Great arguments to use against Bible Thumpers!

[GeezUS]

I often use the soulforce link as well, but I try to be sensitive to those that believe and say that while I think there are some great lessons to be learned, that some of it no longer applies (this is what drives me crazy with a lot of anti-gay usage from the same section talking about shellfish, mixed fabrics, pigskin, etc) or was perhaps not meant to be taken literally - like Adam and Eve. I remember reading in the book Ishmael that Adam meant man and Eve meant life, and if that's true, then that story is really about humankind being tempted by life to gain wisdom. And yet Creationism is being taught in some schools now?

I tend to think it is more about man being tempted by knowledge that leads one to self harm, in thinking they know it all, or that things can actually be absolutely certain. But then eve doesn't mean life, i believe the Hebrew translates to life bringer or giver, slightly different. And the Hebrew word for man as translated Atom and "man' in the bible is the same as our word "man' it can mean humankind or specifically a male.

It's amazing the similarities between some stories in the Bible and other religions. As taken from wiki's page for 'flood myth', for example: "A flood myth or deluge myth is a mythical or religious story of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution. It is a theme widespread among many cultures, though it is perhaps best known in modern times through the biblical and Quranic account of Noah's Ark, the Hindu puranic story of Manu, through Deucalion in Greek mythology or Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh." How do people then think one version must be the absolute right one? It was a common myth and it's far from the only myth in the Bible.

Yes I tend to think that it happened, and like anything else it was probably influenced by God, the spiritual at the least, but that it is probable that it was accounted for by many. I find that the recurrence of things in multiple religions shows a universal spiritual influence.