Elemmire said:
hehe.. the Bible is a fictional book but one to be viewed as moral guidance. Nothing more, as I see it. It's got some good moral values (though some things are a bit... odd) and is actually pretty interesting to read. It's good to read also to learn about the history of our world. (not saying that all the stuff is fact but that it is interesting to see how the people that wrote the story viewed things and analyzing the wording of the bible) anyways.. religion is just too controversy at times.
I'm willing to bet you never tried to read "Numbers"
Seriously though, I don't know all that much about religions other than Christianity. But I know quite a bit about Christianity. Here are some random facts.
Jesus' Birth was set around the time of December to coincide with pagen winter Festivals. As long as you didn't change things to much, monotheism would be easier to push on the masses.
His rebirth was in the spring to coincide with The Festival of Fertility. (if you always wondered what rabbits have to do with Easter, this is your answer.) Spring, Rabbits Fertility, new life, rising from the dead.... yeah, all that.
The "King James Version" of the Bible has been edited as recently as the 19th Century. Many things have been changed over time. For example, 5 entire books have been removed from the old testiment.
Christianity creates more revenue every year than any other tax exempt organization. If we only taxed the property that churches stood on, it would create enough revenue to end world hunger.
More people have died in the name of Father/son/holy ghost than for any other reason ever.
It's tough living in "The Bible Belt" and being an Empirical Agnostic Humanist.
In case anyone is wondering what that is....
They believe that God may exist, but that little or nothing can be known about him/her/it/them. Further, they do not really consider the question to be particularly important. They have derived their moral and behavioral codes from secular considerations. Their ethical behavior would not be altered if a deity were proven to exist.
so yeah, Do unto others. Sounds like a good plan.