↑ ↓
 

Why the whole "The bible is metaphorical!" excuse is bogus

Started by Tom S. Fox, October 28, 2008, 08:02:40 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
Print
Go Down Pages1
User actions
October 28, 2008, 08:02:40 PM
In short, you can interpret everything into everything by saying, "Well, this is a metaphor for this and that!"
See this for an example.
October 28, 2008, 08:20:59 PM #1
My favorite is in the episode of BS when P&T interpreted "The Wheels on the Bus" as if it were a Nostradamian quatrain.
October 28, 2008, 08:38:24 PM #2
Hey, look at that, I'm a Jr. Member!

Anyway, I'm afraid I haven't seen this episode.
They don't even air the show over here, unfortunaly, so I have to rely on YouTube.
October 29, 2008, 12:38:40 AM #3
Quote from: Tom S. Fox on October 28, 2008, 08:38:24 PM
Hey, look at that, I'm a Jr. Member!

Anyway, I'm afraid I haven't seen this episode.
They don't even air the show over here, unfortunaly, so I have to rely on YouTube.
It's definitely worth checking out. P&T aren't always on the money, but they usually have some good arguments. I usually grab BS via bittorrent, not that I in anyway endorse piracy. We don't get BS here in Australia so I don't feel so bad about downloading it.
August 30, 2009, 12:59:24 AM #4 Last Edit: August 30, 2009, 03:23:09 AM by surhotchaperchlorome
Quote from: Tom S. Fox on October 28, 2008, 08:02:40 PM
In short, you can interpret everything into everything by saying, "Well, this is a metaphor for this and that!"
See this for an example.
Or the different version of the argument: "You're taking that verse out of context!" or "atheists don't do their research; just like the fundies!" that this retard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfUxZihdono goes on about with me in the comment section.  All this said without any evidence to really back it up, or to show what the full context was.  And when I asked him about the books he spoke of (see this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEIGWESngdY from Paulsego why even if what he claims would still be bogus even IF the stuff was confirmed by other books, without supporting evidence something he wouldn't even provide when probed; even a summary)
In short, like other Liberal/Moderate Christians, he was just weasling; just like Kent Hovind, or Ray Comfort.  Pathetic.
In my experience, the leftist Christians are even worse than the others:  statist dogma combined with religious dogma - certain death.
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537
August 30, 2009, 01:25:34 AM #5
As I see it, how one interperates the bible is more a reflection of them as people than of the bible itself.  For an extreme example, I have no doubt that Fred Phelps would still be a hate spewing bigot even if he was an atheist.  He looks for ways the bible backs his position and voila.

Tis why I always say religion is the excuse, power is the reason.
I recently heard that the word heretic is derived from the greek work heriticos which means "able to choose"
The more you know...
August 30, 2009, 01:30:31 AM #6
I couldn't agree more!
It helps that the bible is so poorly written with more contradictions than...err...something with a huge number of contradictions, blatant lies, and proven falsehoods and constant retellings both verbal and written, that even if the book had any semblance of historical value, it would have been eaten up by the distortions, and not to mention the fact that in the writing the bible, around the 4th century CE, I recall something about priests actually voting on which books to include in it, as if reality could be decided by majority vote (source: AronRa's FFoC videos).
Not to mention how, regardless of what's in it, it's blatant that the book is obviously bullshit; so in the long run, it really doesn't matter.

To quote TheAmazingAtheist in his deleted video to Moderate Christians: "Your book's full of shit!"
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537
August 30, 2009, 10:29:19 AM #7
Quote from: Lord T Hawkeye on August 30, 2009, 01:25:34 AM
As I see it, how one interperates the bible is more a reflection of them as people than of the bible itself.  For an extreme example, I have no doubt that Fred Phelps would still be a hate spewing bigot even if he was an atheist.  He looks for ways the bible backs his position and voila.

Yes, but would he be able to get so many followers?
August 31, 2009, 07:53:21 PM #8
I thought he only had about 100 followers? O.o
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537
August 31, 2009, 09:02:50 PM #9 Last Edit: August 31, 2009, 09:04:57 PM by Lord T Hawkeye
Quote from: MrBogosity on August 30, 2009, 10:29:19 AM
Yes, but would he be able to get so many followers?

L. Ron Hubbard did it and his idea was 100x more ridiculous and transparent.

Besides, in this day and age with the internet, you say the silliest thing you can think of, you can probably find at least 100 people who'll get behind it.
I recently heard that the word heretic is derived from the greek work heriticos which means "able to choose"
The more you know...
September 01, 2009, 06:45:03 AM #10
Quote from: Lord T Hawkeye on August 31, 2009, 09:02:50 PML. Ron Hubbard did it and his idea was 100x more ridiculous and transparent.

It was still mired in religion, though. It seems like you really need religion or politics to get people to be REALLY stupid.
December 30, 2009, 07:57:21 PM #11
I can't remember if I've said it here or not, but something I encountered at the Mises forum by a guy named LibertyStudent was when I pointed out that I've seen parts of the Quran that insist on all sorts of atrocities and so forth, the whole Sharia Law deal being passed in Europe, provided him with the Wikipedia Article for it as well as a source showing those Islamic countries being third world.

What did he use to rebut my claims?

He just dismissed what I said about the Quran as ignorance, saying that I'd need to read the entire thing.
Fallacies:  Appeal to ridicule, Ad Hominem, Red Herring and Homework Fallacy, and possibly burden of proof.
He's the one saying that "I'm full of shit"  He's making the positive claim, so he's got the burden of proof.  It still doesn't change the fact that there ARE atrocities committed in those countries and others IN THE NAME OF ISLAM, and none of his hand-waving will ever fucking change that.  He also made a red herring saying that, "Well, they were one of the first to recognize human rights while we were still dealing with slavery"  *facepalms*  Which, by the way, is another red herring, as it doesn't mean they're doing that today!
Idiot.

He blew off the points about Sharia Law as "Statist Propaganda".
Fallacies:  Genetic Fallacy, Poisoning the Well, Ad Hominem, and a baseless assumption with NOTHING presented to back it up.

He blew off the link to the Economic Freedom Index, saying that "property rights are what's most important".
Fallacies:  Red Herring/Hand Waving
Not to mention he didn't counter it with anything of his own other than the classic, "Do your research, I don't have time for this."
Yet he has time to be an Admin on a forum, and duke it out with me?
Please, I ain't buying that.

Finally some other guy showed me a video of people from that part of the world (news channel) showing them thinking about more non interventionist principles.  Yet how do I know if that is typical of people in that part of the world?  Given the data of the place being the in third world, I highly doubt it.
So I call Anedotal Evidence:  worthless.

I simply can't stand it when people pull the, "Oh, you haven't read the Koran/Bible/etc", etc, etc ,etc.
Man...
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537
December 31, 2009, 02:52:28 AM #12
"It's so simple and obvious and yet for some arbitrary reason, I can't be bothered to actually show it."

Like the guy who's so famous, nobody knows who he is.
I recently heard that the word heretic is derived from the greek work heriticos which means "able to choose"
The more you know...
January 12, 2010, 02:52:29 AM #13
Quote from: Lord T Hawkeye on December 31, 2009, 02:52:28 AM
"It's so simple and obvious and yet for some arbitrary reason, I can't be bothered to actually show it."

Like the guy who's so famous, nobody knows who he is.
He's said some smart things and really knows how to explain the gold standard in a way that could make Shane jealous, but son of a bitch, for every thing smart he says, he says at least one stupid thing.

When I talked about the idea of the USA going from what it is now to a 100% free market, he went on about how "well obviously, it's impossible to know what that would be like, but given our debt, and China, we'd be competing for scarce resources, etc"

He really needs to read Mary J. Ruwart's book "Healing Our World" even the free online edition, chapter 2, because what he said was incredibly stupid.
Resources are NOT the biggest limiting factor of wealth, not a by a long shot.
And yes, we DO know it would be better.
All the available evidence points to that conclusion.
"When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole world—'No. You move.'"
-Captain America, Amazing Spider-Man 537
May 03, 2010, 08:03:43 AM #14
Quote from: MrBogosity on October 28, 2008, 08:20:59 PM
My favorite is in the episode of BS when P&T interpreted "The Wheels on the Bus" as if it were a Nostradamian quatrain.

Wait...that one was'nt from Nostradamus...I could'nt tell.
User actions
Print
Go Up Pages1