Using Christian time off - a national holiday based on Christian belief - to blog about some things Bible?
This post is really the aftermath of a recent Catholic funeral. Catholic funerals can get at you, especially the traditional line "let's pray for the person in our midst who's next", when you see the old man a pew over flinch.
An emotionally lighter memorial type deal is so much better for the living.
This tweet tipped the balance:
* atheist logic: "I cannot see god with my eyes, therefore god doesn't exist" Blind person: "Colors don't exist"
Because colors do not exist, strictly speaking. And, even if we accept they exist, some colors do not "exist" in some cultures.
If the bible were written today, it would fail standard plagiarism tests, for instance, the flood part from the epic of Gilgamesh. TheEditor has thought long and not hard about a way to sneak the Bible into the German collaborative plagiarism platform VroniPlag.
Being as big a book as it is, having been debated for a few thousand years, and TheEditor being a semi-educated moron, there is no way a blog post can do the book justice.
TheEditor likes to look at the bible as a work of standard fiction with some nice scientific content. For example, the food rules have been shown to be good health standards for a hot climate without refrigeration.
We do not know why God might have waited so long to have people invent the fridge and air-conditioning in the first place. That's for theologians to find out.
The above tweet took us to the web site Godless Mom, and a post with things the mom does not believe in. We'll ignore most of the horror story parts of the bible. The Good Book has a number of intriguing parts that read like science explained to people who will need another tow or three thousand years to invent kindergarten.
Talking bushes
TheEditor personally witnessed a talking bush. Not a flaming one, only taking, and no, no gutter think, please. A shrub, greenery, that talked. Because a fancy pants official did not want a carefully crafted scene spoiled by the presence of an interpreter with a bull horn.
So the man with the horn was put behind the bush. His protest was ignored, and when the show got rolling, the bush talked.
Virgin births
Medieval witchcraft explanations and adolescent embarrassment aside, in vitro fertilization works fine as an explanation. Christian mythology makes the angel all white, which works just fine in most modern hospitals around the world.
Almost 1000 year old men in a whale
Come on, isn't this an apt image for space travel? At least since 2001 A Space Odyssey?
All species of animals in a boat
Walk-in is a stretch, for sure. But nicely deep frozen, or DNA plus other bits and pieces makes the bible into a first rate science manual. Plus, you can fit the plants in, too.
Crucifixion and resurrection
The question how a real life series of events like this could be "faked" is not as outlandish as your Sunday school teacher might think. Within the context of an occupation by a foreign power and a classic insurgency, a certain lady on good terms with a Roman soldier makes quite a bit of sense.
Immortal soul
The photons emitted by your body, as well as the body of your cat, dog, cow etc., can be considered as close to immortal as it gets. The natural recycling of the bod is a bit less appetizing but makes a point. And the fact that the heavy elements in the human typing these lines are several billion years old works for me, too.
No, we do not want to talk about the let there be light thing again. Creationists have been going through more hoops than camels ever can to hijack this one.
No God needed, but thanks for all the holidays.
* More about colors tomorrow.
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