(July 3, 2015 at 4:01 pm)whateverist Wrote: Oh my, and here I thought it was only xtians who liked showing up here and insisting we abide by their definition of what we claim to believe. She is suggesting an intelligent, allegorical reading of the bible. Nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned. If it were possible for more xtians raised in stupid, literal traditions to move in her direction I would count it as a win for everyone. Gawd knows there are many, many more fundies than intelligent xtians. This is a good thing, not a categorical mistake.
Anyway, I don't hear her suggesting that there would be any advantage to us as atheists in adopting her views. I'm not tempted but I count her as a peer and a well developed person.
My definition? That isn't my definition. It's the consensual definition of both christians and non-christians alike. Christians believe in Christ. Period. That's the absolute minimum for the title. Even the other Christians are getting pissy about it. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but it IS their word. They kind of have a right.
An intelligent reading of the bible yields that it is a piece of bronze age fiction. The stories are mostly not allegories, but myths and parables. The meanings are not hidden or symbolic. The bible means exactly what it says it does: Jehovah is God, Jesus is his son, and the Bible itself is the infallible word of said God. Any reading that doesn't yield this meaning is a misrepresentation (deliberate or otherwise) of the text.
Verbatim from the mouth of Jesus (retranslated from a retranslation of a copy of a copy):
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. How can you see your brother's head up his ass when your own vision is darkened by your head being even further up your ass? How can you say to your brother, 'Get your head out of your ass,' when all the time your head is up your own ass? You hypocrite! First take your head out of your own ass, and then you will see clearly who has his head up his ass and who doesn't." Matthew 7:1-5 (also Luke 6: 41-42)
Also, I has a website: www.RedbeardThePink.com
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you too will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. How can you see your brother's head up his ass when your own vision is darkened by your head being even further up your ass? How can you say to your brother, 'Get your head out of your ass,' when all the time your head is up your own ass? You hypocrite! First take your head out of your own ass, and then you will see clearly who has his head up his ass and who doesn't." Matthew 7:1-5 (also Luke 6: 41-42)
Also, I has a website: www.RedbeardThePink.com
