Biblical Mythology
I cannot wait until the day that the bible is set on the shelves with the rest of the mythological books! Morality does not require religion…And in fact, in my humble opinion, religion actually gets in the way of real morality.
The bible should not be abused to achieve personal agenda… I am frustrated with the ego and intrusion and judgment and self-righteousness and complete lack of interest in the beliefs of others that seem to be the standard when communicating with bible-based believers. Instead of insisting that I believe their way (which I spent years of my life trying to do), why not ask me what my thoughts are, how I see things differently, etc. Instead, it is mostly, "Let me tell you about MY god" and when I engage in an open dialogue, there is no interest on their part in anything that differs from their beliefs. It becomes a very fruitless and circular, exhausting interaction.
I agree that there is a leap of faith that is required to subscribe to most religions, one I am not willing to take. Why would I? And, I don’t need a judge to reinforce my behavior. There are consequences to my actions, true, but they happen with or without being judged for them.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in nothing… I choose to believe things that are more tangible, tested, proven, etc. I do not believe in god, I do not believe in needing a judge, nor do I believe that my friends and family are my judges. Their judgments are their own, not mine. I need something to make sense of it all too, which is why I continue to educate myself about the world around me (and beyond). I am not satisfied with an invisible, man-made omnipotent/omniscient being that has all the human characteristics of someone I would probably not even like in human form… ego, jealous, vengeance, etc. NO THANKS.
Banning the Bible
The Bible has very violent and scary parts to it. Not only toward adults but toward children. I read these as a child and was terrified at some of it. I had nightmares! I don’t think it should be banned any more than I think any other religious book should be banned but I just wanted to point out that it is not all about love and peace and harmony.
It could be argued that the Bible does promote hate in some sections…and that people that take it to extremes are antisocial. I understand that many people cherish the Bible. I am not one of those people, nor do I wish it to be banned. It holds no more significance to me than any other memoir or biography or even fiction book.
My point is simply that in schools or public libraries, I think the Bible should be held to the same standards as other books and not have an eye turned to the death, violence and hatred that is written within it simply because it is a religious book.
Religious Founding Fathers?
There are as many quotes showing that the founding fathers were against religion as there are to spin that they are for religion… There are also multiple interpretations of the constitution and the reasoning why we broke away from the oppression of the motherland. (and all interpretation is as potentially valid as yours - unless you somehow know more than anyone else) Whether the founding fathers were supportive of Christianity is an ongoing debate. Here are a few links for your entertainment:
http://www.sullivan-county.com/id3/debate.htm
http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html
http://www.aztriad.com/fathers.html
Trying to make a claim that the founding fathers have the market cornered on morality is in my opinion completely unsubstantiated. And Jefferson wrote his own bible! http://www.angelfire.com/co/JeffersonBible/JeffBible.txt Does that tell you about the stability of his support of Christianity and the Bible as the inspired word of god? It is pretty clear to me. He liked the teachings, but only after he rewrote them!
