There seems to have been a lot of debate around here lately regarding creationism and christianity in general. I have a few points I'd like to get accross.

Now i fancy myself a pretty decent person. I get up every day and go to work. I hold doors for old ladies. I'm generally a nice person. I don't hurt people. I genuienly care for the welfare of every human being on this eplanet. But according to most fundamentalists, i will likely go to hell. The only difference between my life and theirs, is that i don't go to church regularly. At this point in my life im pretty disgusted with organized religion. That doesn't mean that i am an athiest. Truthfully i'm not really sure where i stand. The romantic in me wants to believe in an afterlife and all that wonderfull stuff, and the inner scientist scoffs at the idea.

My main point revolves around 1 item:
The Bible. This is a book that was written 2000 years ago (the old testament much earlier i imagine). While the intent behind the book is quite nobel, i think people take it WAY too seriously. People have to understand that it has gone though countless transitions, translations and copies during its lifespan. Think about reading something originally written in another language (it usually seems a bit off doesn't it?). Before the advent of the printing press, it was copied by hand. One has to accept the fact there there is likely a "Chinese Telephone" effect taking place. Stories passed on and on will take new shape and meaning, based on the individual telling the story. While i'm sure the meaning behind each story has remained relatively intact, lots was lost in the telling.

So when i hear somebody quote the Bible when backing up claims regarding Creationism, gay marriage, etc ,etc ,etc....i can't help but think that they are essentially quoting a millenia-old storybook. The words are written and handed down by man, and therefore are subject to the shortcomings of man (which as we all know are MANY). Those historical innacuracies being motivated by politics, personal agenda, or just plain lack of knowledge. To assume that the Bible we read today is exactly the same one written at the time of Christ is a very bad assumption.

So to summarize, I see the bible as a great storybook. Full of good, well meaning lessons that one can use as a guidline to live his/her life. But to take every syllable as absolute fact is foolish. It's putting your life in the hands of 2000 years of humanities fuck ups.

That being said, I don't see why one can't accept both religion and science to be fact. Is it not just as likely that, if there is a God, that maybe he did make the Universe 6 billion years ago. It's just a hell of a lot easier to explain the world on a much smaller, human time scale. The current theory claims that the human species in its current form, has been around for about 100,000 years or so, but only in the last 10-15,000 years have we been capable of any real cognitive thought process beyond that of any other animal. Keeping that in mind, as far as the human animal is concerned, the world is only as old as he can remember. The creation of the universe gels much better with the human psyche on a smaller timeline. Lets face it. As a species, we have an enourmous ego. To think that we are but a blink of an eye during that timeframe is an insult to our ego.

Anyways those are just my thoughts. Things that have been stewing with me for a while that I wanted to get out in the open. I would appreciate any "intelligent" feedback on the subject and not just the typical N&D mudslinging.

Thanks for reading this far

I find the Bible full of metaphor and meant to be applied to our modern lives as a guide. I don't understand people who follow it literally. I mean, how can you even do that, once Jesus is born, he changes the law and negates most of the whole first half. It's fucking full of contradictions.

Dude, you have ome very valid, rational points. I'm have very similar beliefs as you do.

P.S. I am athiest, most people confuse athiesm with paganism. I don't believe in Satan or any supreme beings, or in beliefs against "God". Just that there is no God.

exactly. if all the people of the world felt this way, we wouldn't have extremist terrorism, religious wars, etc. whatever form your god may take, they all follow the same fundamental structure.

We'd still have terrorism, b/c what if someone is totally bogarting the chips! It could drive a man to extremes.

Very well articulated, mikef. I can't say I disagree with any part of that.

praise from caesar
thanks

if someone wants to base their life around the bible, so be it, its not really any more my concern than i think the way i live my life should be to them

as far as the bible, i will say its written by the same species that writes the enquirer and weekly world news, so while some things may be truthful in it, some also may be exaggerated

Very well stated. I agree with pretty much everything you summarized.

That's all fine and dandy, and I have no problem with that either. But it's when people start discriminating against others based on what they think the bible says, then that is where the problems start.

Originally the Bible was well and good, after Jesus' death and maybe shortly after the death of his direct apostles. But it has been incredibly distorted over time, and much of it is like Nazi propaganda anymore. The only religious book that hasn't suffered horrible distortion is Bhagavad-Gita.

If you don't believe in god, it would make sense that you'd likewise not believe in satan.

but the same can also be said for those who discriminate because someone believes in the bible. people dont see that though, they only see their side of the belief, whether its bible side or the anti bible side.

If somebody discriminates against another person because that person "believes in the bible", then they're no better than somebody who discriminates against another person because the bible says that person is a sinner. But somehow I think there are a lot more of the latter in the world.

And this is the first I've ever heard of a "bible side" and an "anti-bible side".

believe me, half this portion of RM falls in the discriminating category, but they like to dress it up as but its the truth

the point i was trying to make was not pro-bible or anti-bible. it was about peoples interpretations of it, and about how i believe some people take it too literally, yet ignoring the underlying good messages.

or so you would think. As an Athest, I have learned that many people do not think that way. Now I only bring up that I am an athiest when people ask me if I go to church or my religious affiliation, but most of the time I get asked if I also believe in satan. Other people tell me that I am going to go to hell.

Yeah I know, I get what you were saying. I was poking fun at Peeps watering it down into "pro-bible" and "anti-bible". I had never heard it simplified to that degree before.