I won't give out my real name, so from this point on, I am simply known to you as Teeny Pyjamas. Work it out.
I grew up in a fundamentalist religion (actually, it's a cult, but who's arguing?) that many people are familiar with from their door-to-door recruitment techniques.
As a Jehovah's Witness, I was taught that every word in the Bible is true. This included everything from the creation account to the flood story. If the Bible said that donkeys and snakes talked, the dead came back to life and plants and animals came into existence before the sun, well by God, then it must have happened.
Living in this environment requires considerable effort. You see, there is an entire universe of evidence that refutes these claims. It is a little like living in a dark room, when bright sunshine is beaming down on the outside. The only way to keep up the pretense is to actively stamp out all places where light might sneak in.
And stamping is something that we were very good at. For example, when I was growing up, my religion expressly forbade education beyond high school. Outside reading material was regarded with suspicion, and anything critical of the organisation was seized upon as Satanic, evil material that was filled with nothing but lies and could lead to shipwreck of your faith, and possibly even demon possession. Satan sat under every rock, trying to make our cars break down or our children sick, so that we would not get to the Kingdom Hall (church, in everyday language).
We were instructed in techniques for preventing negative thoughts. We were kept busy with mountains of reinforcing literature, and plenty of busy work to keep us out of trouble. We even developed our own peculiar jargon. Fear and guilt were stuffed into every crack, to prevent the light from seeping through.
Therefore, for many years I lived in this dark room, until one day, a rather weak beam of light struck me right in the head. I blinked at it, but I was told that it didn't exist, so, I shook it off and went about with my life. But this simple fact would not let me rest. Eventually, I took up researching my religion, science, and even the Bible itself.
Today, although I am a jolly atheist, I still cannot bask in the sunlight. My friends and relatives are still inside, still deep within the walls of religiousness, therefore, I must clam up whenever one of these beams of light shows itself.
Well, I think I've worked this analogy to death. Now, here's why I decided to create AtheistsWeekly.com.
As I researched the Bible, I began to notice various contradictions, impossibilities, scientific errors, and moral paradoxes. I began to write these down into a concise index, thinking that one day I might publish a definitive index of Bible errors. It didn't take me long to realise that this project was massive. It has been estimated that the Bible contains approximately 2,500 errors. Besides being too huge a job for an essentially lazy person, I discovered that it had already been done.
There seemed to be nothing left for me to do but poke some fun at a few of the lighter Biblical problems. My task for several years, has been to compile stories from the Bible that may be considered humorous, thought provoking, or maybe even inspirational in their own blasphemous sort of way.
Many times, the Bible will tell a story that is either impossible, or so improbable that it could not be considered credible. When this happens, the devout believer alters the interpretation so that incorrect statements are either overlooked or considered symbolic. For example, Jesus said that his audience would not pass away before he returned. Yet, two thousand years later, there is still no sign of him. Therefore, he must have meant something else.
As science progresses, more and more of the Bible is deemed to have been symbolic.
Every article that is written that uses the Bible as its basis, will take into account two assumptions:
First of all, I have assumed that the almighty of the universe is capable of preserving his book accurately. Any Bible that I pick up should be good enough. I will not study Hebrew or Greek in efforts to excuse the Bible of obvious errors. I will not compare translations, until I find one that translates around a mistake. During my life, I have been told stories of how medieval monks painstakingly copied and counted every letter in their manuscripts, making sure that no transcription errors crept into the work. So, I don't want to hear complaints about the translation that I am using. If God can't see to it that his Bible is accurately available to all persons, then he is not who he claims to be. In most cases, I use the Revised Standard Version, for no other reason than that it is readily available on line and was handy when I needed a Bible.
My second assumption is that the Bible says what it means. If it says that one man is the son of another man, then that is what it means. It doesn't mean that the younger man is the grandson, the descendent, or the unrelated successor. At times, the Bible will speak symbolically; however, if it is not apparent from the context that this is the case, then I take it literally.
However, being true to atheism and anti-theism (if you haven't been able to tell that I am an anti-theist by now, please leave), I won't remain on the beat and track of the Bible. I will battle it out with the Qur'an, the Talmud, the Upanishads and any other so-called holy book.
I know the Bible (as I was made to read it day and night), therefore, I will start off with it, presenting a compilation of Bible stories and events, told exactly the way that the Bible tells them, without any embellishment or excuses. I highlight the things that may be overlooked, and at times add a little extra level of research and calculation, just so that the Bible will not get away with anything.
As the title of the blog depicts, this will be a weekly blog. Each and every Thursday, I, or other publishers, will put up a new article for your enjoyment. Make sure you've got your rotten vegetables at the ready!
If you would like to write an article, or have something to add, please contact me via the contact form.
As well as this blog, I also run a blog that discusses the latest intricacies of the Jehovah's Witness cult. If you were a Jehovah's Witness, are thinking of becoming one, or would simply like to smile a bit, visit our sister blog, Jehovah's Witness Blog.com.
Together, let's eradicate religion from this world.
amen!