Trey Smith
It seems that, from time to time, it would be a good thing for me to remind readers of the motivation and purpose behind the Tao Bible series.
First, let's look at my motivations. If you live in the US, Christianity, in general, and fundamentalist Christianity, in specific, is pervasive. While growing numbers of people are turning away from the Christian faith, more people are nominally Christian than any other one belief system.
The Christian perspective is on display 24/7 365 days per year. While you can hear or read of Christian beliefs anytime during the year, a person is beat over the head with it around Christmas and Easter. In fact, it is difficult to escape it.
In many ways, it permeates our society. I often think that people who I identify as Christians don't realize how ubiquitous it is. For them, it's the way the world is and should be. So, a lot of it just sort of skims over their heads without a second thought.
Many Christians have a tendency to espouse their beliefs in the commons without ever considering that some people in the crowd may not believe as they do or, if they do think about this, they decide that the heathens and pagans need to hear the "truth" as they see it.
Because of my Fibromyalgia, I often must use a cane to get around. I can't begin to tell you the number of times some stranger has come up to me to tell me they will pray for me to get better. Many of these strangers will ask me if I have prayed to God about my condition. They automatically assume that I MUST believe as they do and, when I tell them that I don't believe in God, many have suggested that my ailments are my punishment for non-belief.
What audacity! These strangers know nothing about me, yet they feel confident that my suffering and/or the "fact" that I will go to hell is because I don't see things the same way they do. It blows my mind!
But it's not just my personal experiences either. Many conservative Christians believe that the laws of the land should reflect their myopic worldview. They want to see the US Constitution replaced with the 10 Commandments. They want to make abortion illegal under all circumstances, outlaw homosexuality, get rid of contraception and push our leaders to destroy every Muslim nation on the face of the earth -- all in God's name.
So, the purpose of the Tao Bible series is to juxtapose the beliefs of one Taoist against the mindset of conservative or fundamentalist Christianity. It is to show that there is more than one way to view the world.
Some readers have suggested that I am railing against God. This is patently untrue because I don't believe in God. I'm not railing against something that I don't think exists; I'm railing against the institution that insists -- contrary to any substantive proof -- that it is real. And one of the ways I do this is to show how inconsistent and contradictory the Bible is.
"And one of the ways I do this is to show how inconsistent and contradictory the Bible is."
ReplyDeleteI think it would be good to say..."as read by people who don't do any serious or thoughtful exegesis or have any sense of Biblical history."
I don't think you are "railing against God" but sometimes just making jokes (like the constipation post) which are not always well supported.
I know some of us from more liberal or Orthodox or academic backgrounds are compelled to point out what appear to be flawed arguments or perceptions in your "literal" interpretations. If anything, perhaps that may help someone who takes a narrow reading of the text to open up, to read their Bible a little more intelligently. We're not really taking issue with you, simply pointing out there may be another way to read it without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
You're not going to get the evangelicals to give up their faith so easily and certainly not by contrasting it with Tao; but perhaps someone will rethink their position.
I think it is a very worthwhile project as it will act as support, leverage or so on to many who need that.
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