ever be clear?

To insinuate that anything in the bible is clear is a load of bull honkey.

This is why they are able to justify any position that they might want to take. The same with the Koran These books do not protect women or populations as you can find actions to wipe out whole countries. What gets me is that they pretend to be so much better than everyone else because they are Christian!

Lol. People are hypocritical.

It's the cherry picking that gets me, too, most angry about xtianity. After that comes the vicarious sacrifice thing -- at no stage of my religious life did I accept that burning something could expiate sin.

I know there are some xtian organizations that promote justice for immigrants, but why does all of xtianity not rise up in defense of these strangers in a strange land? How many xtian plague deaths could have been avoided if they observed the rules of ritual bathing and other OT public health edicts? Why are their no xtian organizations looking for houses that don't have fences around the roofs? Kids still fall of roofs, you know.

But to answer some of the original letter writer's questions:

The gay thing is an admonishment against serial pederasty ("man" with "men" ) and the term "abomination" tends to indicate a health risk. Note that cross-dressing and bestiality are prohibited to both men and women, but the gay thing is not. As to the shellfish thing, there's abomination again. Some animals are just unclean. But some are abominations -- what do you think would happen after eating clams carried across a desert for three days?

The Sabbath is a promise to fromer slaves that they could have a day off. The only recorded theocratic execution of an Israelite in the wilderness was of a guy getting firewood on Saturday -- in other woods, the workers had a "scab" brought to justice.

Cotton / poly blends are not a violation of "garments of mingled stuff." It has to be wool/cotton or any other two natural fibers.

Dear Penultimate,
Far be it from me to call anybody out, but you seem to be recirculating the letter originally written by a gentleman named Kent Ashcraft to Dr. Laura Schlessinger (https://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/drlaura.asp) and widely distributed via the internet since then. So that our fellow members can judge, here's the orginal text, as quoted on Snopes.

"Dear Dr. Laura, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them. a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians? e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die? i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves? j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging. Your devoted disciple and adoring fan."

Not that it isn't hilarious stuff, but we should give credit where credit's due.
--Your friend, Paul.

Why even debate that nonsense in the first place. I get my inspiration from Winnie the Poo, which at least is rational. I think arguing about the bible is not even productive in the slightest way. I do however like to challenge belief which changes with every goal the pious have in any given situation. It is the outcome of their belief that needs to be challenged.

Bible quotes literally turn my brain off. That book is such shit from beginning to end and quoting from it in order to try and prove a point is so pointless. So thanks for your post and it's funny about Canadians, but I find bible quotes so infantile that I hardly even see any humor in them anymore.

Let's get something straight here. First, we're talking about the Abrahamic god thing, but all other religions, past and present, have had proscriptions and admonitions about human behavior. Much of it is consistent across the board. There is a reason for that.

Step back deep time into the evolutionary path and take a look. Our early ancestors lived in small groups of between 15 and 20 individuals. These groups were primarily all related to one another (OMG! Incest.) Occasionally they would encounter other groups and some gene swapping took place if there were any survivors. These were the hunter gatherer groups of the African savanna. Males dominated the clan.

Because we're talking deep time here, mindsets develop and become almost a hardwired function. As we became capable of abstract thought, we invented agency for everything inexplicable. That is to say, we invented the supernatural, the gods, the things that go bump in the night. Who is this 'we' I'm talking about. Men, that's who. Long before we left the savanna, male dominance and the mindsets that go along with it, we had established the pecking order.

Men made up the stories. Men dictated the taboos. Men decided what was 'right' and what was 'wrong'. Oh, I'm pretty sure there was some input from the female side as well, but men would be loathe to admit that. All this was also subject to deep time and after a while the mortar set. Not quite solid, but very stiff.

So, what does all this mean? It means that men created the gods and men wrote the 'holy scribbles'. Everything you read in the bible is a product of deep time and ignorance. Therefor, what you presented here is not a dilemma at all. A rational person would expect the bible, or any other religious writing, to be a hodge podge of disconnected ideas that have no continuity. The theme would be reasonably consistent, but the details would scatter everywhere and it is not surprising then to find contradiction and conflict.

No dilemma. Just the result of man's slow climb in intellect being essentially halted by the codification of rigid rules wherein few of them are actually applicable in today's world.

It just shows how females were regarded back then, as mere chatels to be bought and sold even if they were your own flesh and blood.

The Bible has so many contradictions that it takes improbable conjecture and contorted logic to try and reconcile them.

because its okay to ignore the ones people don't agree with anymore

Ha! This is great, love it.

Its just cherry picking plain and simple: gays make them uncomfortable therefore I choose to follow that one.
And by the way Canadian make lousy slaves its a good way to get your White House burnt down.