I am so sad that I taught my kids that the Bible is to be taken literally. It was written in a different time and place. The laws had to be different thousands of years ago. Just think how many of our laws in this country have changed in 200 + years? It goes without saying that we should be kind to our fellow man, help those who CANNOT help themselves, be honest, don't steal, don't hurt others. However, it's okay to steal if you're hungry, okay to take out an eye for an eye, okay to lie if it is for the greater good. Here are some more quotes from Thou Shalt Not Love.
Regarding the Bible being taken literally:
...in fact, the Southern Baptist church split from the American Baptists because the Southern Baptists asserted that slavery was indeed biblical and within God's will.
... The assumption that biblical truths are universally applicable ignore the variations and values of other cultures.
... The kosher food laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, for example, are meaningless in New Guinea or the Amazonian jungle, where many of the animals and foods mentioned do not exist.
What I want to know is where are the laws in the Bible that protect the manatee, the bald eagle? Where are the laws in the Bible that say you must have citizenship papers to cross over another country's border? Where are the laws against online bullies and computer hackers? Where are the laws against littering (one man's junk is another man's treasure) and making a right-hand turn at a no-turn on red light corner? Simple. These laws were not even needed back then. If the Bible is to be taken literally, then it must be more specific and not so general, not just some blanket statement of how things should be that covers everything yet not everything according to one's own interpretation. You interpret the Bible your way, and I'll interpret it mine. We might not get along fine, but it's our right and we should not be criticized or persecuted for it.
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