The Bible & religious frustration

Why do Christians put so much emphasis on what they read in the bible? Why do Christians believe it is the unerrant word of God? Why do they live their lives by its teachings?

It was written by men. Mere mortals. There are contradictions in the bible. Today, many Christians choose what they will take from the bible and leave what they don't like or feel is not practical for every day life (and for the most part, they are right for doing so). There are too many passages in the bible that are open to interpretation.

There is no "God" seal of approval on the bible. It wasn't sent from Heaven. It has been written, translated, added to, and interpreted by men. It is a glorified ancient self-help book. A book of allegories, no more, no less.

Why would you trust humans to understand the intentions of a supreme being? Why trust them to write these teachings over thousands of years without their own slant or opinions? How do you know you're following the word of God and not the word of Zachariah, the disgruntled fisherman and writer who was also homophobic? These days, the bible seems to be touted only by those who want to justify their bigotry and/or sanctimony.

What about the Koran? Old vs. New testament between Jews and Christians? The writings of Buddha? If you are religious, there will definitely be reading involved.

And then there are all the different kinds of Christians...
I am an atheist. I have nothing against people who believe in a god or gods, but I wish you could all agree on one damn thing and stop trying to convert or kill each other. You all seem to think there is a magical man in the sky, so that seems to be a good place to start sorting out your differences.

You damn drama queens. All the atheists ever wanted was to stop saying "One nation, under God."

 

All atheists have to do is not say that part. :smt102

I'm not trying to start a war, I'm just sayin'....freedom of speech, ya know?

 

I could care less what people choose to believe in. As long as they know the difference between good and evil, that's all that really matters. Nowadays it seems that people are only religious when it suits them.

I thought this was a democracy that we lived in.

 

The concept that man has written the bible has been lost in that this is the word of god and not that man no matter how you sway it has a agenda no matter how pure. In kindergarden we had the telephone game and these were kids who messed up a simple message and yet we don't grasp the concept that any man especially years ago could write and edit out of these books what he wanted. This whole notion that you are spiritual and meditative simply by reading out of a book is absurd. Depending on a individuals upbringing a person could get anything out of this book whatever and whenever they want. This explains all the shenanigans that have gone on throughout history.

 

Shenanigans. :lol: Great word! :smt023

I was raised a Catholic and have since realized I don't care for organized religion. And learning about all of the mayhem that religion and God has caused throughout the millenia, it leaves me wondering how people can so (to my eyes) blindly take the Bible for its Word. The writings can get so distorted and anyone can take whatever they want out of reading it, like you said.