sorompio

To compare the Bible with Homer is, at least, preposterous.

1) Literary speaking, the Bible is shit in comparison. Er... no, lower than shit.
2) People don't go around ruling their lives by Homer, calling Achilles Son Of God and burning fellows at the stake for not believing the existence of Agamemnon.
3) Homer never was appointed as an accurate historical source in modern times (even in spite of Schliemann discoveries).
4) The texts of Homer never pleaded to be the Absolute Truth or claimed that everyone that doesn't believe him will be condemned.
5) Because of the Illiad and the Odyssey there weren't millions of people killed, tortured, persecuted and reduced to intellectual castration.

schu

I don't know of any other ancient literature that has spawned three hateful religions that have been at each other's throats like the jewish/xian/islam religions have. They were doing it 3 millennium ago, and are still doing it today. If something oozes shit and the results are fecal are we to hold our noses and pretend it smells of roses? I don't think so.

When xians stick it in our faces as some moral foundation, when they tell us we should read it and they know little of what is in it, should we be polite and agree with them? When they tell us we are going to spend eternity in hell and they know it from their book are we to smile and agree with them?

Maybe someday when the followers of that book have faded into the mystic past we can study it like other mythical works. In the meantime while it is the bases for active, hateful religions I think we are giving it the disparaging attention it deserves.

premjan

I think religions like the Abrahamics can be set down as reactions to stressful life circumstances, and an attempt to reduce stress by eliminating uncertainty. The army is a bit like this too.

spin

Pardon my protest, but the bible's just a book. Shoot the people who abuse it. They're the ones who do the damage, not the book itself. One doesn't normally go around foisting a two thousand year old book down people's throats with its flat earth, inherent sexism, and support for slavery (which were signs of its time) and expect thinking people will happily accept it.


spin

SkepticBoyLee

We are on a thriving goddamned discussion board devoted partly to the Bible. People do realize the importance of the Bible. Sadly, a good portion of folks are still Middle Age minded about these documents and insist that you will forever be tortured in hellfire forever if you do not literally believe every word of it. Once the majority of the populace backs down from this position we will be able to safely tout the virtues of the Bible like Homer. As of right now giving the Bible verbal kudos publically would only encourage the fundies. I can see it now; "See even the heathens know the Bible is wonderful, Godly literature. They themselves cannot deny it much like the fact that even the Devil himself knows the truth of Jesus and his ultimate fate".

gregor

Pharoh

A tad bit of hyperbole there, friend. It tends to prove the point of the OP.

pharoah

Where's the hyperbole? :huh:

Zeichman

One could make a similar list of scientific advancements, the Qu'ran, books in general, etc.

That doesn't mean their contempt is deserved or acceptable.

pharoah

I don't know about you, but I feel nothing but utmost contempt for books such as The Protocol of the Elders of Zions, The Turner Diaries and Mein Kampt. The Bible, The Qu'ran and the The Communist Manifesto are only a step up from them. The common thread uniting all these documents are that they teach an us versus them philosophy of hate that has had men at each other's throat for centuries.

Science is by no means exempt from contemptible deeds. The invention of the nuclear bomb and other WMD dwarfs religion as the most appalling thing that man has ever done - as things look now, it will lead to our destruction.

spin

pharaoh,

the book is not the villain. It is usually a cultural artifact, as in the case of the koran or the bible. The villain is the organisation which insists that the book is meaningful to project onto a society of today without 100% agreement from the members of the society. You are shooting the wrong thing.


spin