Reading the bible is like reading Shakespeare. Maybe atheism would be more marketable if we had more of the flowery, grandiose, larger than life imagery that the believers are so good at. Some of it is so awe-inspiring and imaginative. Agree or disagree?
How in the world can atheism ever compete with this ...
"Reason is the Devil's greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil's appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom ... Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism ... She would deserve, the wretch, to be banished to the filthiest place in the house, to the closets."
— Martin Luther (1483-1546)
2007-06-27 11:27:03 · 14 answers · asked by HawaiianBrian 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Wow... all I can say is "Zing!" to ol' Martin Luther on that little gem. Quite an eloquent fellow, it would seem. It would also seem that some of his progeny have picked up on his loving tolerance of reason and logic, and his tolerant, patient attitude towards those who propagate reason...
2007-06-27 11:31:48 · answer #1 · answered by ಠ__ಠ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because, from the priest's robes to the liturgy in Jacobean English (or Latin), to the cathedral itself, it is so easy to sell the magnificent packaging.
In fact, for many, that's exactly what they are buying. The sense of community, or the sense of grandeur. The trappings, the wrappings.
Yes, Martin Luther didn't like reason
(Whatever Protestant theologians have done with it since)
Reason and atheism can be "dressed up", but it's rarely as easy, or as fancy, as what religion and theism can manage.
I wonder why they call it the "naked" truth?
Perhaps because if you're dressing it up, you're probably hiding something. And even Genesis agrees with that!
2007-06-27 18:40:05 · answer #2 · answered by Pedestal 42 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
What arrogance to credit this to single mind or heart
No mortal nor immortal science, no god nor goddess' art
Could hope to capture meaning in the place of every stone
Or track the highest vapors white, and claim them for its own
If claws of bear attacking left the pillars 'round Devil's Tower
They did not plant the sunray here, arranging every flower
Nor seed the spear of dandelion, arranged through cracks in road
Conducting shrill of cardinal, nor the chirping of the toad
If thoughtlessness gave salt to seas, and Mother seasons days
Not the ablest of chefs, nor the clumsiest of aides
Sweetens all the airs of spring with winds of fresh-cut grass
Or decorates the gutter with the shards of lime-green glass
No face in moon to watch our lives, and if face, yet no hands
That death, no scythe to cut us down, far more like hourglass sands
Ne'er again arranged just so, here once, then gone for good
No matter how we laughed and cried, nor how we understood.
2007-06-27 18:35:46 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Luther was a genius of language but a demagogue as well.
Atheism is a little top-heavy, that's true. But we'll catch up. For starters, read a bit Oscar Wilde.
2007-06-27 18:32:45 · answer #4 · answered by NaturalBornKieler 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because atheists do not need a poetic obfuscation layer of abstractive language with which to hide 'meanings' that do not and cannot tie in with reality.
"washed in the blood" for instance. Why resort to a confusing euphemism if plain everyday comprehensible language works? I put it to you that the reason it is not phrased in everyday language is because it is meaningless.
However, while I eschew the abstractive obfuscation of the bible and associated religious catechisms and mantras, I do enjoy real poetry and prose.
2007-06-27 18:29:57 · answer #5 · answered by Dharma Nature 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
"The fact that a believer is happier than a sceptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality." - George Bernard Shaw
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal
(Shall I keep going???)
2007-06-27 18:38:56 · answer #6 · answered by Adam G 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Try Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut.
Your quote is kind of violent, actually.
2007-06-27 18:31:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
“All thinking men are atheists.” -- Ernest Hemingway
“Christianity is such a silly religion.” -- Gore Vidal
"I'm a born-again atheist." -- Gore Vidal
( Case closed. ) Plus, Addendum...
“When I think of all the harm the Bible has done, I despair of ever writing anything to equal it.” -- Oscar Wilde
“The total absence of humour in the Bible is one of the most singular things in all literature.” -- Alfred North Whitehead
“I don't believe in God but I'm very interested in her.” – Arthur C. Clarke
“One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.” – Robert A. Heinlein
2007-06-27 18:29:54 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
i disagree, i'm reading the bible at the moment and i'm finding it clumsy and repetative. not poetic at all. maybe it'll get better later on.
i wouldn't compare it to shakespeare at all.
that quote you gave was good though, i liked that.
2007-06-27 18:33:02 · answer #9 · answered by AJ 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Now I know you've obviously never read Shakespeare.
2007-06-27 18:34:54 · answer #10 · answered by Shawn B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋