I'm curious because that is the argument that my brother used on my dad. I find it disturbing how people so readily believe anything that is spoon-fed to them without finding out for themselves. My brother has bought everything skeptics have been able to "dig up" against Christianity without ever reading the Bible for himself. And if ever he has read any part of the Bible, he appoaches it with his own pre-conceived ideas. Very frustrating.
I guess right now, he would rather believe a lie than the truth.
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Oh, I see. We have to read the Bible with no pre-conceived notions, which means we have to read it from imfree's point of view.
OK, I read the thread and it seems they get mad when the History channel mentions the fact that books were left out of the Bible. Well, it's the truth people, but I guess that it's still supposed to be the "unerring word of God."
The entire thread is full of "How dare they!" and "They will be sorry when Jesus comes", but they aren't saying why The History Channel is bad for showing these books that were left out of the Bible. They should be directing their hate at the books, not The History Channel.
@Blurb
I'd have to agree with NonHomogenized's post #21144. The Bible is a terribly written book, but then we've all seen what happens when a movie script lists several authors. The movie invariably ends up being horrible. This is no different.
Just for fun (re-read the original quote):
How does one spoon-feed skepticism? "Believe you should doubt me, there's a good boy."
You could contact Alpha Centauri with that mirror.
So, you weren't spoon-fed the Bible, then? You researched it all for yourself, and found it valid?
You don't have any preconcieved ideas that the Bible is The Truth, right?
I think I know more atheists that have read the whole Bible, than I know Christians who have read it all.
ME: I'm not a believer
FUNDAMENTALIST: That's because you haven't read the bible.
ME: Actually, I have read it, three versions to be precise.
FUNDAMENTALIST: But you didn't read it as a believer.
ME: So, I have to read the Bible to become a believer, but if I don't read it as a believer it won't do any good. How's that work exactly?
FUNDAMENTALIST: (long pause) I'll pray for you.
So you pretend to be the only one to really read it and that the way your particular cult dictates it should be interpreted is the only legitimate way. This posits your human cult as your imaginary God. Meanwhile, academic theology, not necessarily atheistic, discovered and learned so much about those scriptures and many people have actually read them, for themselves as well as in the light of that knowledge. You have been tricked and your ability to reason has been stolen from you.
Evidence is that you are under the delusion that you are thinking for yourself because that's what you have been brainwashed to claim, while you at the same time admit that you're only allowed to interpret scripture the way your cult dictates. More evidence is that you're bashing an "atheist" straw man, which is not really atheists.
On the other hand, many agnostics and atheists have actually read the holy scriptures of the great religions and have studied their doctrines. Ultimately they come to understand how human culture was enough to produce it, but that perhaps there may be some kind of impersonal mystic force out there still. Others don't even believe in such a force anymore, those would be closer to the atheists. They have not found any convincing evidence for the existence of the divine. Many tried to and have searched. It's also possible to become less fearful of death without needing to always beg a deity for salvation. The need for an insightful community can be found elsewhere as well.
That's fine, unless you're psychologically unable to deal with such a reality. Thinking is not easy, neither is the enterprise of science. We have symbolic thinking which can either lead us astray or closer to reality if we faithfully test what is real or not. The fear of death, the lack of critical thinking, superstition and the need to be told how to think is a vulnerability that some will gladly exploit, like throughout history.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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