If atheist believe that the bible is false, why do they abide by most of it?

Question

Why don't they teach their children that every thing in the bible is false and they should do everything opposite of what the bible teaches. Then see how far they get in life. What do you think would be the outcome? Better or worse?

- from my previous response -

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I really enjoyed reading most of the responses whether you agree with me or not.

Answer 1

I don't abide by the bible:

I don't own slaves. I often wear clothing of mixed fibers. I have worked weekends, although not recently. I never sacrifice animals when I get sick. I don't stone disobedient children. I never hated my parents as Jesus commanded. I have taken out loans, and earned interest from banks. I don't kill witches. I treat my wife as an equal. I have never killed homosexuals. I could go on and on.

Answer 2

The Bible is/was written by people, not by a so called god. There is no such thing as a universal god. The Bible is something that was written way back, nobody is sure when, it is no different than the Torah. It is sort of a guide of how to live, it is not the end all be all of how to live. It is sort of a guideline of what is the proper way to do things. If you are an aetheist you don't believe in god, that doesn't mean that you don't believe that you shouldn't lead a good life. What does the bible have to do with any of this. Ok, an aethiest isn't going to take their children to any house of worship, and it seems here you are basing it on Christianity, and there are a lot more religions in the world. You can be Jewish or Buddist and be an aethist, and in either of these we don't have the bible to deal with in the same way. Just because you don't believe in god doesn't mean you are the anti-christ and you go out of your way to take the bible and go out and take the bible and say - read this book and do the exact opposite. There are basic rules of life that are universals, be a good person, love your parents, treat people with respect. To be honest I don't know enough about the bible to be able to quote it. I am an aetheist and I think I've grown up as a good person. My mother was a religious person and my father belonged to a Temple to make my mother happy, but he admitted to me that he was really an agnostic. People have a right to have their own feelings when it comes to religion. If we were more open we would have less wars in this world.

Answer 3

Not everything in the Bible is false, I don't think anyone thinks that. I mean at the very least on a geographical sense it's true, there's an egypt, an isreal, etc. There are some good messages (don't kill, steal, be good to your neighbour) but the under lying message in the Bible is love and worship God or prepare for an eternity in hell, and there lies the false part.

As for me I've done good for myself in life, and i haven't gone by what the Bible teaches, I go by what my parents and life have taught me, and that's better than an old book written by confused men any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

Answer 4

Why don't Christians teach their children everything in the bible?

Deuteronomy 6:14-15 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are around you; (for the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you;) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
Summary: God will have anyone who worships another deity put to death. (good guy?)


Exodus 21:7 And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as
the menservants do.
Summary: okay to sell your daughter into slavery

Exodus 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death.
Summary: self-explanatory

Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him
Question: Should Jesus see a barber?


If you believe it’s your god and your god is infallible, you can’t throw out some of the rules just because you don’t like them.


In addition, I am not atheist or religious, but I simply do not believe the stories of the bible to be historically accurate. This has nothing to do with the principles taught within the book.

Answer 5

If you mean compassion, love, and helping one another, that has nothing to do with the Bible. It has to do with basic human values that have anchored itself in the human fabric, regardless of religion. Of course I am happy that the Bible too preaches such ideas. However humans of all backgrounds, not in the least Christians, have shown the capacity to ignore these ideas and to commit cruel acts.

However I cannot deny that religion has cemented certain values into the backbone of our society. Our common story of what is good and bad. Even if you have no relation to the Bible, you will be exposed to these values, some great, some rather regrettable I would say. Yet the Bible, like everything in our life’s, has been inspired by the human capacity of kindness.

It would be more correct to say that despite of all its references to damnation and all its claims to metaphysical truth, the Bible has not been able to escape preaching those values that are the most human and earthly of all; compassion, love and human kindness.

Answer 6

The golden rule came out before christian ideology. It's a simple fact to survive humans banded together. It wouldn't do to have people running around stealing and killing in any society. We may believe the bible is false but many of the ideas are right for living together. How do you think people managed before the bible? Have you heard of asops fables, or fairy tales? Do you believe they are true? Or are they just STORIES that teach?

Answer 7

This is silly. Atheist and anti-theist are not the same thing. I don't think I've ever heard any atheist espouse that every word of the bible is false. ("Love thy neighbor as thy self" strikes me as being some damn fine advice.)

Generally, you display a very limited view of the world if you assume that being an atheist is the opposite of being a Christian. The two things simply do not compare in those terms.

Answer 8

Now doing the opposite of everything the bible says would be very simplistic and stupid, wouldnt it - ah but you're religious so you won't grasp that point.

OK well I wouldnt know how to tell anyone to do the opposite of the bible being as full of contradictions as it is. It says thou shalt not kill then god endorses genocide against several tribes telling them to kill all the men, women and children, too.

Your mentality seems well suited to religion. I assume you'd kill your children if they insulted you - thats what it says in the bible.

Answer 9

You are stupid. We don't do things BECAUSE they're in the Bible. We do them DESPITE the fact that they're in the Bible.

Just because the Bible says 'be good' doesn't mean all atheists are going to deliberately 'be bad'

The Christian view on atheists is completely wrong. Just another attempt by the churches to maintain control over their herd.

Answer 10

Hitler believed the sky was blue. Should I give up that belief, or just the ones he held that are wrong? All Abrahamic religion is false, but must hold some truth to have existed for very long at all. The intellectual failure required to believe the Bible is well indicated by just such suggestions; was that your intent?

Answer 11

Morality has nothing to do with religion. Morality should come from the social ties, traditions, and values we develop throughout our lies. If your sense of morality comes solely from fear of punishment or hope of reward, I feel sorry for you.

Actually, a large majority of the Bible is hardly what I would call moral. If one followed the Bible word for word they would be thrown in jail.