I Am Going To Read The Bible

I grew up in a family that went to church on holidays and said grace before meals, so you could say we weren't the strictest Christian family, we just worshipped when it was most convenient. From a early age I always questioned everything especially religion! It was always so frustrating when I asked a question and the only answer I ever seemed to get was, "That is the way the lord wants it." I always thought that was one bogus excuse of an answer.

One day I even asked my mom why God was any better than Satan? My question was met with angered eyes and fear. I just couldn't understand what was wrong with my inquiry, I mean the Devil punished the wrong doers and in my mind that was no different the sending a criminal to prison. (I still don't think that Satan is the evil one of the two) Well anyways my mom started sobbing and yelling and asking God where she had gone wrong with raising me.

By my early teens I was tired of unanswered questions and started heavily researching religion and not just Christianity, I studied every religion I could find to see if any of them would fit my beliefs better. I gave myself the chance that every child should get, a chance for self-discovery. I've read about so many different religions that when I came to conclusion that I was Atheist it made me even more sure that I wasn't missing out on anything crucial.

I still have friends and family who embrace the "holy lord" as their savior and most of them know that I am Atheist and it always makes them ask, "Why?" I've done enough research and am firm enough in my beliefs to have a basic debate with them but when they start siting the bible I am at a loss for words. You see I've never read the bible cover to cover, I mean sure I know the parts that show god is almighty and glorious but we never went over the horrible stuff in church or at home. I've spent a lot of time on Think Atheist and there are several quotes and post challenging Christians to read the bible and though I am not Christian I think that reading it as an Atheist will help in my fight against religion.

So my mission for as long as it takes is I am going to read every single page of the bible. Not for the sake of finding religion but for the sake of learning about a religion I was suppose to follow and fear without questioning, so that I have a stronger defense when people accuse me of being a lost soul or immoral. Maybe I can even convert a few new members to Atheism with my newfound knowledge.

Tags: Atheism, bible, christian, experience, knowledge, personal, religion, research, self-discovery

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Comment by Dennis Smith on May 6, 2012 at 7:56am: The excuse or answer you will receive when you press these passage is "God's ways are higher than our ways, and his thoughts higher than our thoughts". Or that God's ways are mysterious and he can, of course, do anything so no apparent contradiction or irrationality presents a problem. However, you only have to hear that a few times to realize it's just an excuse of an answer. It is an attempt to inoculate the "faithful" against reason and keep them in the "faith box". I addressed that here in my blog.

http://waltzwiththedevil.com/2012/02/26/innoculating-against-reason/

Comment by Gary Mueller on May 6, 2012 at 12:40pm: Read the bible by all means, its full of great quotes, literary references and Aesopian folklore.

But I always remember the quote from Winston Churchill after reading the bible for the first time

he looked to his friend and said "god can be such a little shit"

Comment by Lee on May 6, 2012 at 1:16pm: I tried it myself- but it very difficult after you've become an atheist. It gets soooo BORING when you see the obvious BS. I think a summary (sparknotes) or an abridged version would be much more doable.

Comment by John Jon on May 6, 2012 at 5:37pm: try reading the quran to understand the thought of the radical Muslims because they are the ones who are truly following the Quran

Comment by Jimmy Russell on May 6, 2012 at 7:58pm: it is always a good thing, but sadly no matter how strong our arguments are there will always be some if not most that it matters not. Like in the matrix they just are not ready to be unplugged. And to say that there are much better things to do with one's time, thats totally subjective and relative to what you do already. Different strokes for different folks. If you are an atheist on this forum I'd say its almost required reading just so you don't sound as ignorant as most theists are. But ya fuck me its boring. Again good luck

Comment by Ron V on May 6, 2012 at 9:50pm: @Ian- you have some points worth considering. But consider this - would you discourage a Christian wanting to learn about evolution from reading On The Origin of Species? It is certainly not necessary to read to understand evolution.

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