There are so many Christians out there who want to say, "I am a Christian, but I do believe in science. There is a lot of compelling evidence for evolution, but I am going to have to say that being gay is wrong because the Bible says so." Those are also the ones that say "Well, some of the stories in the Bible aren't meant to be taken literally. There was no way Noah and his sons and daughters repopulated the earth, but the part of the Bible that talks about God coming back one day; that's going to happen and you need to be ready."
The Bible isn't a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. At least, the one that I read growing up didn't say "If you want to go to heaven, turn to page 379," or "If you want to sit in the belly of a whale, turn to page 168." You can't just throw out the parts that you don't like or that you feel are outdated and just follow the parts that are warm and cuddly.
I detest when Christians enter into an debate with atheists and, when we call them out on a certain part of the Bible, say "Well, that part isn't meant to be followed anymore, or that was just a story, not something that really happened." I say they either need to own the Bible -- the whole thing -- as true, or denounce it as a fairy tale, but stop picking and choosing which parts of it fit their lives today.
4 comments:
Good post. This is actually one part that I totally agree with fundamentalists on. Christians have to believe in every word of the Bible. They cannot just pick and choose what to believe and what not. Without the creation story itself, where would they get the original sin that eventually leads to Jesus' sacrifice? I think the harder a fundamentalist beats this in, the harder it will be to believe. Countless Christians do not buy the whole creation story, much to the dismay of the fundies.
Bacchus, Thanks for your comment.
I am not sure exactly how a moderate Christian would answer the question of the origin of the first sin, but if there is one thing that I know for sure it is that moderate Christians have an explanation for everything.
As much as I detest science-denying, gay-bashing, women-oppressing, hell-and-brimstone fundamentalist Christians, I do have to give them props for sticking to their position consistently, in contrast to more moderate "cafeteria Christians" who insist that the Bible is the completely-true word of God while quietly backing away from its monstrous, stupid, and batshit insane parts.
Fundies and atheists are in complete agreement on at least one point -- that the Christian worldview is an all-or-nothing proposition. You can't have it both ways.
As another example, I know many Christians, but I know of only a very small handful who take Matthew 19:20-22 seriously. With the exception of a few missionary families here and there, approximately 0% of Christians sell off their possessions and devote their lives to full-time religious service, because this is a crazy, illogical thing to do. However, since the Babble is God's Word (TM), rationalization is required ("God didn't mean me", "I can serve God using my possessions", ad nauseum). One Christian combo platter, to go, hold the sacrifice!
Kevin, thanks for your wonderful comment that adds even more examples of different ways they pick and choose what they feel it means to be a Christian.
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