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Originally Posted by Sheepy
1) Presuming the bible is all fantasy and false, why on earth would the people who helped contribute and publish it sacrifice their lives for it? They know it's bullshit so why waste such a great part of their lives devoted for it in constant persecution and danger? Lets say you made up the story of Santa for entertainment for your kids, you know its false, so then why would you then deny you did even at the face a terrible death? How did Jesus, born out of nowhere in one of the lowest classes manage to convince people in their thousands to the point they changed their whole lives to follow his teachings? Why did so many of his teachings involve being charitable Were did he come up with ideas so convincing and such a powerful philosophy that the whole western world would then decide to establish their whole foundations on it for thousands of years? Why did he die for them since he personally knew they were rubbish?
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Being a Catho-Deist, I'm only providing an answer because i can see the argument, I dont necessarily support this position.
The simple answer is control.
Like the rapture guy, it serves your purpose to control if your method, the history, and the accompanying book is/are ones in which its hard to deny the message, even as you blasphemy it. This happens all the time. God loves everyone and is compassionate but hates gays and wants us to kill them all, but not babies! Even out of rape or if we could prove they were gay. Now thats obviously the most extreme and hyperbolic case there, but I believe it does stand true to the test of history. The point is that the message and materials are so good, that even as they are used incorrectly they are clung to by the follower and yet still followed by those that correctly understand ti all at once. Their all in line with this moral construct even if some are outside of it, their fervor for it guarantees that they otherwise are are doing what it tells them to.
The rest of your questions, well... i couldnt tell you. I'm not sure it matters really.