Regarding point one, though literalists as you describe are indeed exceedingly frustrating - just check out Thunderf00t's interviews with Ray Comfort, Eric Hovind and/or the Phelps clan for textbook examples - it can be equally frustrating for questions and discussions about (say) the character and nature of God to be met with select morsels from the bible. Similarly with the kerrang. It's like, ok we were talking about your god; now you want to talk about a book?
On your point two, it seems to me that what we face here is the limitations of language when discussing such universal concepts. Don't get me wrong, I love language, I enjoy painting with words and I appreciate the raw evocative power of a well-turned phrase. In this context, however, what an atheist means by religion may not completely mesh with what a theist understands the word to mean.
On your point two, it seems to me that what we face here is the limitations of language when discussing such universal concepts. Don't get me wrong, I love language, I enjoy painting with words and I appreciate the raw evocative power of a well-turned phrase. In this context, however, what an atheist means by religion may not completely mesh with what a theist understands the word to mean.
At the age of five, Skagra decided emphatically that God did not exist. This revelation tends to make most people in the universe who have it react in one of two ways - with relief or with despair. Only Skagra responded to it by thinking, 'Wait a second. That means there's a situation vacant.'
