As an agnostic, the bible is a great guide. It’s not a rule book. So much in there has been so misinterpreted by religion that it completely guts the actual words themselves.
Problem is that even in their original context/translations/… it’s still pretty messed up and unnecessarily evil. Or just flat out pointless.
Once you look at it for what it is besides it’s supposed “divine nature” you’re left with an amalgamation of borrowed stories, propaganda and a whole bunch of “I will now declare a thing of great importance, it’s exactly the opposite of what you thought it was…jazzhands “ kind of malarkey.
Love thy neighbour, don’t kill, don’t steal. <= you don’t need that much mystical convoluted text to convey that message. Mister Rogers will do that just fine.
I spent decades taking it seriously. The occasional bit with ‘‘yeah don’t be an asshole’’ isn’t worth anything next to the pro slavery, pro genocide, hateful parts. Even Jesus called Samaritans dogs compared to so called pure blooded Jews, none of this is morally OK when you hold it accountable to itself as a text.
As an agnostic, the bible is a great guide. It’s not a rule book. So much in there has been so misinterpreted by religion that it completely guts the actual words themselves.
Problem is that even in their original context/translations/… it’s still pretty messed up and unnecessarily evil. Or just flat out pointless.
Once you look at it for what it is besides it’s supposed “divine nature” you’re left with an amalgamation of borrowed stories, propaganda and a whole bunch of “I will now declare a thing of great importance, it’s exactly the opposite of what you thought it was…jazzhands “ kind of malarkey.
Love thy neighbour, don’t kill, don’t steal. <= you don’t need that much mystical convoluted text to convey that message. Mister Rogers will do that just fine.
I spent decades taking it seriously. The occasional bit with ‘‘yeah don’t be an asshole’’ isn’t worth anything next to the pro slavery, pro genocide, hateful parts. Even Jesus called Samaritans dogs compared to so called pure blooded Jews, none of this is morally OK when you hold it accountable to itself as a text.
Dogs are the best though