Hello!!

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

Yes, but if you talk to a Christian you will hear about evidence of the red sea crossing, and the ark and a bunch of other bullshit.  The reality of it is that there is no real evidence for any of it and that all the factual evidence shows that none of it ever happened. It is really quite ridiculous.  When you tell them that the bible says the Earth is only 6000 years old they say where? When you show them the actual timeline in the bible they say a day is like 1000 years and blah blah.  It's hard to argue with a religion that has a loophole for everything.  You just prove them wrong on every level, then when they bust out the loophole laugh and walk away.

[xSilverPhinx]

You could try and make them answer for things the bible says that are less interpretive and more literal, such as the fact that there are two different genesis accounts.

[JustinS]

You could try and make them answer for things the bible says that are less interpretive and more literal, such as the fact that there are two different genesis accounts.

And possibly thirteen missing gospels, probably confiscated/hidden during the long-ago, more sectarian days of Christianity. It is odd how different churches, all sharing more or less the same doctrines, would take actions as severe as mutilating the text (i.e. hiding gospels) in order to 'win' over more followers. Christianity is much more tolerating today, compared to so long ago.

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

 I still can't believe that they actually think that woman was made from a mans rib. Just another way for us males to establish dominance.  In my opinion people who think that way are one step out of the cave.  All that macho testoserone crap. And the man being head of household thing is getting old too.  There is no reason that one person should have the final say when two people built a family together.  Especially when these days women work as much as men, and still have to go through pregnancy and childbirth. Every time I hear that crap it makes me ill. 
One thing I will mention that is kind of funny.  I am surrounded by Christians, yet once I start in with my atheist talk, the christians seem to get into it.  Like they have a hard time believing too.  I was talking to a Christian friend about how my favorite imaginary characters of all time would have to be santa, aquaman, and Jesus Christ.  All I got was a laugh. No argument at all. 
I have heard about the Lost Judas books and some others from the bible. I will have to go over them at some point. Right now I am reading the portable atheist by Hitchens.  I've already been throwing the bs that some of the preachers and others around here lie about.  I love how nobody actually does anything wrong in the southern US.  Go to a Southern church sometime.  Everything that people do wrong is the devil.  Nobody does anything wrong themselves. If they have something to blame it on they feel better about doing it.  Another example of lies used to get more church members.  Oh really it wasn't me that cheated on my wife it was the devil in me? I like this church lets go here twice a week!! In the beginning it was all about not sinning.  The devil was a new testament invention to get people to feel better about the crap they did.  There is also a lot of yelling in church.  I guess god is hard of hearing or something. More likely it is tied into the whole testosterone thing, but I think an image of a guy with a beard in the clouds turning up his hearing aid is a funnier explanation.

[xSilverPhinx]

You could try and make them answer for things the bible says that are less interpretive and more literal, such as the fact that there are two different genesis accounts.

It is odd how different churches, all sharing more or less the same doctrines, would take actions as severe as mutilating the text (i.e. hiding gospels) in order to 'win' over more followers.

Is it really so odd? If you control information, you control people. I think it's to be expected, actually.

The protestant reformation was a good thing IMO. It decentralised the hold just one organisation had over their information.

[JustinS]

Is it really so odd? If you control information, you control people. I think it's to be expected, actually.

I agree that it's to be expected; I used the word 'odd' incorrectly. I just dislike how they would manipulate people in such a way. The protestant reformation was a good thing; I agree. Any revisionist movement, such as the protestant movement, is a good thing because revisionism of religion generally involves the liberalization of previously dogmatic social procedures. As western civilization advanced, Christianity became more tolerant in many respects, often as a result of revisionism.

[Anti-antidisestablishmentarianism]

 Sorry I haven't had time to reply what with everything being closed for the holidays, but anyway here goes my two cents! Religion is definitely more tolerant in whole for the most part, but especially in America.  Puritans founded the Massachusetts bay colony because the Protestant reformation didn't go far enough. The church was still too tolerant of Catholic practices.  They took radical views of different churches they liked and basically created their own religion with purity and godliness in all aspects of life.  So when they were unable to form a new English National church, they decided to come to the "New world." To my understanding they thought that religion in England was not strict enough right after the medieval period.  Even thinking about that brings up an image of my head exploding. Then of course we had witch trials and burnings and all sorts of other fun stuff.  I don't think religion in western civilization could have gone anywhere but up unless it remained in total chaos. I'm glad it did.  I just hope that we keep on going up and that nothing causes civilization to decline in any way.  I would hate to think of living in a world where religion is dominant over technology once again. We live in a great world compared to the BS our ancestors dealt with.  I am pretty happy with the way things are going myself.