(September 16, 2014 at 4:17 pm)ShaMan Wrote:(September 16, 2014 at 4:08 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: Sorry ShaMan, gonna have to disagree. Anything morally valuable in the Bible is found in much more convincing forms in many, many other texts, without the bloodshed, fear, myth, superstition, and ignorance of the Bible.That's cool. And I completely agree with you that the same teachings can be found better explained elsewhere, and without the bloodshed. The bible is an ancient allegorical text. It was never meant to be used to form religion.
Are there good statements/beliefs in the Bible? Sure. Does that say anything about the validity of the Bible in general or veracity of its claims about reality? Nah.
It is unfortunate that religion has taken the teachings to the wrong front, and has dug in to fight there. What is even more unfortunate is that many opponents of religion have unwittingly been drawn into fighting on the wrong front, where much facepalming occurs.
Hell if you're saying that the Bible has some interesting philosophy and ethics discussion in it, then there's no doubt. Unfortunately a huge portion of the world has taken that book (and other texts) as the basis for their religion, so I try to address their books in their terms.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
- Thomas Jefferson