re: wisdom of bible? dlux
That religion and cruelty have gone hand in hand is plainly evident (of course it is equally evident that religion and love/kindness/etc have also been associated strongly). Whatever way humankind have decided to apply their religion or react to its truths doesn't in any way change the underlying realities of it: " Christianity would be great if it wasn't for the Christians " is a quote that has a ring of truth to it. Many act out the faith they would want Christianity to be than actually accept it for what it is. We make God the God we want Him to be instead of just humbly accepting who He is. This is the nature of Man, and his continual downfall.
Our hypocrisy and avoidance of our responsibilities in response to God's revelation to us doesn't take away from the fact of who He is but just better informs us of who WE are - subjects who DO NOT want to be under Authority - this goes right back to Adam.
Religion is based on Fear - yes that is true, but not fear of "mysterious unknowns" but fear of realities (death, etc). "Fear God" is oft quoted in the Bible though this has not quite the same meaning as it includes aspects of awe and humble respect for God's totally sovereign position as our Creator. How dare we question His motives or plans? Read Job. We should indeed "Fear Him".
Religion is more based on Hope, because the fear was already there and hope (through Faith which is possible through God's revealing Himself to us in the Bible and the historical events therein) allows us to survive in a world that otherwise would leave us with no option other than despair ( the life of worthlessness and insignificance of Atheism, another of the world's "great" Religions ). However, atheism and its logical consequence Relativistic Humanism does allow for a life of "independence" (ie "do as you like") in the absence of absolutes and therefore morality. This has always been the great attraction of finding ways to avoid the realities of accepting the Authority of the one God who created us all.
At the end of the day, when we die we will all come face to face with whatever is Reality, but again, the "evidence", if we apply objective logic to the abundant evidence of the physical world around us, points unavoidably to a real and Biblical Creator (whether we like it or not).
