Christian Teacher writes letter to school newspaper saying "Gays deserve to die"

[Zenith]

Their motto is "Think again?  I don't think so."

I don't think "religion" or "the bible" is the cause. I believe that even the most strict "bible-only" believer (or koran-only believer, for that matter) does not hold the book as the base for his belief system. What matters more is personal experience and socially accepted truth.

Personal experience: If a man lived through an experience that proved to him X, then, if he reads from his holy book that X is wrong, he would dismiss the verse. He would say to himself that the meaning of the verse is complicated, that it is beyond his understanding, etc. Basically, smth like: If the bible is true, the bible says that grass is purple, you look at grass and you see it green, then it means that you do not understand the true meaning of the verse in the bible. And you say that the grass is green, not purple.

Social truth: If the society / religious community the man lives in holds that "gay people deserve to die", then it matters little what says or what does not say in the holy book. People will find a way around it. If the religious community holds that "gay people should have the same civil rights as we do", then the holy book can even say "kill all gay people!" because people will find a logic around it. That's how you can get for example two religious communities, one that insists that faith healing is true and that God talks to them in their dreams, while other religious community states that that's bullshit. Either of the two communities will likely say about the other that "they're not true christians" because the others don't believe in the same "core" beliefs (core belief = beliefs defined by the community to be of critical importance)

I believe religions and belief in holy books are a cultural phenomenon. And the main reason people believe in a religion / god is because other people believe in that religion / god (social truth). And they believe that X is true less because it says so in the bible but because their community confirms (even imposes) that belief. Perhaps religious people have a good reason to insist that members should not keep away from the flock but always stick together, and some parents insist that their children must have friends only with children of believers: Otherwise they may fall from faith. Satan is hunting the believers who stray from the flock, doesn't he? Believers are more vulnerable away and alone than within a firm religious community.

But yes, the bible does have an effect upon the believers: It encourages them to believe that they have already found the truth, so there is no need (it's even dangerous) to investigate further - you only need to hold tight to whatever you already believe.