A Common Failing...

From The Carpetbagger, this post on sanctimonious Santorum:

"“I’ve never read the Bible cover to cover; maybe I should have,” Santorum said"

Now, given the bruises he has all over his chest from thumping it on religious issues, one would have thought he'd have read his own User's Guide. Funny thing, though - many people who say they are Christians haven't read the Bible all the way through either. For most of these people, it doesn't matter - they're of the "live and let live" religious bent; whereas they may disagree with you, they don't feel compelled to condemn you loudly, publicly and monotonously.

But there are some who are just stupid about this. I was in a debate in a religious chat room, and someone challenged the room to state a bad episode in the Bible. I mentioned the horrifying episode of Elisha's bald head, the kids who made fun of it, and the bears who "tare forty and two children". (2 Kings, 2:23-24) This worthy person immediately called me a liar and stated that HER Bible would never have anything like that in it at all. She was backed up by many, who stated that I had to be lying. After I posted the verses, they went quiet. It seems that many of them went by what they THOUGHT the Bible should say and not what it does say. So Santorum, while proving himself once again to be a stupid man, isn't alone.

There's a reason I don't listen to people who state that we should live our lives by the Bible - usually stating this belief to back up their anti-gay beliefs or the like. There are three possibilities to the Bible:

a.)It's completely and totally Holy - so all of it should be followed to the letter. Go read Leviticus and tell me if you know anyone who follows all of these laws. No fair arguing times have changed - I don't see an expiration date for these laws.

b.)It's completely and totally secular - so claiming divine law doesn't work.

c.) Parts of it are holy; parts aren't. We don't know which are which. So picking and choosing what you want to believe says more about what YOU think rather than what GOD thinks, doesn't it?

Part of the reason I became an agnostic was because I read the Bible cover to cover and realized there's quite a lot in there I can't find acceptable in a deity who's supposed to be a loving God. Maybe if other people read it, instead of imagined it, they'd be a little less prone to screaming that they know the answers from God's mind.