Like others before me, I do know a few xtians in real life. And I agree that they are nice, charitable people who would never condone any of the hateful exhortations in this hateful book; but that's largely because they've never read it. It wasn't until I entered the online world that I encountered xtians who actively defend this shit.
But none of that even matters, because it's not the people with whom I have an issue, by and large; it's the doctrine to which they subscribe and which has been the point of this thread. See, it's a common bait and switch tactic, to change the subject of discussion from the dogma to the personal. I have known xtians who are and were slimy, manipulative arseholes; but they would be slimy, manipulative arseholes even if they weren't xtians. The religion simply makes it easier. There are loopholes big enough to drive an iron chariot through, that can be used to excuse their shitty behaviour. And it's worth noting that none of the gods supposedly involved ever seem to have anything to say about it.
But none of that even matters, because it's not the people with whom I have an issue, by and large; it's the doctrine to which they subscribe and which has been the point of this thread. See, it's a common bait and switch tactic, to change the subject of discussion from the dogma to the personal. I have known xtians who are and were slimy, manipulative arseholes; but they would be slimy, manipulative arseholes even if they weren't xtians. The religion simply makes it easier. There are loopholes big enough to drive an iron chariot through, that can be used to excuse their shitty behaviour. And it's worth noting that none of the gods supposedly involved ever seem to have anything to say about it.
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.'
