Richard Dawkins backs plans for a bible in every school - Polidicks

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119061]Since when was going completely off topic a legitimate arguing tactic? I'm just saying disregarding everything about the Bible is dumb, even if you're an extreme atheist or something[/QUOTE] What is there in the bible that is worth keeping that couldn't be learnt and understood simply by being a decent human being?

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119061]Since when was going completely off topic a legitimate arguing tactic?[/QUOTE] S'called following a logical thread of conversation. It happens quite often in human communication, for instance when talking about your favourite food you may end up talking about your least favourite food, or why you hate winter since you can't get your favourite food due to seasons. What I'm basically saying is you're a boogerface

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119090]What is there in the bible that is worth keeping that couldn't be learnt and understood simply by being a decent human being?[/QUOTE] Ever heard of these four areas of study called "History" "Philosophy" "Literary" and "Anthropology"? Well the Bible is useful source regarding them Why does everyone have to take everything so literally here?

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119134]Ever heard of these four areas of study called "History" "Philosophy" "Literary" and "Anthropology"? Well the Bible is useful source regarding them Why does everyone have to take everything so literally here?[/QUOTE] Cause the philosophy of the bible is hardly unique, there are probably better sources for anthropology since the bible is far more concerned with telling people how to live their lives, in literary terms it's shit, really I fail to see how it's a well written book although in terms of History it gets some shit right.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119146]Cause the philosophy of the bible is hardly unique, there are probably better sources for anthropology since the bible is far more concerned with telling people how to live their lives, in literary terms it's shit, really I fail to see how it's a well written book although in terms of History it gets some shit right.[/QUOTE] Just tell me why you think the Bible is worthless? It is after all probably the most detailed literary work we have from around 2000 years ago. Not much survives from then.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119152]Just tell me why you think the Bible is worthless? It is after all probably the most detailed literary work we have from around 2000 years ago. Not much survives from then.[/QUOTE] Cause it's literally the most retarded shit around, it really is capable of turning people away from Religion yet we're supposed to honour this book? Why? All the information you could glean from the bible can be found elsewhere and it won't have been translated and adapted a million times.

I mean why is the Bible any different to any other allegorical literary works? Take Dante's Inferno, that book contains people being punished for 'sins' including homosexuality, but is it worthless? What about other allegorical works like Don Quixote?

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119314]I mean why is the Bible any different to any other allegorical literary works? Take Dante's Inferno, that book contains people being punished for 'sins' including homosexuality, but is it worthless? What about other allegorical works like Don Quixote?[/QUOTE] Probably because no one proclaimed them as the word of God and killed people who disobeyed them. Frankly I don't care, the bible is a book that belongs in the past.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119355]Probably because no one proclaimed them as the word of God and killed people who disobeyed them. [/QUOTE] But this whole thread has been about appreciating the Bible from a non-religious point of view, so what does that matter?

[QUOTE=Hakita;36118552]This is an entertaining thread. I'm glad that I've read it.[/QUOTE] I'm glad it isn't a huge shit flinging contest like most threads about religion are. I actually liked to read this all. (and by isn't I meant not as bad as usual)

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119369]But this whole thread has been about appreciating the Bible from a non-religious point of view, so what does that matter?[/QUOTE] I'm giving my personal opinion that's all, and I personally don't appreciate the bible.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119011]Since when was being illogically biased something to boast about?[/QUOTE] I'm sorry but if you're going to argue like that then I think you're the one being illogically biased. [QUOTE=RobbL;36119314]I mean why is the Bible any different to any other allegorical literary works? Take Dante's Inferno, that book contains people being punished for 'sins' including homosexuality, but is it worthless? What about other allegorical works like Don Quixote?[/QUOTE] Because then we'll rate it based on the content value, and if the content value is worth [I]shit[/I], then it's a [I]shit [/I]book If you want me to rate it on a societal level, it's shit when people take it literally. That plus we seriously need more intelligent, up to date religious texts, but that won't happen. recently made mainstream religions are fairly stupid.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119389]I'm giving my personal opinion that's all, and I personally don't appreciate the bible.[/QUOTE] I don't have a problem with what you've been saying tbf, it's the attitude of people like Lankist that's been annoying me more than anything

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119445]I don't have a problem with what you've been saying tbf, it's the attitude of people like Lankist that's been annoying me more than anything[/QUOTE] Well to be brutally honest it's a terribly written book, the characters are never developed effectively, it has more plot holes than world has sink holes, it's schizophrenic as hell and casually jumps without warning between fiction and non-fiction and its so slanted it's sideways most of the time. It's just a really really bad book in the most basic sense, not even in the sense of anti-religion sentiment, just in the sense that reading it for more than 10 minutes at a time is likely to turn someone retarded and cause intracranial haemorrhaging.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119497]Well to be brutally honest it's a terribly written book, the characters are never developed effectively, it has more plot holes than world has sink holes, it's schizophrenic as hell and casually jumps without warning between fiction and non-fiction and its so slanted it's sideways most of the time[/QUOTE] But if you take into account that it was written by many different people over many centuries then that's not so much of a problem

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119511]But if you take into account that it was written by many different people over many centuries then that's not so much of a problem[/QUOTE] No that's part of the problem, it's been written over the years by so many different people who have all had their own agendas that the original purpose of the book was changed, it stopped being a chronicle about the life of Jesus and thoughts about creation and then it started being about how the sin of beastiality was a lesser sin than masturbation and that rape was okay if you gave the father some coin and married the chick.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119511]But if you take into account that it was written by many different people over many centuries then that's not so much of a problem[/QUOTE] That is a terrible excuse. That would be like having a movie go through tons of directors and the end product being all over the place and the story be a huge mess. "Oh but it was passed down through 20 different directors so you should judge it based on that!"

Why would you back that up? Bibles and religion need to leave school and can stay there only as part of history/culture lessons. I don't even need a bible, there's enough nuts who cite it every day.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;36119589]Why would you back that up? Bibles and religion need to leave school and can stay there only as part of history/culture lessons. I don't even need a bible, there's enough nuts who cite it every day.[/QUOTE] Believe me nothing will turn you away from religion faster than needing to read a bible in school, I shit you not, not a single thing is more effective.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119511]But if you take into account that it was written by many different people over many centuries then that's not so much of a problem[/QUOTE] That doesn't make it a not bad book. The Da Vinci Code is still a bad book even if you taken into account the massive handicap that Dan Brown has of "being a shit author". You can't make excuses for a poorly written book, because it's still poorly written. [editline]29th May 2012[/editline] And that analogy was late, so it doesn't really matter anyway.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;36119609]Believe me nothing will turn you away from religion faster than needing to read a bible in school, I shit you not, not a single thing is more effective.[/QUOTE] I suppose that kinda makes sense but that's not a good reason to have religion in school.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;36119635]I suppose that kinda makes sense but that's not a good reason to have religion in school.[/QUOTE] Richard Dawkins is British. Britain doesn't have the same separation of Church and State that the US does.

[QUOTE=WearingNothing;36119585]That is a terrible excuse. That would be like having a movie go through tons of directors and the end product being all over the place and the story be a huge mess. "Oh but it was passed down through 20 different directors so you should judge it based on that!"[/QUOTE] It's doesn't necessary have to be a good read to have literary and historical value

[QUOTE=Lankist;36119671]Richard Dawkins is British. Britain doesn't have the same separation of Church and State that the US does.[/QUOTE] What's your point? There's no reason for bibles in school.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119445]I don't have a problem with what you've been saying tbf, it's the attitude of people like Lankist that's been annoying me more than anything[/QUOTE] You're annoyed? Sorry I'll just ignore the thousands of years of poorly written literature and murder because it might annoy you.

[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;36119680]What's your point? There's no reason for bibles in school.[/QUOTE] My point is that you can't impose a standard of one country on another from thousands of miles away, unless you're going to invade them.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119675]It's doesn't necessary have to be a good read to have literary and historical value[/QUOTE] I never said that, what the passing of hands does is skew the original meaning and value of the text. If something starts in one language it has to be translated based mostly on personal translation. I could see 'The dog likes being brown' but someone else could translate 'The dog likes brown'. With that, the original text becomes splintered and the idea that was meant to be portrayed has been lost.

[QUOTE=Lankist;36119671]Richard Dawkins is British. Britain doesn't have the same separation of Church and State that the US does.[/QUOTE] You live in the Bible belt, and I live in Wales. The relationship between religion, society and politics has been and is quite different between those two places, so I can understand why your opinions are so different to mine

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119734]You live in the Bible belt, and I live in Wales. The relationship between religion, society and politics has been and is quite different between those two places, so I can understand why your opinions are so different to mine[/QUOTE] Geography has absolutely no bearing on good literary taste. Dickens is a good author. Jesus ain't.

[QUOTE=RobbL;36119369]But this whole thread has been about appreciating the Bible from a non-religious point of view, so what does that matter?[/QUOTE] You clearly didn't read the fucking OP, then, seeing as Dawkins is stating that he wants people to read it so that they realise it's not a good book.