By WizenedSage (Galen Rose) ~
The Costco company apologized recently that in a California store its Bibles were labeled “fiction.” But, c’mon now, what the hell else would you label a book with a talking jackass, a talking snake, a talking bush, an invisible superhero who created everything, a man with superhuman strength because of his long hair, another guy who kills a thousand warriors with the jawbone of an ass, a guy who walks on water, heals the diseased with a shout, walks through walls, feeds 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, and has a cast of characters which includes demons, ghosts, spirits, angels, dragons, and unicorns?! Is Costco telling us we’re supposed to believe this book is non-fiction? Only the most gullible could believe that. Even children know the world doesn’t work like that . . . if they haven’t been indoctrinated.
This reminds me of the story I read on this site once about a young atheist mother. Her five year-old daughter had heard about the Bible from her schoolmates and asked her mother to read something from it for her. When the mother got to the part about the talking snake, the little girl started giggling. Well, it is kind of silly, isn’t it?
Is there any other book on earth with such a huge array of preposterous characters and stories? I used to say, “Some people will believe almost anything,” until I learned that many - if not most - Christians take this book literally. Now I say, “Some people will believe absolutely anything.”
To me, it’s one of the great mysteries of our age that so many people simply dismiss whatever critical faculties they may possess when it comes to religion. If I told someone I saw a cow flying over Main Street yesterday, no one would believe me. Yet, hundreds of millions believe a 2,000 year-old story about a dude who was dead for several days and then just stood up and walked away. There are no photos, no film, no witnesses identified by name, and no mention of the alleged event in any other written work of that time. But, it’s in the book. And that’s enough for many; apparently because the book itself says it’s true.
In the Navy, we used to joke that the only difference between a fairy tale and a sea story is that a fairy tale starts with, “Once upon a time. . . ,” while a sea story starts with, “Now this ain’t no shit. . .” I have since learned that some fairy tales start with, “In the beginning. . . “ But when, oh when, will the rest of the world wake up to this obvious fact?
This reminds me of the story I read on this site once about a young atheist mother. Her five year-old daughter had heard about the Bible from her schoolmates and asked her mother to read something from it for her. When the mother got to the part about the talking snake, the little girl started giggling. Well, it is kind of silly, isn’t it?
Is there any other book on earth with such a huge array of preposterous characters and stories? I used to say, “Some people will believe almost anything,” until I learned that many - if not most - Christians take this book literally. Now I say, “Some people will believe absolutely anything.”
To me, it’s one of the great mysteries of our age that so many people simply dismiss whatever critical faculties they may possess when it comes to religion. If I told someone I saw a cow flying over Main Street yesterday, no one would believe me. Yet, hundreds of millions believe a 2,000 year-old story about a dude who was dead for several days and then just stood up and walked away. There are no photos, no film, no witnesses identified by name, and no mention of the alleged event in any other written work of that time. But, it’s in the book. And that’s enough for many; apparently because the book itself says it’s true.
In the Navy, we used to joke that the only difference between a fairy tale and a sea story is that a fairy tale starts with, “Once upon a time. . . ,” while a sea story starts with, “Now this ain’t no shit. . .” I have since learned that some fairy tales start with, “In the beginning. . . “ But when, oh when, will the rest of the world wake up to this obvious fact?
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