AzureKaos wrote...
They can't just edit it out because the old testament is the Torah for the Jews.
And? What the hell is that supposed to mean? If Jesus made everything in old testament irrelevant, what use is it? If evolution was disproved tomorrow, then we would change or edit the science books about evolution.
AzureKaos wrote...
"I am not breaking any taboos by trying to increase your knowledge of the world". You are doing exactly that when dealing with people of faith and trying to diminish their own beliefs and shoving yours down their throats.
First of all, i don't even believe in any taboos so i can't break them.
Second, i don't shove anything down anybodys throat. If somebody publicly tells their opinions and ideas, i have the right to answer him/her with my own opinions and ideas and possible have a debate (just like i am doing to you currently). People who keep their stupid beliefs and ideas to themselves i have no problem with, but the people who publicize their beliefs and try to change society according to them, absolutely i can respond to that. There is nothing 'taboo' breaking about it.
AzureKaos wrote...
The intense lack of separation of church and state is a completely different problem.
The underlining problem here is still religion, because people take their incoherent 'holy words on page' more seriously than they do their countries constitution, and that happens on very high levels of government (in USA).
AzureKaos wrote...
Religion is just scripture - words on a page. The bigots who take only certain pieces of the text and ignore the rest are the real problem.
Without religious words on pages there would be less problems. The religious bigots who take the scriptures seriously would still more than likely focus their attention into some other stupid idea like tribalism, but without anybody taking religious words seriously there would be without a doubt less problems in the world.
AzureKaos wrote...
...and yet a faith empowers a single religion of over 2 billion people claiming to all have the same experiences that science cannot touch. Faith is most definitely not useless, it is probably the most powerful thing that has ever been described.
Usually people who fall into the argument of popularity and numbers in the issue of faith and religion consider for some reason human beings to be some how highly evolved. Yes, in comparison to other species on planet earth we may be, but in general, i think not. What difference does it make if 5 billion or more people had this experience? All it would show is how illogical and irrational our species is.
AzureKaos wrote...
You can't possibly fathom something like this because you are bound by empirical evidence and outright reject the possibility of something else going on here.
I don't reject the possibility of something else going on here, i wait for the evidence before i claim something is there.
AzureKaos wrote...
You and I are literally just pebbles being thrown into the sea and hoping that we'll make a splash that can be seen for miles. You claim that 2
BILLION people are all illogical and lack common sense, when a lot of scientists believe in some sort of higher power. That right there is a prime example of why Athiests get a bad rep.
People who truly believe we are governed by an biblical or quranic entity, yes, they are illogical and lack common sense. Surely many of those are indoctrinated into the religion, so i don't fault them that much, because i know it is hard to let go a belief that has been forced down your throat before you could even walk.
If truth, logic and rational give you a bad rep, ill take it.
AzureKaos wrote...
The funny thing about your argument is in your interpretation of the Bible's texts. You take them as literal fact and use them to bash on the religion. That's not Athiesm, that's Fundamentalism.
As a person who doesn't believe in the bible, all i can do is read it and interpret as it is written. The issue here is not that i take it literally, the issue is the magical and clever way how you and other religious people (i guess moderates) supposedly interpret the bible to be non-violent and non-dogmatic. In order for a literate person to think that the bible or quran are non-violent or non-dogmatic books, you have to purposefully read it like that and that raises the question, if you have to do all that clever juggling to interpret it as a 'nice' book, why read it in the first place?
AzureKaos wrote...
I agree, you can take more quotes out of context and it will definitely paint a violent picture of the Bible and it's teachings.
I see, the books are only promoting violence because i interpret them wrong.
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. (Matthew 18:8)
So when Jesus tells the people this nice and good advice to cut off their hands and feet if they offend his imaginary god, i am simply interpreting it wrong? It is not about what it actually reads, you have to read it in a clever way so you don't interpret it as violent?
AzureKaos wrote...
The Old Testament is STILL part of the Bible.
So?? Jesus made the old testament irrelevant, why not edit it out?
AzureKaos wrote...
The Old testament is not a collection of bullshit, and you cannot just edit it out.
Why not?
AzureKaos wrote...
Tell that to the scientists and scholars that believe in some religion and provide meaningful criticism.
Being a scientist or a scholar doesn't make you immune to faith based beliefs.