macintologist

I'm an atheist but I also like the Bible. I love the language of the King James bible and I treat some of Jesus's good teachings like Asop's Fables, ie. there are things you can learn from them. I don't squirm if someone says Merry Christmas, in fact I prefer it instead of Happy Holidays because I recognize that my heritage is Catholic and that Christian culture, as opposed to Christian religion, is a part of who I am and the values that were taught to me by my parents.

What do y'all think?

Ken W

If you liked KJV, you'll love Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales.

:devil1:

Koyaanisqatsi

Well, since you asked, I think you're not reading the Bible very carefully and more likely quote mining or just remembering revisionist apologetics from your past, rather than reading the dogma in its primary context: cult inculcation material.

But hey! Whatever floats your boat .

And welcome, by the way.

macintologist

Actually I've had to spend a lot of time on sites like the Skeptics Annotated Bible and spl's Religion soapbox in order to debunk lots of pro-Christian arguments that I come up against on Christian student forums.

I wasn't raised Catholic or anything. I wasn't raised with any religion. I remember being babysitted for a weekend and going to a sunday school, and in the class they said "the dew on your car in the morning is a gift from god" and I was thinking to myself, isn't it condensation?

Like I said, I recognize the difference between the Christian religion and Christian culture. I'm not going to refuse to sing certain Christmas carols because they mention God or anything, I think that's just as absurd as parents not letting their kids sing Rudolph the Red Nose reindeer because it doesn't mention God.

yummyfur

Umm, the term Happy Holidays is fairly old and it's original intent was Christian, though it's now usefull to respect other important days, that aren't Christian, because as a human being, all heritages are actually yours. It meant Holy Days and as a former Catholic you would probably recognize that there were a whole slew of important Holy Days in a row, these are all Holy days of obligation

December 8 The Immaculate Conception of Mary
December 25 The Nativity of Jesus
January 1 Holy Mary, Mother of God
January 6 Epiphany

Also it was faster than saying the standard "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year", "Seasons Greetings" and "The Compliments of the Season" are also as old as at least 1850's when they appeared on some of the early cards in England.

What really annoys me are people who think that saying Happy Holidays is anti-Chistian. This seems the propaganda du jour.

Clivedurdle

Yes.

Sea of Faith

Chris Weimer

Yes, I've even created a whole forum for the dedication of it, not to its ideals, per se, but to the literature and really the culture as a whole here. My favorite carol: The Carol of the Bells. I actually own a three disc collection of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on vinyl. Being atheist, in my opinion, actually allows me to appreciate the aesthetic behind the culture instead of being caught up on theological issues.

Killer Mike

The Bible is actually an interesting type of literature. A mixture of history, legend, and myth. I would look at the Bible the same way one might say Moby Dick or Homers Odyssey.

Heurismus

Ditto Yes!

The bible isn't a compact with its reader. Deists, Pantheists and Atheists have historically used the Bible to invert Christian argument and show that it is not God's authority that is contained in the Bible, but the Bible contains the authority of rulers and kings, not believers and seditionists.

My favourite parts are Job and Proverbs of the OT. The fairy tale of the NT is brilliant absolutely brilliant if you are a sado masochist. But the Bible is still a historical text. It is the intellect of the reader which should be questioned.

macintologist

Thanks for that info! I didn't realize its origins, I just thought it was a recent PC term. More ammo for me on the Christian forums