I don't have any problem with someone wanting to live a righteous, straight and narrow, by-the-book type of life. I don't have a problem with people being spiritual or even with people believing in things that are not true. I have no problem with people valuing faith, even if I think faith is useless. I do have a problem with people teaching scientifically inaccurate things to their children and convincing those children these things are true and that, furthermore, if the children don't accept these things as true they will die one day and be sent to a place where they'll be tortured for eternity. That is wrong.
If you're suggesting the Bible can teach us valuable lessons regardless of the accuracy of its historical claims, I have to ask, why read the Bible to learn these lessons? There are many, many sources in literature and beyond that one can use to learn how to live a meaningful, moral, exciting and fulfilling life.
Basic things I think everyone could benefit from learning/knowing:
How to find and do things that are meaningful to you; things that give you a feeling of fulfillment
Physical fitness and proper diet
Meditation (not the spiritual kind, just a simple daily meditation routine that allows you to be calm and collected throughout the day)
Ability to deal with emotional upsets
Ability to deal with people
Willingness to learn
Critical thinking
Problem solving skills
Self-discipline
Open-mindedness
Willingness and ability to love and be loved
Honesty, most importantly, with yourself
I think if everyone learned/knew these things, the world would be a much better place. Faith isn't on that list, neither is the Bible. Trim the fat. Live a good life. Love the people around you and love yourself. Ideally, love what you do. If not, find something you do love to do for work, or alternatively, learn how to find some meaning/value in what you do do for work. Life is hard. We have to learn how to navigate our emotions and the emotions/personalities of others. But, with some elbow grease and a good attitude, life can be pretty fucking awesome. No god required.
If you're suggesting the Bible can teach us valuable lessons regardless of the accuracy of its historical claims, I have to ask, why read the Bible to learn these lessons? There are many, many sources in literature and beyond that one can use to learn how to live a meaningful, moral, exciting and fulfilling life.
Basic things I think everyone could benefit from learning/knowing:
How to find and do things that are meaningful to you; things that give you a feeling of fulfillment
Physical fitness and proper diet
Meditation (not the spiritual kind, just a simple daily meditation routine that allows you to be calm and collected throughout the day)
Ability to deal with emotional upsets
Ability to deal with people
Willingness to learn
Critical thinking
Problem solving skills
Self-discipline
Open-mindedness
Willingness and ability to love and be loved
Honesty, most importantly, with yourself
I think if everyone learned/knew these things, the world would be a much better place. Faith isn't on that list, neither is the Bible. Trim the fat. Live a good life. Love the people around you and love yourself. Ideally, love what you do. If not, find something you do love to do for work, or alternatively, learn how to find some meaning/value in what you do do for work. Life is hard. We have to learn how to navigate our emotions and the emotions/personalities of others. But, with some elbow grease and a good attitude, life can be pretty fucking awesome. No god required.
If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.
