Rule-bound religion & Spirituality

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Don't kid yourself. Scriptural doctrine was not written in fire on the sky, it was written by people and has all the faults of that source.

Kid myself? Hehe.
Because I believe something that you don't, makes me wrong and you right, or does it?
also, what faults do you mean, can you be more specific? Just curious.

The document is overflowing with self contradictions, scientific fallacies, moral obscenities etc. They have been thoroughly discussed on this site and I am not interested in persuading you.

I see. So you're an expert. Okay, you're entitled to your opinions.

BTW, Sand, I was replying to the original post:

Then you commented in a way that implies that I don't know what I'm talking about, and you do. Then you say you aren't interested in convincing me, so I'll assume you just wanted to get your digs in on what you think the Bible is.

So... why do you think the Bible is so threatening that you feel you have to bash it? I'd like to know.

I'm not bashing it and certainly feel absolutely no threat from it., I'm merely attributing it to it's obvious correct source. The King James version is full of wonderful poetry and amusing stories and is a delightful collection of folk tales and unverifiable historical fantasy. But if it was written by a superior being I am merely being curious as to what the being was superior to. Certainly to most arthropods and Cnidaria but beyond that I am rather uncertain.

If you feel no threat from it, then why did you tell me "Don't kid yourself."
Why were you motivated to try to convince me that I'm wrong? I don't get it.

BTW, I don't believe arthropods and jellyfish are lower life forms, as it were.

OK I''m fine with accommodating arthropods and jellyfish. They certainly do better with their environment than humans but as far as their capability to write poetry is concerned, even you must admit their limitations. The cockroaches I've occasionally spotted in schoolrooms never seemed to take advantage of the educational opportunities. I'm just trying to assure you that humans and not the creator of universes devised all of human literature. If you figure that demeans any literary creation I simply cannot agree. I have yet to see any other means of creating literature and even the Bible carries in is style and intent all the characteristics of a decidedly human creation.

I'm a Baha'i.

Raised Sunni Muslim. Became atheist at age 16. Progressed to agnosticism at age 18. Attempted Sunnism again, only to follow Islamic reformists. Began researching the Baha'i faith a few months I became 20. Declared my belief in the Baha'i faith 2.5 months before turning 20. Been a Baha'i for exactly 1 year, 5 days.

In which case, from a 'human logic' standpoint, the Bible is indeed full of lies, inconsistencies and manipulations, because of the outrageous and often irrational claims it makes about itself.

It's rather odd that such a strange and outrageously deluded library of literature, in its completed state, has survived for nearly 2 millenia and not changed from its original message, in spite of hundreds of years of copying.
One of the things that I find intriguing is that the King James Bible, which is one that has been copied many times over, and finally printed en masse by Gutenberg, (if memory serves) was compared to more recent findings in the 1940's of much more ancient copies some of which date back to the first century BCE, and there was little to no discrepancy between the content, other than a few minor translation errors from the ancient Hebrew to the King James English version.

The trouble is, I've found the longer I live, the more this library of nonsense holds true to its oftentimes painfully accurate observations on human nature.
One of these books is considered a masterpiece of literature as well as wisdom; the book of Ecclesiastes, by King Solomon. "Everything is meaningless, and a chasing after the wind."

Astrology has also been quite popular for centuries. History is full of idiocies.

I think idiocy is all a matter of taste when you're dealing with such a subject based upon your own philosophical beliefs.

For me, astrology and mythology are not two subjects I firmly believe in per se, but they've always captured a certain essence of mankind and what some of us long for or struggle with in life. Never been one great at debating or explaining but just thought I'd share that.

Am definitely feeling it...

I delight in the Bible, mythology of Greek and Norse gods, Superman, Mickey mouse, etc. But when people are persecuted, tortured, and killed in their name they acquire a certain distaste for me.

I only merely quoting what you said: "Astrology has also been quite popular for centuries. History is full of idiocies."

Should we persecute or call people idiots who collect tarot, read their astrology, study the philosophies from a bible, quran, torah and find some personal meaning without taking it further into divine belief or dogma?

I guess what I'm trying to say is, why ONLY look at it from a bad perspective. It seems that there can also be useful things to learn about humans. Anyway I agree to a great degree in the way people have been persecuted in the name of belief. It's very odd in the way humans are so absolute about their perceptions especially perceptions that have no validity or proof.

Persecution is never my recommendation and I have never advocated it. But where idiocy is obvious it should be clearly pointed out and discouraged by education and understanding. I have never heard of astrologers or tarot card addicts being burned at the stake or even silenced but an educated aware humanity is a worthwhile ideal. Religions in general make unwarranted and unverifiable assumptions and more intellectual caution about absolutes is always a healthy attitude.