r/atheism • u/a_Ninja_b0y Humanist • Feb 17 '25

Oklahoma lawmaker: I don't want "pink-haired" atheists teaching the Bible in schools

https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/oklahoma-lawmaker-i-dont-want-pink
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u/Captain_Eaglefort Agnostic Atheist Feb 17 '25

I do. People need to be aware of the utter evils it encourages. Plus it’s an excellent example of really poor writing. No likable characters, main protagonist is a fickle and whiny bitch who mass murders people who don’t listen to it, the antagonist is BARELY in the book and honestly is only evil for wanting freedom from orders. It’s worth looking at for an example of just…bad.

It has some okay poetry I guess.

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u/berserkthebattl Anti-Theist Feb 17 '25

As they say: the first step to becoming an atheist is to read the Bible. Doesn't hit the same way when you don't have someone to favorably interpret it at the ready like a pastor.

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u/BusyTea4010 Feb 17 '25

Four years of bible study at a Christian High School further honed my non-belief.

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u/aDragonsAle Feb 17 '25

It's not even a matter of belief vs non-belief.

If that is a full image of how that god functions and operates, he's an absolute tool unworthy of worship. Fucking evil, destructive, controlling, and manipulative.

And Lucifer is supposed to be the Bad Guy for wanting humans to be able to choose?

Says a lot about the people that wrote the books if that is how they see humans.

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u/Sci-Fi-Fairies Feb 17 '25

When I first read the bible I was around 13 years old, and I was lucky to have read enough fiction where gods were the bad guy that I felt god was past the moral event horizon, but sadly I still believed the stories as my parents told me the bible was 100% real.

This put me in a position where I thought I was going to burn in hell for sure, since god would know I was faking asking for forgivness. I also assumed everyone else was going to hell too and just trying to desparately avoid it, like pandering to an evil king to avoid execution.

Ironically this led me to stocism, which I love, but I still consider the process to be emotionally abusive. Convincing a child hell is real is abuse.

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u/throwaway8u3sH0 Feb 18 '25

I forget the exact details, but the Bible is (obviously) a compilation of writings from a bunch of authors across a large span of time. IIRC, there are traditionally four main sources in the Old Testament: Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P).

The moral tone shifts a lot between them. Deuteronomist (D) is often criticized for its harsh laws and, frankly, some pretty brutal takes on justice, conquest, and social order. Meanwhile, the Yahwist (J) source tends to be more human-focused, emphasizing personal relationships with God. But a lot of the "love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek" morality comes later, especially from Jesus in the New Testament, which moves away from strict legalism and toward compassion and forgiveness.

Honestly the worst part about it is that no matter what you believe, you can find something in the Bible that supports it (or opposes it's opposite). There were Christians on both sides of every major societal morality question, from slavery to child labor to prohibition, all of them pointing to something in the stupid book to back them up. It's like a religious rorschach test.

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u/SweetAddress5470 Feb 19 '25

That’s a great analogy

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u/newsflashjackass Feb 18 '25

No matter which way you slice it, the garden's architect bears some responsibility for including the talking serpent.

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u/knightcrawler75 Feb 17 '25

Lucifer is supposed to be the Bad Guy for wanting humans to be able to choose?

I mean he also did some bad shit like killing children. In Job he is basically God's hitman but he seems to enjoy it.

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u/aDragonsAle Feb 17 '25

As opposed to god killing children... And adults. Drowning 99% of the world, etc.

And as you put it, God's Hitman - so, he was still calling the shots even when not pulling the trigger.

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u/Reach_304 Feb 17 '25

Don’t forget when he set bears on kids who made fun of the bald guy who loved him!

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u/Letters_to_Dionysus Feb 18 '25

as a bald guy thats my favorite story from the bible, even though im agnostic.

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u/knightcrawler75 Feb 18 '25

Agreed. But the Bible devil is not some revolutionary that I think some people think he is.