Fixing the bible

[Brian37]

"Fixing" any ancient book of myth is merely marketing to stay relevant. Humans would do far better to be intellectually honest by giving up on bad claims. Questioning social norms is why women can now vote and blacks are no longer slaves.

Bolding added.

You'll get no argument from me. Tell it to the Christians and other myth-mongers.

Well I in that rightful statement we should also as atheist not delude ourselves in trying to attempt a godless utopia ourselves. I also warn atheists not to say "when we become a majority we will treat you better".

NO, even "atheist" is merely a position, not a moral code. I know atheists who want more insane tax cuts and deregulation which is nothing more than masturbating over the sweat shop slave wage mentality of India and China. I know other atheists who'd love to pull a Che revolution and set up Cuba. Neither appeal to me.

Religion is like a volcano, all religions, you cannot get rid of them, but you should not take your eyes off of them either. There are simply more dormant religions, for example, in the secular west because of the leash on it, and more active volcanos, such as far too much of the middle east has in dealing with Islam.

Times change over time and power shifts, that is why it is important to insist on common law and anti monopoly concepts.

[Chad32]

Your claimed head boss of a character is not elected to his office. Your head character of a boss cannot be voted out of office. Your head character of a boss does not need your consent to rule over you. Your head character also does not have to explain anything to you. Outside god claims, we call such characters dictators.

Congratulations, you worship a dictator.

...and who is the other canidate, satan?

Didn't really think that one through huh? Almost like it was just a involuntary out lashing based on emotion.

There are many other candidates. Vishnu of hinduism being one. And even if Satan was the only other candidate, so what? Why believe what an evil being says about someone who opposed that evil being? It doesn't say much about Satan when someone who committed genocide calls him evil. Usually when someone tries to overthrow a dictator, we don't take that dictator's word that he's evil.

[Crossless2.0]

Well I in that rightful statement we should also as atheist not delude ourselves in trying to attempt a godless utopia ourselves. I also warn atheists not to say "when we become a majority we will treat you better".

NO, even "atheist" is merely a position, not a moral code. I know atheists who want more insane tax cuts and deregulation which is nothing more than masturbating over the sweat shop slave wage mentality of India and China. I know other atheists who'd love to pull a Che revolution and set up Cuba. Neither appeal to me.

Religion is like a volcano, all religions, you cannot get rid of them, but you should not take your eyes off of them either. There are simply more dormant religions, for example, in the secular west because of the leash on it, and more active volcanos, such as far too much of the middle east has in dealing with Islam.

Times change over time and power shifts, that is why it is important to insist on common law and anti monopoly concepts.

Again, we are on the same page. I'm not a utopian, and I know that there is nothing prescriptive about atheism. I also disdain the polar extremes of Ayn and Che, but these are positions staked out by others in addition to their beliefs or lack thereof concerning gods.

[Drich]

There are many other candidates. Vishnu of hinduism being one. And even if Satan was the only other candidate, so what?

Wow.. Ok two things.. If God is the Alpha and Omega, Vishnu can not exist. Which in your orginal statment you indentified God as a dictator therfore real to you as far as this 'what if' is concerned. (Even though technically he would be ruling a theocracy and not a dictatorship.) And two, you would vote for satan to rule over you???

Why believe what an evil being says about someone who opposed that evil being? It doesn't say much about Satan when someone who committed genocide calls him evil. Usually when someone tries to overthrow a dictator, we don't take that dictator's word that he's evil.

Well, then may i suggest that you embrace Hell. Isn't it your understanding that he rules that realm?

[DramaQueen]

YHWH and Jesus to me are like vishnu to you

[Chad32]

There are many other candidates. Vishnu of hinduism being one. And even if Satan was the only other candidate, so what?

Wow.. Ok two things.. If God is the Alpha and Omega, Vishnu can not exist. Which in your orginal statment you indentified God as a dictator therfore real to you as far as this 'what if' is concerned. (Even though technically he would be ruling a theocracy and not a dictatorship.) And two, you would vote for satan to rule over you???

Why believe what an evil being says about someone who opposed that evil being? It doesn't say much about Satan when someone who committed genocide calls him evil. Usually when someone tries to overthrow a dictator, we don't take that dictator's word that he's evil.

Well, then may i suggest that you embrace Hell. Isn't it your understanding that he rules that realm?

Yahweh claims to be the alpha and omega. The only one. Proof of these claims has yet to arise. As for Satan, I'd like to meet him as much as Yahweh. The only thing I know about him, assuming he exists for this hypothetical, is that he opposed Yahweh and Yahweh accuses him of being evil. The guy that kills people for things other people did, and wiped out civilizations for not worshiping him thinks someone is evil. Yeah that sounds like a trustworthy source of information.

I will go where I will go. I can't be ordered to love someone, and I can't willingly accept the things I'm expected to accept in the bible, so there isn't much I can do about it.

[Drich]

Wow.. Ok two things.. If God is the Alpha and Omega, Vishnu can not exist. Which in your orginal statment you indentified God as a dictator therfore real to you as far as this 'what if' is concerned. (Even though technically he would be ruling a theocracy and not a dictatorship.) And two, you would vote for satan to rule over you???


Well, then may i suggest that you embrace Hell. Isn't it your understanding that he rules that realm?

Yahweh claims to be the alpha and omega. The only one. Proof of these claims has yet to arise. As for Satan, I'd like to meet him as much as Yahweh. The only thing I know about him, assuming he exists for this hypothetical, is that he opposed Yahweh and Yahweh accuses him of being evil. The guy that kills people for things other people did, and wiped out civilizations for not worshiping him thinks someone is evil. Yeah that sounds like a trustworthy source of information.

I will go where I will go. I can't be ordered to love someone, and I can't willingly accept the things I'm expected to accept in the bible, so there isn't much I can do about it.

... So killing people is a unforgivable thing in your book?
If so, What is one to do with a people who's culture is centered around killing God's people?

Remember Death to God is not our end. Death is our birth into the eternal realm in which He resides. our death here forces a recokning with God on the otherside of this life.

---

YHWH and Jesus to me are like vishnu to you

What I said, is if one presupposes that God of the bible exists, then vishnu can not.

[Chad32]

Killing people for frivolous things like "they're not paying enough attention to me", or "His dad or grandfather did something bad", is something that sociopaths do. The idea that Yahweh has a chosen group of people among Humans is also suspicious, if he created everyone. Especially since there were better groups of people than the isrealites/jews at the time.

A benevolent solution would be to try to fix society so that it can grow and prosper. Not wiping out parts of humanity so that more loyal groups can take their stuff. Including their young girls for raping.

[pocaracas]

Remember Death to God is not our end. Death is our birth into the eternal realm in which He resides. our death here forces a recokning with God on the otherside of this life.

Do you have any idea of how many eons of wishful thinking this represents?

Yes, I'd like for my conscience to go on after death.... since it obviously doesn't go on in any tangible way, then "the other side", "the eternal realm" and other such keywords have been coined throughout the ages to help with coping with the inevitable death or ourselves and our loved ones.

[Tonus]

In short hitler rewrote the bible. He did cut out and burned the OT. He changed the dynamic of christianity to serve his germany.

All he did was recognize that he could use religious faith to further his political goals; by presenting himself as a devout Christian, he would make himself more appealing to the Christian population. Hitler made it pretty clear that he felt that a mass of people could be pretty easily manipulated by propaganda if it was packaged and presented in a specific way. It didn't matter if his claims were outrageous lies-- as long as he hit the right emotional notes, the crowd would follow.

He didn't just do this with religion, of course. His message initially and primarily was about restoring national pride and getting back at the people who had sold the nation out in the first world war. But he knew that the population was heavily religious, and he knew that he could use that religious devotion as a tool to help him achieve his aims. I think it is notable that he used religion in exactly the same way he used nationalism and in a similar way to how he used racism. And it had exactly the effect that he intended, too.