blauSamstag wrote:
Do we want to discuss the tale of Onan? Because I love explaining to christians - especially catholics - that Onan was killed not for wasting sperm but for being an as*hole to someone he had stewardship over. And further that the tale of Onan implies both that prostitution is A-OK and that the one form of birth control that the catholic church doesn't have a problem with is the one form of birth control Onan used.
Onan's sin was tantamount to attempted murder. In those days, the Hebrews (Onan was just a step or two down from the patriarchs) didn't have the same concept of the afterlife that the Jews of Jesus' time and later Christians had. For them, the extinction of a male bloodline meant the complete and total death and non-existence of that person, so it was important that his name lived on after him. What Onan did highly dishonorable not merely to himself, but to his brother who did not produce children with Tamar. In the context of that day and time, Onan just as well tried to posthumously kill him.
It's not a thumbs-up for prostitution, btw. I don't know where you get that idea. What Tamar did was deceitful and wrong. It also shows the fallibility of the patriarchs, especially since Judah had a taste for prostitutes (yeah, like we're supposed to believe that was the first time he ever did that?). In the end, however, he got what he deserved. The Bible doesn't ever endorse prostitution. But the Bible doesn't whitewash the facts, either. If someone had carnal knowledge of a prostitute (or someone posing as one), the Bible simply and plainly mentions that it happened. It's like if you watch the evening news or read the paper and there's a report of a burglary or a murder, would you infer that the newspaper or news program is endorsing burglary or murder?