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[Graknorke]

Or is it just the fact that Jesus himself followed the OT that makes it so?

That's what I thought. Either OT Yahweh was right, or Jesus was right; when you get to separating the OT and NT. And seeing as Jesus talks about Old Yahweh like he exists, it kind of makes it difficult to separate the two.

[Thecard]

But doesn't the existence of other Abrahamic traditions do the very same thing? After all, the fact that Christians don't recognize the Quran doesn't suggest the infallibility of God, despite the fact that's the very same god. Or is it just the fact that Jesus himself followed the OT that makes it so?
But Christians don't even follow the OT to the degree Jesus did. D:

That's the thing.  Most Christians say that Muslim's worship a different God.  They don't.  Saying that is like saying the Jews worship a different God.  All three worship the same God, but Muslims believe Mohammed was a prophet, and Christians believe Christ is God's son.
Jews are just kinda cynical. 

But the books are written by men, not by God.  They are inspired by him, yes, but he isn't really penning or dictating.  I believe Jesus is more correct than Moses.
That does not, however, mean that we should disregard the Old Testament.  It's important, and tells a story.

[fqllve]

I don't think we should disregard the Old Testament as it's very historically important. I just don't think its model is very consonant with modern society. As the record of a people I can understand why those people would uphold it, as it is deeply tied into their cultural identity, but it seems strange to me to me that Christians would use it in the basis of their beliefs when it seems only to be holding them back from the message of their religion. The commandments were not particularly moral proscriptions and they are applied haphazardly, so why keep them?

Especially, like you said, the books were merely inspired by God, it seems easy to distance yourself from it. I know Jesus said something to the effect of "I come not to abolish the Torah but to fulfill it," but I know I could do some verbal legwork and say that fulfillment has satisfied the commandments and they no longer need apply. I'm pretty sure I've seen something similar done before.

[Thecard]

I'm sure you could.
Jesus said the laws could really be summed up as: love God as the only god, and don't be a dick to others.
'Course, I'm paraphrasin' here.

But yeah, I don't actually follow the laws Moses established, I follow the laws Jesus gave us.  The two are just pretty much the exact same thing.

This isn't an entirely shared belief among Christians, of course.  I honestly believe I could not find another person with my exact same beliefs, no matter how hard I tried.  He speaks to us in different ways.

[Micro102]

The laws Jesus gave us? Which ones? The one telling you to not keep any savings because god will provide everything you need? The one that says do not use idols? Or how about how he says that all the laws of the old testament still stand, which advocates slavery and intolerance.

You don't follow Jesus' laws, you follow laws you like and that fit your idea of a good society. And you should do that.

[Scoops Novel]

Outside europe, is christianity being replaced by what came before it?

[Scoops Novel]

Christinanity would also have more of a following if they tried to be historically accurate, as far as possible with religion anyway. Stained glass window's still annoy me.

[XXSockXX]

Outside europe, is christianity being replaced by what came before it?

Is it anywhere?
Christianity is growing in Africa and Asia. In the Americas it's still going strong, there is just a shift away from catholicism to evangelical cults in South America.
In Europe and the former Soviet Union it is mostly replaced by atheism or non-religiousness (not the same thing). Neo-pagans are just a tiny tiny minority, probably because most neo-pagan movements lack any sort of historical sources and because (at least in Europe) people don't exchange one superstition for another so easily.

[Wolfy]

The laws Jesus gave us? Which ones? The one telling you to not keep any savings because god will provide everything you need? The one that says do not use idols? Or how about how he says that all the laws of the old testament still stand, which advocates slavery and intolerance.

You don't follow Jesus' laws, you follow laws you like and that fit your idea of a good society. And you should do that.

Jesue never says they still stand, he says that the old cove net is replace by the new covenant, but the idea still stands basically
some things change (No need for sacrifices, foods are now clean, we are now called to be SERVENTS of evrey onbe else and be kind to all etc *)

*thats the BASI of how most read in to it, not evrey one dose.

Btw slavrey back then is VASTLY diffident form now days and the OT even tells masters to TAKE care of their slaves, and not to treat them bad

Once again many pepole read "wome submit to your husbands, dont read the next part that says man do the same and to love their wifes and treat them fair

they see slavrey dont see where God pretty much makes them pepole who live at your house you take care of and they follow your orders.

[Helgoland]

there is just a shift away from catholicism to evangelical cults in South America

Damn heretics

Seriously though: I believe having a centralized and relatively uniform religion is beneficial for the state and for the people - if they must have a religion (and they must, just look at the history of the USSR), it should, well, be kept under control.
I'd rather have as leadership one senile person in Rome than a hundred little mad autocratic gurus.

[Scoops Novel]

Wolfy, no need to randomly capitalize. People read it as you yelling out a word rather then simply placing emphasis.

[Wolfy]

Really? why is that? 

Sorry, I'm not even going to pretend its not going to be a hard habit to break, i just did it twice already.

How would you put emphasis then?

[XXSockXX]

Seriously though: I believe having a centralized and relatively uniform religion is beneficial for the state and for the people

There is the theory that this is one reason for the difference in religion between Europe and the US. If the religion is as institutionalized and mainstream as in Europe, you have to be anti-church if you are in any way anti-establishment or against the current authority. Most european states have much less separation of church and state than the US has, which results in largely secular people, while the US has a very secular constitution with more religious people.
Actually I see how that benefits the people  .

[fqllve]

Btw slavrey back then is VASTLY diffident form now days and the OT even tells masters to TAKE care of their slaves, and not to treat them bad

Once again many pepole read "wome submit to your husbands, dont read the next part that says man do the same and to love their wifes and treat them fair

they see slavrey dont see where God pretty much makes them pepole who live at your house you take care of and they follow your orders.

Wow, I'm not really the kind of person to criticize someone's spelling, but presumably you're a Christian and you misspelled Jesus's name. Please consider using spellcheck.

Really, that is an extremely idealized view of slavery. They were still seen as property, and they still had no freedom. The master was advised by the book to take care of them, but that doesn't mean they were actually treated that way. The best degree of protection the OT gave was that a slave who was sufficiently injured by his master was set free. Reread that, because that is not an ideal situation by any means.

I mean, it's not like we sit here and say "You know indentured servitude really wasn't all that bad."

How would you put emphasis then?

Italics, -hyphens-, or /slashes/.

Although I find caps to be acceptable for heavy emphasis.

[Helgoland]

ALSO, PLEASE NOTE THAT EMPHASIS IS ALWAYS SEEN RELATIVE TO THE REST OF THE TEXT!

(Why didn't I use Capslock for that? Hmmm...)