Hello fellow inquirers!

I am a Central Texan residing in the heart of the Bible Belt, and in a place where religion is all too often used as a force to control, ostrasize, diminish and justify hatred of others. It’s sad, because there is a noble element among many who are religious, the charities and agencies which help other people, but usually, those agencies are seeking to proselytize through their good deeds, rather than just taking satisfaction that helping other people is the right thing to do, whether or not they believe in your version of God.

I was brought up attending church, and for much of my life, religion has been a dominant element. It’s a hard thing to avoid based on where I reside and my family background.

I certainly do believe in God, but not the bloodthirsty, angry, jealous, vengeful God depicted in the Bible or the Quran. In fact, I believe God would sue those religions for libel, if he/she/it would even condesend to become involved in those types of petty human affairs in such a manner.

I do not believe in a God who would condemn anyone to hell for eternity to suffer in agony forever and ever without any hope of remediation. That type of god would be an absolute monster, demanding allegiance and slavery, and not offering true love, freedom or the ability to have freewill and chart our own course.

I believe God has given us nature and logic, and that we then set our own course. This God would never punish us for disbelief, or demand absolute obedience. If you believe or don’t believe, it is of no consequence to God. He/she/it is above such things, but I do believe this God would be horrified at many of the atrocities commited and blamed on or credited to a superior being.

A close study of the Bible leads a person to 1) either rationalize and seek to justify the evils that are blended with apparent goodness, 2) to reject the bad and accept only the good, or 3) to reject it altogether.

I believe that you have to take everything in the Bible as a whole. You can’t mix dung with nutritious vegetables in a salad and expect everything to come out right. You either say it’s all good for consumption—including the dung—or you have to toss the whole thing out.

I look forward to many discussions with fellow freethinkers.

Alpha Centauri - 21 December 2012 09:24 AM

I believe that you have to take everything in the Bible as a whole.

So do I. That’s why whenever I beat my slave, I make sure he stays alive for at least a day or two.

I believe that you have to take everything in the Bible as a whole. You can’t mix dung with nutritious vegetables in a salad and expect everything to come out right. You either say it’s all good for consumption—including the dung—or you have to toss the whole thing out.

I wouldn’t go quite that far. If you read it as sacred literature, you really don’t have any options. It’s all or nothing, or at least that’s what some would have you believe.

If you read for content and in context, you’ll certainly see a lot of horror, but you’ll also see some advice which can be construed as practical for ethical living. The Golden Rule is a precept common to a lot of belief systems, and it’s also a damned good idea.

The Golden Rule is predates the Bible. All I have to say about the Bible is the parts that are good are not original, and the parts that are original are not good.

You sound more like a Deist, AC than a bible thumping fundie and you probably should gravitate towards that philosophy for now. BTW the bible has many uses besides cherry picking the “good” or “bad parts”. As you already know it can be used to justify any action by a believer from racial and gender intolerance to altruistic kindness. There’s a skeptics guide to the bible in the religious section, and Price’s human bible podcasts you might look into in the future if you want to do some intro research. Anyway, welcome to the forum.

Cap’t Jack

I find the bible is about as useful as a Rohrschach test, that is, really quite useful if you want to get a sense of the individual is who’s using it.

Alpha Centauri - 21 December 2012 09:24 AM

I believe that you have to take everything in the Bible as a whole. You can’t mix dung with nutritious vegetables in a salad and expect everything to come out right. You either say it’s all good for consumption—including the dung—or you have to toss the whole thing out.

Not sure why you have a problem throwing the whole thing out. When you consume the entire dung, you get the Westboro Baptist Church.

I have to amend my earlier statement. I highly doubt the existence of an all powerful, perfect god.

I most certainly am an atheist with respect to the god of the bible, who i consider a hideous monster. Anyone who would threaten an eternal hell is most certainly evil at the core, and not a loving god. Anyone who demands worship is a megalomanic.

When I posted earlier, I was freefalling out of Christianity. The doubts had lingered for quite some time, but it was too big a step to jump from the comfort or belief into the great wide open of nonbelief. I think deism is a wonderful landing spot for those who free thmselves from the chains of religious dogma.

But eventually, even the tenants of deism can ring a bit hollow.

Among my heroes are Carl Sagan, Robert Ingersoll, Thomas Paine, Mark Twain and former missionary turned agnostic/atheist Ken Daniels.

Those of us who are refugees from Christianity have a lot of healing to do, and I am comforted that so many escape the clutches of that terrible, discriminatory and damning dogma and embrace humanism and freethought instead.

Sadly, there are many who go through the motions and attend church but who no longer believe. They need encouragement and support to break free, a place of refuge and respite.

I am grateful for communities of humanists and skeptics who offer a much more rational approach to life, and who reject the religious lies, bigotry and animosity that have hurt so many.