(May 8, 2022 at 11:09 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote:

(May 8, 2022 at 9:03 am)Ahriman Wrote: Why would the authors of the Bible be interested in manipulating anyone?

Because religion is all about control!

And also about power.

(May 9, 2022 at 5:37 pm)Secular Elf Wrote:

(May 8, 2022 at 11:09 am)zebo-the-fat Wrote: Because religion is all about control!

And also about power.

When you live in a World where 250 out of 1,000 live births perish in the first year of life and another 250 perish before puberty, is not religious faith understandable?

(May 9, 2022 at 5:40 pm)Jehanne Wrote:

(May 9, 2022 at 5:37 pm)Secular Elf Wrote: And also about power.

When you live in a World where 250 out of 1,000 live births perish in the first year of life and another 250 perish before puberty, is not religious faith understandable?

1/2 dead by puberty is a shit qualification on the resume of any supposed supreme being....

(May 9, 2022 at 5:42 pm)onlinebiker Wrote:

(May 9, 2022 at 5:40 pm)Jehanne Wrote: When you live in a World where 250 out of 1,000 live births perish in the first year of life and another 250 perish before puberty, is not religious faith understandable?

1/2 dead by puberty is a shit qualification on the resume of any supposed supreme being....

Or maybe those people would've grown up to be useless assholes and the world is better off without them? We already have enough useless assholes as it is.

(May 9, 2022 at 5:45 pm)Ahriman Wrote:

(May 9, 2022 at 5:42 pm)onlinebiker Wrote: 1/2 dead by puberty is a shit qualification on the resume of any supposed supreme being....

Or maybe those people would've grown up to be useless assholes and the world is better off without them? We already have enough useless assholes as it is.

Indeed.

(May 9, 2022 at 5:45 pm)Ahriman Wrote:

(May 9, 2022 at 5:42 pm)onlinebiker Wrote: 1/2 dead by puberty is a shit qualification on the resume of any supposed supreme being....

Or maybe those people would've grown up to be useless assholes and the world is better off without them? We already have enough useless assholes as it is.

You sound like an authority on the subject.....

(May 8, 2022 at 6:48 pm)Green Diogenes Wrote: I never made that claim, I did however make the claim that the Flat Earth movement, in the modern incarnation, originated in the 19th century in the USA, and emerged out of a culture which had known the Earth was a sphere for about 2200 years.

I did make the claim that Young Earth Creationism emerged in the 19th century USA, but I should say I mean the mainstream Christian branch of Young Earth Creationism which is predominant in the  western world today. I don't mean the Islamic YEC which is more globally relevant, and much older. I don't mean previous forms of YEC invented throughout history. The mainstream scientific view before that I also exclude, as while it predicted a younger earth than current models, it did not adhere to the 7000 year old Earth of the Young Earth Creationism movement.

One of the founding myths of the New Atheist movement is that all Christians always believed in the literal reading of the Bible -- talking snakes, flat earth, etc. -- until the 19th century or so, when science showed that such things couldn't be true. Then, according to the myth, Christians had to invent metaphorical readings or "sophisticated" theology to jury-rig explanations not contradicted by science. 

This myth is false, but strongly held by some atheist members of this forum. 

As you know, challenging people's fondly-held myths gets a strong reaction.