Sports F #fundie

Sports F #fundie answers.yahoo.com

Atheists, did you know God did NOT send a she bear to kill 42 kids?
I am tired of people taking this out of context.

First, off they were NOT children. They were young ADULTS.

Secondly, they were NOT killed. It never says they were killed in the proper translation. It just says they were mauled.

Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name.

63 comments

old comment by

2 Kings 2:23-25 (King James Version)

23And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.

25And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.

("tare" basically meaning "tore limb from limb")

EDIT: Also, there is a clear implication that "the LORD" is directly responsible for sending the bears, just as with everything else "the LORD" does. Also also, his question is already deleted.

old comment by

"First, off they were NOT children. They were young ADULTS."

That's not what the Bible says.
2 Kings 2:23-24: "and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."
Twice your Bible describes these people as "children." Are you correcting your "infallible, inerrant, inspired" book?

"Secondly, they were NOT killed. It never says they were killed in the proper translation. It just says they were mauled."

Being mauled by bears isn't a terribly enjoyable experience, and it could very well have proved fatal for these children if they didn't receive prompt medical attention (assuming, of course, that the story is true, which it probably isn't).

"Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name."

So what? If your god is so bloodthirsty, insecure, petty, and vindictive as to send bears to brutally attack young children who insult him, then he deserves to be mocked and cursed.

old comment by Typhon

"Atheists, did you know God did NOT send a she bear to kill 42 kids?"

IT'S THE QUESTION! Oh, no, wait... "How many kids did God send bears at?" - there we go.

"First, off they were NOT children. They were young ADULTS."

Ne'arim Ktanim - literally, small adolescents/youths/teenagers. VERY young adults, at best.

"Secondly, they were NOT killed. It never says they were killed in the proper translation. It just says they were mauled."

Heheh... Proper translation...
Well, my version says "tevakana". "Levakea" means "to split open"; "tevakana" is more or less "she split open". Have a bear "split open" a "small youth" and let's see what happens.
"Mauled" just doesn't seem to cut it - but why not, I'll humor you on this one.

"Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name."

No, stupid. And if "the proper translation" said that then shame on it, too. The youths (if calling them "youths" doesn't bother you) were either ridiculing Elisha's baldness, or, by some interpretations, telling him he ruined their business (of selling water to the city which had it's water-source restored by Elisha).

old comment by Horsefeathers

"First, off they were NOT children. They were young ADULTS."

2 Kings 2:23

(King James Version)
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.

(New American Standard Bible)
Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!"

(New Living Translation)
Elisha left Jericho and went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, a group of boys from the town began mocking and making fun of him. “Go away, baldy!” they chanted. “Go away, baldy!”

Sure doesn't look like they were "young adults" in any translation I can find. The closest I can find is when it's translated as "youths".

"Secondly, they were NOT killed. It never says they were killed in the proper translation. It just says they were mauled."

Oh, well then. That's just ever so much better isn't it?

"Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name."

You really do have a different version, don't you. Nowhere does it say they were mocking anyone but Elisha.

old comment by the_ignored

Well, as one can imagine, the fundies have their own spin on this. It's basically the first and third points the "Sports F" person was trying to make:

http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qmeanelisha.html

http://www.tektonics.org/af/callahanproph.html
He goes off on this:
Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My: Review of Preface and Introduction

What's this "trivial" business? Let's approach this from two directions. First, was this sin really just a trivial case of making fun of someone's bald head? Probably not. Natural baldness was a rarity in the ANE, and when done deliberately was a sign of shame (cf. Is. 3:17) or mourning (cf. Job 1:20). If Elisha was actually bald here, he was perhaps mourning the loss of his master Elijah - and perhaps, then, the "go on up" is a reference to the idea of Elijah's ascension, a suggestion that the event is doubted and that it is a charge that Elisha actually murdered his master and that his mourning is a sham. But whatever the case, here is the other direction: There is no such thing as a "trivial" sin in the eyes and presence of an infinitely holy God. This "ha ha, no big deal" approach to sin of any kind won't change the fact one whit that even the smallest sin is an infinite distance from infinite holiness. Who would worship such a God? Who would worship a god that was anything less than 100% holy?

I figure that Typhon and Horsefeathers do the best job of the commentators here of exposing this shit.

old comment by

/First, off they were NOT children. They were young ADULTS./

So what? It wouldn't have been any less horrible had they all been old and shriveled.

/Secondly, they were NOT killed. It never says they were killed in the proper translation. It just says they were mauled./

Oh, well, then THAT'S okay, then. Sorry, but I thought that being mauled would really hurt. A lot. Not to mention cause a lot of painful damage that would require serious medical care. And given the time in which this happened, how do we know that they didn't just die from their injuries while waiting to be healed?

/Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name./

No, they were mocking Elisha, the prophet, because he was bald. My grandfather is bald, and my brother and I have teased him about it lots of times. He's a grown man, he can handle it. What does it say about Elisha when he couldn't? And he was supposed to be God's prophet, of all things.

old comment by Anon-e-moose

"Atheists, did you know God did NOT send a she bear to kill 42 kids?
I am tired of people taking this out of context."

'Context'? Bollocks. If the Bible said it that way, the Bible meant it that way. Oh, and FYI, it was Elisha said kids were taking the piss out of, mainly his bald head). So who's taking the Bible out of context? Or have never read your Bible in the first place?

"Third, they were mocking GOD. They were cursing his name."

I refer you to your aforementioned error (and thus taking your own Bible out of context). God is an inferior cuntbag, cocksucking, bollock-licking, goat-sodomising, kiddy-diddling paedophile.

...

...still here. Must mean that your 'God' doesn't exist. You fail, but thanks for playing, Sports F.

Says so much about you as a 'True Christian', when Atheists know more about your Bible than you do, eh?

Sports F #fundie answers.yahoo.com

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