Arguing Scripture With a Theist

Alright, I haven't made a post here in a while but I figure it's worth it. As an Atheist who happens to be anti-religion I often find myself debating scripture with those who believe in it. The main problem I have with this is that when I tell them of specific verses that seem to do things like condone rape (as long as you pay money for it) or where God commands his people to slaughter men women and children, they scream CONTEXT and feel like they have won. Often, I have found that they have no idea what they're talking about.

When I was a Christian I grew up with a naturally scientific and curious mind. I was constantly trying to figure things out. I always had lingering doubts about my beliefs but shunted them to the back of my brain so that I still be a good little Christian. Eventually I decided that I was going to sit down and figure it all out to dispel these doubts. I read my bible cover to cover. It was a daunting task but it had to be done. By the time I was done reading it however, I did have the answers I had sought. In fact, I had more questions than when I began.

This seems a common theme amongst atheists. They were often Christians until they read their bible cover to cover. I have noticed that one of the quickest ways to de-convert a person from their religion (any religion) is to encourage them to read their holy texts in their entirety.

Because of that, I stated Devil's Highlighter. With it I highlight the immoral, the contradictory, the silly and the obscenity of scripture. But it isn't just another Bible bashing website, there are plenty of those. This is also a full-fledged movement. People are encouraged to highlight these passages in their own bibles. That way when they have an argument about scripture they can tell the person they're arguing with "hey, when I had questions, I read my bible. If you read this bible cover to cover, then we can continue this debate." Not only that, but if you get a bible or are given a bible, you do the same. The idea is to encourage people to read the bible while keeping them from overlooking the glaring problems therein. The bible is full of boring and hypnotic passages and the readers suffer significantly from confirmation bias. The read what they want to read and get what they want to get out of it. I'm simply pointing out what I got out of it.

So far, things are going great. But they could be going better. I will eventually be making products such as warning labels for bibles as well as bookmarks, flyers, etc... that people can can use instead of highlighting.

The advantage to highlighting, however, is one that should not be overlooked. It forces you to actually read and research these things on your own and increases your bible literacy. I know I'm learning quite a bit in the process. I've even uncovered a verse commonly misquoted by anti-theists and mentioned it. I am trying my best to represent the bible as fair as possible. Luckily for me, the whole thing is pretty messed up.

In any case, if you're an Atheist, Anti-theist, Agnostic, Secular Humanist, Freethinker, or otherwise, you should click here to check it out. If you're religious, you should also check it out. I encourage everyone who thinks I'm wrong to tell me why they think I'm wrong. You never know the strength of one's beliefs until they are challenged and I will gladly accept any challenge against my interpretations of scripture.