Opening remarks

Yes, welcome to Atheists’ Bible Study! I, like Susan, was raised without religion (though perhaps not raised ‘atheist’). Unlike Susan, however, I was raised in the Deep South, and was therefore unrelentingly proselytized by evangelicals and fundamentalists until I was old enough to escape to a more secular part of the world. I understand that the Bible is an important document in our culture, but have never made it through the book myself. I did try to read the Bible once, but probably didn’t even make it through Genesis (parts of The Good Book are Really Boring, if I recall).

Honestly, I am actually really interested in reading the Bible. I’ve heard SOOOO much about this book, it better be amazing. I’ve got a lot of questions and themes that I’ll be thinking about while I’m reading. I’m really interested in the history of how the Bible was written – who wrote what, when, and why; and also in how the books of the Bible have changed over time. What does the Bible actually say about evolution? What texts were stolen from other religions? Does anything in the Bible represent a “new” religion, or is it all pieced together from religions before it? Why are some parts of the Bible disproportionately fixated upon by Christians (the parts about condemning homosexuality and divorce), while others are totally ignored (the proper way to sacrifice ones’ daughters, or about not eating shellfish). How can any thinking person actually believe this is "the word of God" given how butchered it has been by thousands of years of humans?

Just for the record, I’ll probably be considerably more anti-religion than Susan (representing lingering issues from my childhood amongst the fundamentalists, I suppose). Specifically, I feel that religious thinking has not always been a positive influence on our society (i.e. church-supported racism and homophobia, the anti-intellectualism of “creationism” or ”intelligent design”, the Taliban and 9/11) and that churches should own up to that. Also for the record, I often tend towards heated diatribes, which I will be happy to post if I'm in the mood. I will try to be constructive, but this does not mean I will hold back if I’m feeling strongly about something. And I am not one to shy away from controversy.

So here we go…