Just Add the Bible
So I was out wandering our beloved "series of tubes" today over lunch, and I came across this gem. I know, I know, it's from HuffPo. Sorry vjack.
The author thinks there's still reason to believe in god (as if there ever was), and goes on a warm, fuzzy endorsement of the bible, faith in god, then wanders off on a brief history of the last 6-8 million years. WTF?
I guess I could write this off as happy naval-gazing enabled by fifteen hundred years of erosion of Christianity's power and influence as progressive and reasonable people have pulled the worst of its teeth. Never mind the fact that Renaissance Christians would have burned John Lennon at the stake for his comments quoted at the beginning of the article.
However, what really grates on me is that the author doesn't seem to have really read the bible
"The Bible entreats us to be our brother's keeper, to behave like Abraham who questioned God and protested on behalf of others, so that we develop, internalize and practise compassion and empathy."How nice. The bible also preaches the subjugation of women, condones wholesale genocide and slavery[1], and contains a dreadful description of the fate of unbelievers[2]. Jesus himself loved ranting about the fate of sinners[3]. And was that the same Abraham that was ready to kill his only child because god told him to?
The Bible gives us step by step instructions on how to establish a society that gives equal weight to individual rights and group responsibilities.WTF?!? Really? Where? Which verses? Now I'm wondering if this little tidbit isn't some sort of clever satire... but no, no, it's the real deal.
The only people with individual rights during the Renascence height of Christianity were Europe's crowned heads, nobility, and the leaders of the Vatican. Everybody else was expected to shut up, pay their taxes and tithes, and worship god. Anybody that got out of line was either exiled or tortuously murdered.
More to follow...
1: Top Ten Worst Bible Passages
2: Revelation 21:8
3: Matthew 13:41
I dont thinkVjack would mind this link to the Huff Post as you are giving some facts on why its trash :)
ReplyDeleteBut, yes I agree the bible is a source of all that is good only if you never open it and read it.
It speaks volumes that current believers of Christianity are so disposed to ignore the worst parts of the bible in favor of the best, and that they ignore the horrors committed by their forerunners. The list of crimes in the indictment against Christianity ought to make anyone feel guilty enough to abandon the faith.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, and welcome to my blog.