An interesting "take" on the Bible. Yes, there are passages that have the
quality
of "fable stories." As a literary form this merits looking into. And it
isn't
just the Bible and Aesop, there also is, for instance, the rather large
collection
of Jataka Tales that is important in Buddhism. One theory is that Aesop
borrowed and modified a number of Jataka stories. But there also are
Sumerian fables. All of which takes us back, historically, to the
near infancy of civilization and the mentality that existed at the time.
May as well condemn a pre-teen child for not knowing what he or she would
come to learn at age 20. Its how we were, about which there are all kinds
of lessons to think about -far more than the simplistic view of both
Atheists
and conventional fundamentalists.
The author put his finger on the crux of things. While not all Atheists are
this way,
and while some normative fundamentalists are anything but unsophisticated,
the fact is that the generalization is all-too-true: Atheists and
fundamentalists
of the usual variety are, about religion, hopelessly simple-minded.
As soon as you learn how to explore (investigate, study, really learn from)
the Bible, is when you understand its real depths and the world that
its insights and ideas can open up to you.
Billy
-----------------------------------------
W Post
Why this atheist likes the Bible
* By _Herb Silverman_
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/herb-silverman/2011/03/10/ABTzEWQ_page.html)
* October 15, 2013
What do Christian fundamentalists and many atheists have in common? Both
read the Bible as if it were meant to be taken literally, and both quote
selected passages to buttress their case. Some atheists, for instance, cite
biblical passages that justify stoning for heresy, blasphemy, adultery,
homosexuality, working on Sabbath, worshipping graven images, and practicing
sorcery.
While atheists might attack or make fun of the Bible because of biblical
literalists, it is important to distinguish between the quality of a book and
the behavior of its adherents. For better or worse, the Bible and the many
religions it spawned have deeply influenced our culture and the world. For
that reason alone, the Bible is worth reading. Although _atheists rank
highest_ (http://www.pewforum.org/2010/09/28/u-s-religious-knowledge-survey/)
in religious knowledge, atheists should try to understand why so many love
the Bible even if they haven’t actually read it.
Some atheists make the same mistake as theists, treating the Bible as
either all good or all bad. While it contains many boring, anachronistic,
contradictory, and repetitive sections, it also has passages with rich and
diverse meanings. The same can be said for Greek mythology–fictional tales that
were once considered religious texts.
As a child, I enjoyed reading Aesop’s fables and biblical stories. Both
have talking animals, along with moral lessons and universal truths. Leaving
aside the question of which imparts better advice (though no Bible story was
as consequential for me as Aesop’s “The boy who cried wolf”), at least
Aesop’s stories are recognized as fables.
One of the most productive ways to read the Bible is by identifying and
discussing its fables. Here are just three examples from well-known stories in
Genesis, followed by my moral lessons.
1. Snake fable
God tells Adam he may eat anything in a garden but the fruit from one tree,
saying he will die on the day he eats it. A snake convinces Eve that she
will gain knowledge after eating the forbidden fruit. Eve eats, likes what
she learns, and encourages Adam to partake. They discover many things,
including sex, and God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden and tells them
they
need to work for a living.
My moral: God makes blind obedience the supreme virtue, assuming ignorance
is bliss. God either lied or was mistaken when he said humans would die on
the day they received knowledge. So don’t blindly believe, even if you pay
a price for independent thought. It’s better to have freedom without a
guarantee of security, than to have security without freedom.
2. Cain and Abel fable
Adam and Eve’s two sons bring offerings to God, but God gives no reason for
accepting Abel’s and rejecting Cain’s. Cain gets jealous and kills Abel.
When God asks Cain where Abel is, Cain responds, “Am I my brother’s keeper?
” God curses Cain, who must then wander the earth, but God places a
protective mark on Cain.
My moral: The first worship ceremony is followed immediately by the first
murder, which shows we must not put our love and worship of a God above our
love for human beings. Cain belatedly learns that humans should look out
for one another, making each of us our brother and sister’s keeper. God
recognizes his culpability in the first murder and puts a mark on Cain as a
sign
to those he meets that they must not do to Cain what Cain did to Abel.
3. Binding of Isaac fable
God commands Abraham to kill his son Isaac. Abraham acquiesces, but God
stops Abraham as he lifts his knife, and provides a lamb to take Isaac’s
place.
My moral: God tests Abraham, who fails the test. Nobody should commit an
atrocity, no matter who makes the request. It is better to do good than to
have faith.
Atheists almost never put the character “God” in a good light, and God’s
behavior is particularly egregious in Genesis. But God learns from some of
his early mistakes and improves, as pointed out in Robert Wright’s book,
_The Evolution of God_
(http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-God-origins-beliefs-ebook/dp/B002AKPEHW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381472841&sr=1-1&keywords=e
volution+of+god) . There are hundreds of biblical fables, and atheists
might find some in which to “praise God.” Such praise would show that atheists
don’t hate God any more than they hate Zeus.
A biblical fables book could stimulate conversation for atheists and
theists of any age. An atheist’s insights would be different from those of
either
liberal or conservative religionists. But if we start with the assumption
that the Bible is an important book, this common bond might help atheists
articulate their differences more effectively with at least some theists.
And I think such enhanced communication would be a worthwhile experience for
all participants.
--------------------------
Herb Silverman is founder and President Emeritus of the Secular Coalition
for America, author of “_Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a
Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt,”_ (http://www.herbsilverman.com/) and
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the College of Charleston.
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