Would You Date Or Marry An Atheist?

JonBoy I have no intention of getting into a bible quoting dispute with you or any other christian. I know the game and how it is played. It is largely a no win game since there are no agreed upon rules other than you and like minded people will continue to cut and paste various bible passage to prove your ideological assumptions.


There are many very scholarly, well researched and written examinations of Paul's writings and his intolerance, his hatred motivated by his fear of woman's sexuality, his opposition to homosexuals, his support of slavery, his submission to governments even bad ones, his sexist notions about the inherent inferiority of woman and his totally misguided zealotry based on his mistaken notion that the world was soon to end.


Will you read them>? I doubt it and nor do I really care that you do or don't. It is your right to remain in the dark and to continue to cut and paste the bible and call it scholarship.


As for Jesus, I know there are many scholars who doubt that he even existed, that he is a kind of construct of reformed Judaism. I am not really in this camp. I do think that Jesus did live and preach a message of radicacl inclusion and that he ran afoul of the Roman governors, was executed and that later, much, much later stories of him have returned (like Elvis) began to be circulated.


I recognize that the four gospels that nearly 300 years after Jesus' were selected by a council of politicians and bishops contain much that is simply public relations, propaganda, marketing. It is not good history, nor was it likely intended to be good history. This part, outside of the blinkered faith communities, is widely accepted in scholarly circles. But even given that the gospels were sales pamphlets for one of the many competing christianities in the first, second and third centuries of the commone era, a picture of a man who was more loving, more inclusive, more caring than most people of his age and our age emerges. He must been an extraordinary teacher, rabbi, leader of men and women. But no god, just a man.


From what I know of Jesus he is head and shoulders over those who have since taken his simple message of inclusion and love and made of it a religion of purity laws. Ironic when you think that what most scandalized the people of his age was that he so often ignored the purity laws in favor of love and acceptance. Now today many of his so called followers twist his words to support their purity laws and their politics of hatred and exclusion.


Anyway, I really don't like banging my head against proverbial brick walls; I know from experience that debating with those who think they speak for and reflect some invisible god, based on one reading, of one ancient book is a lost cause.


Believe as you will. The great thing about following an invisible god who doesn't speak for himself is that you can put all sorts of words in its mouth and no one will ever be able to prove you wrong.


See ya around JonBoy