Yakk

But I am a monkey who is going to hell[1].

All of the cool kids are. Together, our collective coolness will freeze hell and turn it into an arctic paradise, very much like Scandinavia. The former brimstone lakes will provide us with sanaus, and we will riff on monty python jokes for eternity.[2]

...

Speaking of which, picking up satire takes practice. Monty Python provides the practice and training required. The insufficient penetration of Monty Python into the collective consciousness of humankind causes videos like the above to be misinterprited.[3]

...

I just realized -- a faith-based-hell believer who doesn't believe in evolution would think that I'm a non-monkey who is going to hell. Whew, dodged that bullet!

Now I'm gonna stop making jokes, and answer a question seriously:
I can tell you some reasons why I don't have a belief in a particular class of God -- will that do? In return, can I request your reasons why you don't believe in Allah and the Words given by him to his Servant Mohammed? Or Vishnu and the Sanskrit texts. Either will do.

So, why do I lack belief in the God-of-the-Christian-Bible.

Here is some attempts to analyze the bible as a historical document:
http://www.bible.ca/tracks/dp-age-bible.htm

There are parts of the bible that, if literally true, require that God is playing tricks on us: the chronology of the creation of the universe looks nothing like the physical record that is inside the universe.

So it could be a test of faith, or it could be a symbolic description.

Even the age of the earth is based off of explicit descendant lists in the Bible. The exact value might be a bit hard to pin down... but it does provide an overview of the chronology of the Earth.

You can get around this by saying that "parts of the bible are symbolic", but if the bible is a symbolic book that is not meant to be treated literally, which parts are not symbolic? How do you pick the symbolic and not symbolic parts? Is there any cause to believe that the Jesus story was meant to be taken literally? The ten commandments where meant to be taken literally? The god figure mentioned was meant to be taken literally?

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe in the Bible. It is a mass produced book that is all over the world. It contains myths and stories passed down from generation to generation.

The Bible is written as if it where a historical document, yet nearly any part of it that can be checked against history seems to be purely symbolic. So shouldn't I simply hold the entire Bible, from the creation story, to the Jesus story, to the End-Of-The-World story, to the God story to be nothing more than a symbolic myth and an account of what people once believed to be true?

There are very few religions surviving in the world from even 300 years ago. The religions around today have recreated themselves in an attempt to survive overwealming evidence that they where wrong. The same can be said of the early Christians, who took "the end of the world will be in your lifetime" literally. Today, many people who call themselves "Christians" believe in the literal story of Jesus and the literal existance of God.

So we have a bunch of popular young religions that don't stick to their guns in what they claim is The Ultimate Truth that must be taken on Faith, citing a book that contains large amounts of unmarked symbolism as some kind of evidence, who happen to be somewhat popular around where I grew up (to the extent that I was taken to the local God-In-The-Christian-Bible priest for coming of age rituals, weekly ritual cannibalism, etc).

If I wanted to schmooze and use religion to gain social/economic status, I could see using the popularity of the local religion as a method. Other than that, I don't see any cause to have any belief in the Christian-God-From-The-Bible.

Is that a sufficient answer to your request Seaver?

Footnotes:
[1] Where hell is defined as the absence of God. As far as I can tell, I go there every day, as I detect no presence of God.

[2] Assuming Q-M multi-universe theory is true.

[3] It also saves our lives from far too many shrubbery references. Worth it? I report, you decide.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.