Reply To: Reeling from Christian friend's bigotry
Oh, I agree with you @Mr.Tag. “Religion” is such a broad word it’s not very useful. It doesn’t even require theism.
For my part, I don’t (usually) see anything “meaningful” in ancient scriptures. Instead, I marvel at those who infer or empower phrases or passages as if they were “wisdom” being imparted by the Timeless Creator Of All Things.
What do you think of the American Constitution? That’s an ancient scripture, or at least a centuries-old one. We infer or empower phrases or passages as “wisdom” of the Founders all the time, don’t we? We even have a selected priestly class called the federal judiciary that is given the power to interpret those phrases and passages, and even use that ancient scripture to strike down modern law. Even then, the ultimate authoritative interpretation of that scripture lies with the People.
I’m not sure I see much of a difference. Ancient scriptures are useful because they provide a common language and foundation on which to build a shared cultural understanding.
[Edited to add: Oops, sorry… it wasn’t clear that you were addressing that to @Simon originally. I’ll leave it to him to pull on this thread or not ;)]
