I have never been known to be
quiet particularly when it comes to sex, politics or religion, and have enjoyed
much animated banter and heated debate on all equally so. Sadly however,
there have been one or two casualties along the way, yet very few, where I may
have alienated some folk who have disagreed so vehemently with me,
that they felt it too difficult to preserve the friendship. Sad indeed in
that I have loved and respected friendships with people whom I regard as
passionately differing in views to myself in many respects, yet with the ability
to discuss and debate challenging issues maturely, eruditely, openly and
honestly, without emotions getting in the way. Other than Veganism, religion
however has been the only one where these casualties I speak of have arisen,
and only Christianity at that. Perhaps that speaks reams about the
religion and the unease and vulnerability in which it has left many of its
so-called converts or believers. However, that is my opinion of course,
yours may differ and I encourage you to tell me why?
I suppose
my biggest surprise has been a few of my better educated mates, who can still believe
in what I've understood so clearly since my youth to be clear contradictions
in-terms across almost any facet of the Bible. Blind faith and intellect
I have always felt to be oxymorons. But
as I say, there are a few who appear to contradict this conclusion of mine, and
why I just cannot comprehend. As a moral
guide, I accept the Bible has a place, although even there I have difficulties
based upon the absurd violent, misogynistic, sociopathic cruelty
that besets the Book from start to finish, particularly so in the Old Testament. There is a clear distinction in the God of ‘old’
and the God of ‘new’. The former was
ruthless and revengeful, speaking openly and frequently to His/Her/Its chosen subjects,
whilst the latter only spoke to Jesus apparently. Not even a burning bush to set hearts on fire
in the New Testament.
But of course I could go on and
on. I mean, why go to all the trouble to
create little people in ‘your own image’ only to have to drown them all, bar a
small family, a few centuries later for bad behaviour. As for the incest that clearly followed, well
that’s something else to comprehend. So
who created ‘bad behaviour’ then after all, I beseech thee? After all, who was THE creator of EVERYTHING,
mosquitoes included? And so I could go
on asking why babies die before being able to make the so-called choice, people
who have been born and died over thousands of years without hearing the ‘word
of God’ or Jesus. What was the point of
having all of them around at all? But
let me stop it at that before I can’t stop.
Recently I was forwarded a
website that I found profoundly fascinating and have spent some time going
through it in my spare time. The site is
http://bibviz.com/ , according to which, aspires to be a beautiful
and interactive resource for sceptics and believers alike to explore some of
the more negative aspects of the holy books, such as Bible contradictions,
biblical inerrancy and the Bible as a source of morality. It was deeply inspired by the Reason Project's poster of biblical
contradictions, which in turn was inspired by Chris Harrison's Bible Visualizations. Worth Googling in their own right.
Many of the contradictions shown stem from a literal interpretation of the stories in the Bible (biblical inerrancy). Some verses may be mistranslations, allegories, exaggerations, etc. and can be interpreted in the context of the society in which they were written, rewritten, or otherwise modified over time, while others are very clear contradictions.
Considering that 46% of Americans
apparently believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis (and probably other
portions of the Bible) and the fact that many sects disagree on which parts to
take literally, it seems reasonable to include these contradictions based on
literal interpretation.
The
developer intends for this massive project to show that whilst the Bible may
have much to offer us, biblical inerrancy and morality it certainly does not.
Without inerrancy it's simple to see that we just do not know which parts are
the ‘word’ or ‘will’ of God are true or factually correct, if any. Basing our
morality on vile, abhorrent stories from a long-forgotten era of humanity in a
part of the world many have never even seen seems absurd to me. What the Bible
does offer us however is an amazing look into humanity, our past, our desires and our fears. No more so perhaps than Steven Covey’s, Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People.
So with that said, let the
stoning begin..
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