# Atheist: Any quotes from the bible you firmly believe in?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 21, 2016, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784 "2016-01-21T15:54:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/41 "2016-01-22T04:27:26Z")

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Matthew 10:36: a man’s foes,shall be those of his own household.

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**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/42 "2016-01-22T04:57:19Z")

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> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” – 2 Kings, 2:23. And then two she-bears come out of the forest and rip the shit out of you.
> 
> “Media vita in morte sumus” I like a lot, and try to work into everyday conversation.
> 
> And EVERYONE likes the Golden Rule!

Well … what’s not to like about that?

I just wish it would become more evident almost even immediate. What a great world this would be if every single act was repaid with an act of equal and opposite moral effect. If that ever were to become true, it would mean the end of all wrong doing. No one would ever want to harm anyone else if they knew that harm wold be repaid to themselves immediately after they harmed someone else.

It would also make for a very comical world. Don’t you think? In fact, I can envision a very nifty movie or TV show about someone who has the “power” to make this become true on a limited basis for a limited time. What a hoot that would be! I would see the star of that show being Jim Carry or someone else with a similar degree of comedic talent. What was that film he made about a guy who had some kind of TV remote control that had the power to rewind life and then make it become true going forward?

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/43 "2016-01-22T11:58:51Z")

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> [@marshmallow](#):
>
> Matthew 6:19-21  
> Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Yeah, I’m backed up to the cloud.

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**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/44 "2016-01-22T21:50:36Z")

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A living dog is better than a dead lion.

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**Author:** ![Darth\_Ayebaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darth_ayebaw/32/9870_2.png) [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/45 "2016-01-22T21:59:51Z")

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Genesis 11:6

And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

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**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/46 "2016-01-23T03:22:09Z")

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Just one, really, which may not even be in the Bible - ‘Do unto others what you with them to do to you’.

Is that the golden rule? No other laws really are needed.

Bob

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**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/47 "2016-01-23T03:26:48Z")

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There is a lot of good stuff in the Bible. Much of it is a great blueprint for how to live together, and that’s why it has survived. In fact I’d go so far as to say I believe most of what’s in it that doesn’t attribute things to God, or the divinity of Jesus, or the beginning/end of the world or the origin of species. It’s not complete nor perfect but there’s a lot of good stuff in there.

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/48 "2016-01-23T03:58:33Z")

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> [@urban1a](#):
>
> Just one, really, which may not even be in the Bible - ‘Do unto others what you with them to do to you’.
> 
> Is that the golden rule? No other laws really are needed.
> 
> Bob

“Wish,” and, yeah, that’s the Golden Rule.

It has a classic flaw… I wish that the lovely woman over there would kiss me: therefore I shall kiss her…

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/49 "2016-01-23T06:44:14Z")

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> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> “Wish,” and, yeah, that’s the Golden Rule.
> 
> It has a classic flaw… I wish that the lovely woman over there would kiss me: therefore I shall kiss her…

Personally, I go by what I think of as “The Anti-Golden Rule”. I try not to treat other people the way I don’t want to be treated.

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**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/50 "2016-01-23T13:36:48Z")

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[QUOTE=Matthew 13:12]  
“For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”  
[/QUOTE]

In other words, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I don’t like it, but it is blatantly still true in today’s society.

If you have high spending power, you get all sorts of perks. Frequent flyer points, hotel points, various cash back and loyalty schemes on credit cards. If you are really rich and famous, you get given things like designer suits and Rolexes so that you’re seen wearing them - heck, you might even get paid to wear it.

Meanwhile the person living pay-check to pay-check has to take out a payday loan at stupid interest rates because their car broke down or their boiler packed in. Here in the UK if you have a poor credit rating you have to get a prepay meter for gas and electricity and guess what? The charges are higher than if you can pay retrospectively by direct debit.

100% atheist here, and I find it remarkable that a bible quote got this so right.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/51 "2016-01-23T17:11:45Z")

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All true, **Scougs** , but I think it can apply to other things besides money, too: knowledge, friends, health…

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**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/52 "2016-01-24T00:13:46Z")

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“You’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t”

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**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/53 "2016-01-24T04:46:42Z")

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Ecclesiastes 9:10 - Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do _it_ with thy might; for _there is_ no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

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**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/54 "2016-01-24T15:00:04Z")

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> [@Scougs](#):
>
> In other words, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I don’t like it, but it is blatantly still true in today’s society.
> 
> If you have high spending power, you get all sorts of perks. Frequent flyer points, hotel points, various cash back and loyalty schemes on credit cards. If you are really rich and famous, you get given things like designer suits and Rolexes so that you’re seen wearing them - heck, you might even get paid to wear it.
> 
> Meanwhile the person living pay-check to pay-check has to take out a payday loan at stupid interest rates because their car broke down or their boiler packed in. Here in the UK if you have a poor credit rating you have to get a prepay meter for gas and electricity and guess what? The charges are higher than if you can pay retrospectively by direct debit.
> 
> 100% atheist here, and I find it remarkable that a bible quote got this so right.

> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> All true, **Scougs** , but I think it can apply to other things besides money, too: knowledge, friends, health…

even though the words are the same (in the NIV) the better verse for your interpretation would be Matt 25:29, context makes all the difference. What \*\*Thudlow \*\* said is better suited for the verse you quoted in its original context

I like (NIV)2Tim2:23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.

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**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/55 "2016-01-26T06:53:41Z")

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No. But here is one **about the bible** that I fancy.

“It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.”

- Letters from the Earth  
~mark twain

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**Author:** ![Ulladullian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/4491bb/32.png) [@Ulladullian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulladullian)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/56 "2016-01-26T11:02:07Z")

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> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> “Go forth and multiply” is a usefully polite way of telling someone to eff off.
> 
> But as moral precepts, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” and “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone” are powerful brakes on some of our worst instincts, even they aren’t always observed.

God helps those who help themselves?  
Six Hail Marys and your forgiven lol

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**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/57 "2016-01-26T15:35:35Z")

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Just google how often ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ appears in the bible in one form or another.

It’s pretty much the whole of the law.

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**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/58 "2016-01-31T05:31:31Z")

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> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> “Wish,” and, yeah, that’s the Golden Rule.  
> It has a classic flaw… I wish that the lovely woman over there would kiss me: therefore I shall kiss her…

Once upon a time I heard this discussed on NPR when they produced a week of segments on my college campus. In on segment they were talking to some philosophy/religious studies professors and one of them pointed out that same flaw in the monotheist interpretation of that aphorism. He suggested a better alternative was “Treat others as they would like to be treated, that they will in turn treat you as you want to be treated.”

In other words, deal in fairness and respect and it increases the chances that those whom you deal with will be fair and respectful back to you.

And still it’s flawed because, after all, it’s not compulsory. We can and should deal with others fairly and respectfully, but that doesn’t mean it automatically forces others to treat us nicely in return. Now-a-days, the 1970’s twist on the aphorism seems more prevalent: “Do unto others – then split!”

–G!

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/59 "2016-01-31T05:57:20Z")

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> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Just google how often ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ appears in the bible in one form or another.
> 
> It’s pretty much the whole of the law.

Why don’t you go ahead and tell us how many times, because I’m pretty sure it depends on how loosely you interpret some of those Bible verses. But that’s the great thing about the Bible, isn’t it? If you look hard enough, it’ll support any old thing you want it to support.

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**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [January 31, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheist-any-quotes-from-the-bible-you-firmly-believe-in/743784/60 "2016-01-31T06:33:39Z")

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

I can’t argue with that.

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