WHEN DOES ENLIGHTENMENT FIND AMERICA?
In many ways we are still in the era of alchemy and witch hunts. Unless you believe that the Bible is the actual word of God, many so-called Christians will defile you and think you horrid. These people know better than science, better than your strange religious beliefs, better than history, better than logic, better than anything. If you point out that what they are saying is totally against any insightful or intellectual premise, they will tell you, as they are painted into a corner, that they KNOW they are right and take in on "faith." How's that for a glorious cop-out?
"Scriptures, n. The sacred books of our holy religion, as distinguished from the false and profane writings on which all other faiths are based." -Ambrose Bierce
Whether it is the King James or Roman Catholic editions of the Bible, it is loaded with jibberish that was altered, mistranslated, added-to, opined by the transcribers, misread, or simply that the monks doing the transcribing had their own human agenda or they simply did not understand what was written. Does God speak in Aramaic, Koine Greek, or Hebrew? Each are found in one of the Bible translations, and makes absolutely no sense. Why are there so many variances between the current "Bibles" and the Dead Sea Scrolls, for example? Why weren't Roman Catholics allowed to even read the Bible themselves years ago? Why did German, Swiss, or English translators think they were superior to Latin transcribers ...and what do any of those languages have to do with the early translations that so many people consider to be the "word of God"? Why did the Vatican deny scholars access to the Codex Vaticanus, once believed to be the oldest of the translations? Why? Why?
Folks, I don't care what you want to believe. Believe any fairy tale or mumbo jumbo you wish. But when you try to influence laws or public policy with your anti-intellectual and antiquated belief system, all of us have a stake in seeing that that does not happen. Where would you draw the line? Are Islamic beliefs any less "authentic" than Christian beliefs? Should we equate religious mythology to scientific study in areas of science and the textbooks used in public schools? Should clergy, whether studied in any realm of psychology or psychiatry, be allowed private privilege in their counseling sessions with disturbed people? What about celibate priests counseling married couples about family matters? Which is the preferred method of dealing with prostitutes or homosexuals, stoning or burning at the stake?
"To become a popular religion, it is only necessary for a superstition to enslave a philosophy." William R. Inge
"I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't." -Jules Renard
"Intellectually, religious emotions are not creative but conservative." -John Dewey
"When a pious visitor inquired sweetly, 'Henry, have you made your peace with God?' he [Thoreau] replied, 'We have never quarrelled.' " -Brooks Atkinson
