Christians celebrate rape, torture, slavery and genocide.

[The Grand Nudger]

1. The evidence line is a red herring, and red herrings are frequently acts of desperation intended to divert attention from a losing argument.

2. As previously noted, the written word isn’t meaningless just because the author can’t be quizzed.

Am I losing some argument? I see our disconnect about "the written word" now. You're using it as a pronoun for the biblical narrative, I wasn't. I was wondering why my criticizing that -particular- collection of written words somehow made the written word worthless. Of course, this isn't really a very good comparison to make (and your comment about quizing authors lend more weight to my own position than what you seem to be suggesting). We can imagine a great deal about the opinions of an author from what they've written (of course..it's important to know who the author was....isn't it.....) but in doing so how do we prevent our own opinions from being smuggled in?

I've explained why this particular collection of written words is meaningless in my opinion, our inability to quiz the author doesn't even factor into my criticism until the author can be identified (something that I can admit to being completely puzzled about whenever I get into a conversation like this...but -somebody wrote it..and we can proceed from there...which I have). Whoever the author was, they didn't seem to think that they were required to elaborate on a great majority of the opinions expressed. Do you have any compelling reasons for dismissing my remarks so casually?

I don’t have explanations for my tastes, so no, not compelling.

Well, that's unfortunate, but apparently I do..so compelling that you somehow felt that they became objective...as if by magic.

Such as?

Such as the ones I gave you for my taste in vanilla. Such as the ones you have for your own tastes but would rather stonewall me about.

Yes you do. I’ve been arguing that opinions are subjective.

I wouldn't have presumed to extend that to the opinions of a god in your estimation. Are you of the opinion that god's subjective opinions are the correct ones to hold?

Feel free to try.

LOL, I don't make it a habit to play a rigged game. Your participation and disclosure would be required, you've already demonstrated that you are unwilling to provide either.

My tastes, which are subjective and for which there is no compelling reason.

It would appear that your opinions, like the opinions of a god, cannot be elaborated upon. That makes them quite unlike my own...and helps to drive my point even harder. Look at how abruptly meaningful conversation ends from this point.

Please feel free to leave. The conversation with Darkstar was better. You butted into it, you know.

Sounds like an opinion, and a subjective one, but it's better is it? Bet you could elaborate on that..you could explain how it was better. Do you think you have compelling reasons for holding this opinion? Or, maybe, it's just another matter of your inexplicable tastes with no compelling reasons to support it?