That will not stop martin from hammering on an already discredited argument. I mean he'll go WAY beyond the point of rational justification. martin: The Bible "is a haphazardly assembled book of 100% bull****. it is terrible and has no redeeming value." red: But what about all these other virtues I list. Have they no redeeming value? martin: I'm not talking about those valid and important virtues, I'm only talking about the magical fantasy stories! red: Oh.
as literature, no value. obviously literature is a subjective thing, and if you think the bible is a good read, thats wonderful. the stories in the bible are not original at all, and can be found in lots of other places. the bible didnt make up god or heaven or hell or the rest of those stories. they are retellings. if you want to claim the bible is some wonderful historical document, great, i contend that it is unlikely you would have ever heard of it, if it were not a religious thing. it would be comparable to the writings of thucydides or some other dude that nobody has ever heard of or cares about. if that is kind of thing you are into, i stand corrected, if you have a book of the writings of herodotus on your shelf and you cannot live without it, thats cool, thats what the bible is as well, nothing more. except i bet you can find much better versions of the events in the bible, without as much mythology. edit: i looked up thucydides: 'Thucydides (circa 460 BC – c. 400 BC), Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídēs) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC. This is widely considered the first work of scientific history, describing the human world as produced by men acting from ordinary motives, without the intervention of the gods." see what i mean, this guy is obviously writing history in a much more relevant manner than the bible. and this is just one guy that nobody has ever heard of. but he isnt worshipped or revered like the bible, which is full of nonsense. see my point?
i dont understand how you don't see how a history infected with myths is less valuable than other versions of the same events. what has happened here is another example of you avoiding a viewpoint because it is too far from the mainstream. you have been told that the bible is this wonderful thing that must be revered, even if only as a secular history or work of literature and you do not want to stray too far from that. it simply isnt true. the bible is second-rate hisroty and fourth rate literature, roughly equivalent to the tripe of scientology or any other sham. influential? yes, but so is mein kampf and the communist manifesto. the most you can get out of the bible (aside from historical facts that must be corroborated from other sources) is amusement that people believe the comically absurd tales inside. at best it should elicit the same reaction you had when you first heard of the pop rox and coke myth. i am sure if were in a majority shinto community you would be espousing the secular value of the kojiki, or whatever book corresponds with the zeitgeist of your time/location.
OK, let me see if I can clear that part up for you. I was born and raised a catholic, but since reaching the age of reason, I have questioned many of the church's teachings. I have not completely dismissed my Catholic background, I just feel like there are a few holes in it. And I'm not satified with the "it's a miracle" answer to how or why something happened. Having said that, I have yet to hear or read any theory that I completely agree with that fills in all of these holes. Is there a supreme being who created us in his image? If so, then I agree with a quote by George Carlin: "War, disease, death, destruction, hunger, filth, poverty, torture, crime, and corruption is not good work. If this is the best God can do, I am not impressed. Results like these do not belong on the résumé of a Supreme Being" Also saying that this solar system just appeared one day, and evolved from nothing to what it is today sounds like a wild @$$ guess by some Jr. Class retard on a science test. Interesting theory. I always thought it was a radical suicide in which tiny bombs were implanted on the President and Gov. Conelly with the intention of making it look like a murder and mass conspiracy.
Quit trying to tell me what I think. You really suck at it. Just tell us what you think and I'll speak for myself. Got that? You're simply talking in circles to hear yourself speak, now, like you often do at the end of a debate that you have lost. We'll just ignore you now.
i dont think the theory is that it (the solar system and the galaxy everything) evolved from nothing, but rather that it was contained within the super dense thingamajig that banged big. of course there is evidence that the universe is expanding and there is a measurable speed that it is expanding and if you run it backwards to see where things used to be, it leads you to the big bang. it isnt like people just made the idea of the big bang up, like they made up god. so it isnt a wild ass guess by a jr high retard. it is a theory, i would suspect that even its most ardent supporters would happily alter their theory if their was new evidence or whatever. rational people have nothing invested in the science that is nearly as important as their eternal soul, so they can adapt their theory to observation, instead of being stuck with whatever calms their nerves about the universe and the afterlife and whatever. ultimately you have to decide i you will base your theories and beliefs on observation or myth. if you pick observation, there will be lots of unknowns and guesses, that shouldnt be too hard for an adult to accept. we'll? who is we? i thought you were speaking for yourself only?
