Hey atheists, agnostics, non-believers, etc. - I’d like to know what passages from the Bible or any other holy text convinced you not to subscribe to a particular religion. Of course, I’d like to read counter-posts from the believers as well.
I grew up quite placidly in a loving Christian home. But later in life I began to see some serious problems with the Bible that eventually caused me to conclude that it was written by humans to influence/control other humans with zero influence from “God.” I could never believe in a god that condoned slavery as “God” did in the Bible. I could never believe that Jesus is a descendant of Abraham through his father Joseph when “God” himself was supposed to have caused Mary to become pregnant.
Here’s a more obsure one: Clearly John, the author of Revelation had a primitive view of astronomy. In Revelations 12:4, he describes a red dragon sweeping one third of the stars from the sky and hurling them towards the earth. Obviously, if this were to happen, earth would be utterly destroyed. Clearly, John thought stars and comets were the same and that a star hurled towrds the earth would act like a comet! Of course, most free-thinkers who read Revelations chalk it up to really creative, fantastical writing and utter B.S. But my little point should give pause to anyone who puts stock in it.
Note: I realize I’m far from the smartest person on earth, but getting in a huff and insulting me just lets me know I’m getting your goat! Have fun!
Just a word of advice. It is a good idea to lurk before you post, or to review posts similar to the one you are about to start. I know you can’t search, but if you looked for open posts, you will find that theists here have a more nuanced view of the Bible than you give them credit for. I may disagree with them, but they’re not idiots.
I’m an atheist, but not because of any particular contradictions in the Bible - those only disprove a god who dictated an inerrant Bible, not many other flavors of God. Many religious traditions accept that the words of the Bible need to be interpreted.
If you are an atheist only because the Flood didn’t happen or some such, you’re on very weak ground indeed. There are a bunch of much better reasons not to believe than that.
You hardly need to provoke people into discussing…
Well I’ve always been an atheist… but some parts of St. Paul about women being submissive to their husbands were more than enough to determine that the Bible is backward and dismissable.
First of all, let me make it clear that I am an atheist only in that I am “against theism.” I’m willing to entertain the possibility of a divine creator. The main reason I speak out against Christianity is that I think it has had a negative influence on society, even today. For example, the Bible says that homosexuality is abhorrent to “God.” True, many Christians say “love the sinner, hate the sin.” But you can’t deny the Bible has created/perpetuated a lot of hardship for homosexuals. I read a shocking article the other day that points out that most of our representatives in Congress who get top ratings from organizations like the Christian Coalition also get dismal ratings from environmental groups. The article asserted that many of these Christian conservative morons actually believe in “End-Times,” the Rapture, etc. and that we don’t need to protect the environement because “the end is near.” Some actually want to hasten the destruction of the environment because of their beliefs.
So it’s reasons like this that I directly attack the Bible. I know of no other way to counteract these destructive beliefs. True, most religious types are too brainwashed to ever be able to change their minds, but there’s hope for young minds and future generations.
The fact that the Bible is often vague and poorly written is further proof to me that no “higher power” had anything to do with it. If “God” is omniscient, couldn’t he have done a better job of communicating his wishes instead of causing people to come up with dozens of “interpretations?” I think this “nuanced” view of the Bible as you put it is quite problematic.
So why don’t you tell me what your “much better reasons for not believing” are?
I don´t see the need to read the bible, or any and all other teological scriptures to then become an atheist based on it´s inconsitencies. It´s much simpler to asses the likelyhood of a supernatural, all knowing, omiscient and all that entity and reach the conclussion that such things just can´t exist.
Just like I don´t have to read a book on the existance of the Invisible Pink Unicorn to be convinced that there are no IPUs.
There are several threads in which Diogenes and others debunk the proposition that “the Bible condemns homosexuality.”
I’m pretty content with the line that “the reason that the Bible isn’t bound with a handle is that God doesn’t want it used as a weapon against your fellow man.”
You know, I really think you ought to go back and read some of the debates that we’ve already had on this subject. It’s particularly worth noting that not all Christians here believe in an inerrant Bible, and aren’t really worthy targets for your education. :rolleyes:
The people who believe in a particular interpretation of the Bible that supports the destruction of the environment because we’re not going to need it much longer are really too stupid to take part in discussion here (and, IMHO, confused about what the Bible says and not well-versed in history, either). Your target audience isn’t on the SDMB, and doesn’t care what you have to say anyway.
To be honest, you sound almost like a charicature of what some theists think an atheist is - the quintessential “angry atheist”. But, I wouldn’t call you an atheist at all, since you “entertain the possibility of a divine creator.” I would call you an anti-theist, were there such a word.
Personally, I didn’t need any bible passages to “convince” me not to become a Christian. I was never indoctrinated into a religion in the first place, and as I grew up and became more and more aware of my surroundings, I gradually realized that there isn’t any valid evidence for God. It’s not that I’m mad at God, or at Christians, or at any other religion; it’s just that I don’t see any logical reason to believe that God exists.
I’m not sure I get the gist of the OP, but in the category of Annoying Biblical Passages, I’ll nominate good chunks of Deuteronomy:
Deuteronomy 12 - You must completely destroy all the places where the nations you dispossess have served their gods, on high mountains, on hills, under any spreading tree; you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, burn their sacred poles, hack to bits the statues of their gods and obliterate their name from that place.
Deuteronomy 13 - If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, offering you some sign or wonder, and the sign or wonder comes about; and if he then says to you, “Let us follow other gods” (hitherto unknown to you) “and serve them”, you must not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer’s dreams. That prophet or that dreamer of dreams must be put to death…
Deuteronomy 17 - If there is anyone, man or woman, among you in any of the towns given to you by Yahweh your God, who does what is wrong in the eyes of Yahweh your God by violating his covenant, who goes and serves other gods and worships them, or the sun or the moon or any of heaven’s array - a thing I have forbidden - and this person is denounced to you: if after careful enquiry it is found true and confirmed that this hateful thing has been done in Israel, you must take the man or woman guilty of this evil deed outside your city gates, and there you must stone that man or woman to death.
Deuteronomy 20 - When you advance on a town to attack it, first offer it peace-terms. If it accepts these and opens its gates to you, all the people inside will owe you forced labour and work for you. But if it refuses peace and gives battle, you must besiege it. Yahweh your God having handed it over to you, you will put the whole male population to the sword. But the women, children, livestock and whatever the town contains by way of spoil, you may take for yourselves as booty.
That’s not how it works for most of us, I think. We could play “Find the Dumb/Offensive Bible Quote,” but that’s not why I’m an atheist. I’ve never read the whole thing. I’m an atheist because I don’t believe in god, and I don’t believe because it makes no sense to me. That didn’t rule out any particular religion, it ruled out most of them, and not too long after I realized I didn’t go for any kind of spiritual/supernatural stuff at all.
That’s not atheism. It’s not even anti-theism; it’s just anti-Christianity. You’re an atheist, I suppose, but don’t conflate that with your anger here. You’ve never heard of people who believe in god without belonging to a religion? Or people who are Christian but don’t accept every single part of the Bible?
You’re not going to catch me defending the Bible, but you should be aware that many believers reject parts of the Bible for the same reasons that you do. I reject it because the historical record clearly shows that the Torah was written much later than claimed. I don’t believe in god because all gods that have been defined by humans either have serious flaws in predictive power or are unfalsifiable. Any divine communication should contain information that is shockingly right. Miracles and direct communication get sharper the further back you go. Basically I don’t believe in any gods because the world we see is a much closer match to the model I can make for no god than the model I make for any god. And that covers Shinto, Hindu, Wiccan, Aztec, Cargo Cult, and all others I know of. Theists provide tortured explanations for this, but when pressed for evidence that would stand up with accepted historical evidence, retreat into faith.
