re: #52 LudwigVanQuixote

Much of Bereshit can only be read as a metaphor. Does it surprise you that the people who wrote that book, in their language, for their people, as a legal, philosophical and moral code for their people, have contended that for over 3,000 years?

It wouldn’t surprise me, but it also doesn’t surprise me that so many have done so much to use the authority inherent in religious doctrine to manipulate people against each other.

I believe there is such a thing as benign and benevolent religion, as I have seen it. I just think it’s sad how easily one can take the authority inherent in being the person charged with dispensing ultimate truth, and use it to push people in almost any direction at the will of the teacher.

My problem with religion isn’t the teachings, because they can be both good and bad. My problem is the social result of ANY belief that there is such a thing as ultimate (i.e., “divine”) truth. I reject that there could be such a thing. I have a problem with the power structure that inevitably derives from religion, not the teachings themselves.

As they say, if you see the Buddha in the road, kill him. I find this saying to be extremely profound, because it implies that NOBODY can tell you the ultimate (divine) truth.