I’ve spent some time trying to read the bible. No one compelled me to, I wasn’t desperate for answers, I just wanted to be better acquainted with something seemingly so influential to the world around me.
Just how perfectly contradictory the behavior of the most vehement devotees is to the actual teachings of the book is absolutely mind boggling.
Take for example global warming. How someone dedicated to the bible could read about Moses and the Pharoah, and not draw a parallel between scientists (Moses), the Pharoah (climate deniers/big oil/the wealthy), and the plagues (ruined water, crop death, livestock death, illness, unusual and extreme weather events), is beyond me. Pharoah just continues to arrogantly ignore the warnings of Moses, periodically acquiescing, but ultimately returning to his previous state of obstinacy once he thinks he’s in the clear. Only once Pharoah’s own life is effected, only once it’stoo late, does he finally listen. Hell on earth was not bad enough to persuade him, only personal hardship. Like…how do you not see that we are the rabble getting pummeled by hail and having our land wiped out, how do you not see that our leaders are the insulated, out of touch Pharoahs, who ultimately view us as expendable. And if you believe in god and all that, how do you not believe that unprecedented weather and pandemics and shit are meant to be course corrections from on high? It seems to be a pretty ear cut cautionary tale about ignoring warnings and explaining away inconvenient evidence. Like, how are the bible people the least humble, least patient, least tolerant, most materialistic, worst idolaters? They latch onto and obsess about all the ticky tacky window dressing shit about not casting your seed onto the ground and dick mutilation, but miss the main fucking point of judge not, and love thy neighbour, and welcome strangers, and forgiveness, and generally just mind your own damn business. It’s infuriating.
I’ve never read the bible, so reading this was extra infuriating. Wow.
I think a lot of people turn to religion out of fear. Fear of death and fear of the unknown. They want easy answers, which at the end of the day the bible doesn’t really seem to offer, so the fear manifests as hate while they hide behind their own misunderstandings.
The issue as I see it is reading comprehension. They place no value on lateral thinking, and so interpret things literally. I would argue that the bible is intended to be significantly more metaphorical. Like, people think that you must die to get to heaven, and that the afterlife is a literal place like summer camp. But maybe the idea is that heaven is what you create through kindness and empathy. Perhaps you don’t redeem good acts like tickets at an arcade for a prize. Perhaps if you live well, you don’t require/desire a prize at all. It seems like a much more helpful document as a thought experiment than some sort of recipe for a casserole.
I’ve spent some time trying to read the bible. No one compelled me to, I wasn’t desperate for answers, I just wanted to be better acquainted with something seemingly so influential to the world around me.
Just how perfectly contradictory the behavior of the most vehement devotees is to the actual teachings of the book is absolutely mind boggling.
Take for example global warming. How someone dedicated to the bible could read about Moses and the Pharoah, and not draw a parallel between scientists (Moses), the Pharoah (climate deniers/big oil/the wealthy), and the plagues (ruined water, crop death, livestock death, illness, unusual and extreme weather events), is beyond me. Pharoah just continues to arrogantly ignore the warnings of Moses, periodically acquiescing, but ultimately returning to his previous state of obstinacy once he thinks he’s in the clear. Only once Pharoah’s own life is effected, only once it’stoo late, does he finally listen. Hell on earth was not bad enough to persuade him, only personal hardship. Like…how do you not see that we are the rabble getting pummeled by hail and having our land wiped out, how do you not see that our leaders are the insulated, out of touch Pharoahs, who ultimately view us as expendable. And if you believe in god and all that, how do you not believe that unprecedented weather and pandemics and shit are meant to be course corrections from on high? It seems to be a pretty ear cut cautionary tale about ignoring warnings and explaining away inconvenient evidence. Like, how are the bible people the least humble, least patient, least tolerant, most materialistic, worst idolaters? They latch onto and obsess about all the ticky tacky window dressing shit about not casting your seed onto the ground and dick mutilation, but miss the main fucking point of judge not, and love thy neighbour, and welcome strangers, and forgiveness, and generally just mind your own damn business. It’s infuriating.
I’ve never read the bible, so reading this was extra infuriating. Wow.
I think a lot of people turn to religion out of fear. Fear of death and fear of the unknown. They want easy answers, which at the end of the day the bible doesn’t really seem to offer, so the fear manifests as hate while they hide behind their own misunderstandings.
The issue as I see it is reading comprehension. They place no value on lateral thinking, and so interpret things literally. I would argue that the bible is intended to be significantly more metaphorical. Like, people think that you must die to get to heaven, and that the afterlife is a literal place like summer camp. But maybe the idea is that heaven is what you create through kindness and empathy. Perhaps you don’t redeem good acts like tickets at an arcade for a prize. Perhaps if you live well, you don’t require/desire a prize at all. It seems like a much more helpful document as a thought experiment than some sort of recipe for a casserole.
I absolutely agree. The bible has some good shit, if you’re willing to apply critical thinking to some of its messages.