Interested to know more.
What you have to remember the bible is set in the Middle East…. This sort of shit still goes on there is some guises today - so 2000 years ago it was the cultural norm.
(Morse so the oppression of girls) not so much the child rape.
Not 100% sure but maybe somebody will know but “the age of consent“ is that a fairly recent thing (as in, in biblical terms“ because Moses leading the slaves from Egypt would have been what? 3500 years ago?
If it was a butterfly, then that would have made it a double abomination.
Firstly, butterflies are unclean. 
And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them. (Lv 20:16) 
So, if it’s the cultural norm, that makes it ok? 
Regardless of the belief of a God or not , the world would be much better if there wasnt a oneupmanship of which god is the better one.
I’m alright with people having faith… To the point of actual envy , I’d wish i have the faith that people seem to have… But i don’t.
It doesn’t make it ok.
But it’s like people sitting round in 3500 years time and discussing our cultural norms of today.
Some of which might still be considered the norm and other might be considered completely ridiculous.
The timing and the era it’s set provides a bit of context
The bible is man-made, thus you’ll find contradictions, idiocies, ruthless violence and ignorance, and also some highly intriguing and in part wonderful stories. What makes it worse, it was written by countless people over a period of thousands of years. It was re-written and re-re-written, and should be seen as a fascinating mish-mash of all kinds of testimonies, phantasms and stories, mingled with the obligatory politically correct added into the text throughout the centuries.
Anyone trying to take the bible by the word would end up in a psychiatric hospital. Same applies for the Koran or other big religious writings. Thus, people will select parts of their liking, and ignore the rest, as @Mascot said above.
What I also find interesting is that some seem to have lost their faith because they couldn’t conceal the idea of a loving God and the suffering of children. Well, who is to say that God is actually kind? I always tend to think that if there is something like a god, he must be far away from what we’d wish he was, more equal to life, or actually, life itself: wonderful and absolutely frightening at the same time.
Trying to impose a moral norm on life is very human, but not very Godly I’m afraid… 
Matter of fact: life is manyfold and contains cruelty and love, suffering and ecstasy at the same time. It’s in the fabric of the thing. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no divine force at work.
For me, if there is something like divinity, it is like a force, a magnetic field, an electric current, a water-stream. Something like that. Always with me, in a very impersonal way, but influencing me all the time, with a purpose. Of course, I’m far too ignorant to understand the full extent of that purpose and have to accept this.
Alternatively, there is nothing. Everything is just haphazard and completely devoid of any sense. 
Ye I think I fond the concept of after life there is nothing pretty hard to comprehend
But that’s exactly the point. You can’t and shouldn’t use a book that was written thousands of years ago as a moral guide to life today.
Why is religion is always given prominence as a moral authority in any issue? If you literally took your morality from the bible, you’d be sectioned.
Black Mirror: San Junipero.
I’m oversimplifying, but the theme is you can choose to rely on your personal faith of an afterlife, die an earthly death, whether it be intentional, sickness or otherwise; or choose to go artificially and forever be in a digital paradise afterlife of your choosing.
One of the main characters lost her family, she was faced with a moral decision: Possibly join her family again when she dies, or, choose to go early and be put in a forever paradise with a current lover.
The force of consciousness perhaps.
I wonder if tbe idea of after life or some form of paradise subconsciously guides our moral or ethical decision making?
If there is nothing thenthere is nothing to fear.
Thus, disbelief in the eternal kingdom makes decision to behave poorly irrelevant.
I like Penn Gillet’s stance on this. He considers there is no afterlife and so has raped and murdered all the people he’s ever wanted to. Currently zero in both cases. If you need belief in a celestial dictator to keep you in check, keep believing.
Also, regarding the afterlife. This is the only life that we actually know we have. There’s no evidence whatsoever of anything beyond the grave. Enjoy this one as best you can.
New to this thread. Looks like an opportunity for some fun discussion!
Personally, my views on religion were strongly influenced by reading Nietzche’s “Genealogy of Morals” in my 20s.
The bit that struck me was how religions have evolved throughout human history; from ancestor / nature sprit worship through polytheism to monotheism, etc.
Considering the evolution of religions in the same way we consider the evolution of species cemented my belief that these are man made stories that evolved with the telling.
It is also the only way I can make sense of all of the varied traits of many of the remaining successful religions (anti-gay, pro monogamy, anti contraception, very specific dietary advice, pro co-operation with others who share your beliefs, justification for ostracising / killing anyone that disagrees with you, etc, etc).
These traits don’t have to have a grounding in morality, all they have to be is successful at spreading that religion generation by generation (and helping the next generation be bigger than the last).
As others have pointed out in this thread, many of them no longer feel relevant to us in our modern life (an obvious, hopefully uncontensious, example being that there seems little reason to not eat pork or shellfish these days as neither pose a particular danger to health when fresh / well farmed / refrigerated).
The question this leads me to is: if religions cease to evolve and develop new successful traits will any of the olds ones survive the next few centuries?
It feels unlikely we will get any successful new religions in this age of communication and instant information and one of the most successful traits of existing religions seems to be strong restistance to change.
Are we slowly, but surely, moving towards a future where morality has no grounding in religion?
I don’t know the figures but my family’s church used to be packed on Sunday mornings. Big place, 800 people easy. Before covid they had less than 50. Churches will be closing quicker than pubs soon.
But can you comprehend an eternal afterlife?
In terms of human ability to comprehend things I think eternity is just as hard as nothingness.
I believe pre-life and after-life are exactly the same - a whole load of nothing or hopefully a return to an infinite consciousness.
Your life does not have to have a meaning or a reason to have taken place.
It just is.
I was musing on the human need for guidance and rules in order to operate. Eternal damnation for “bad” paradise for good.
I break the speed limit I am punished. What stops me driving fast is rules, not morals or ethics.
Thats a very trite example of how we live and how the prevailing constructs determine behaviours…
Maybe deep in the human psyche the need to believe in reward after death effects the moral compass?
Regarding the view that this is the only life we know that we actually have…probably a different debate!!
I have to disagree with this, mate. Repenting is truly feeling repentance from the core of your soul, heart, whatever we call it. It’s not impossible but I don’t think it is very likely that a rapist or a murderer can feel that with utmost honesty. My faith is based on an all-powerful, all-knowing and benevolent God making such decisions with perfect insight and judgement. Just saying “sorry” or accepting baptism (I’m a Christian, so I’ll stick with Christian beliefs here) with your final breath with the intent of escaping punishment won’t fool Him - at least in my opinion.
Him?
You’re not having Pascal’s wager then? I’ve argued till the very early hours over a huge amount of good red wine with Mrs’s deeply Christian uncle who’s firmly of the belief that Hitler would have been forgiven if truly sorry. Odd as he’s a thoroughly decent gent as well. His religion makes him a stark raving lunatic.
@BigJon Nice one