finitemike

I'm an atheist but I have been enjoying my time reading the Bible. I read Luke, Acts, and Romans before starting the Old Testament. I finished Genesis just fine, and most of Exodus was great except for the nebulous (and arguably self-serving) details about Mose's gold-laden holy tent, the Tabernacle.

Leviticus has been a totally different experience though. The imagery I get here is a roaming band of tent people and a blood-soaked, and fire-charred altar, apparently the lord finds burnt offerings most pleasing. The amount of blood the priests have to pour over the alter for every sin is a bit off-putting when you imagine it in your head, almost like there is some sadism thing going on with

I became an atheist when I was 12. I asked a question at my quite extreme (anti-gay, anti-science) church about evolution, specifically if God created all species at the time of creation, how does The Bible explain speciation? That said, I always believed Jesus existed, his life was heroic, and his ideas were commendable. Specifically ideas like:

the golden rule
loving your enemies
being slow to anger, quick to listen, slow to speak,
harboring no anger for your neighbor and instead love them and hope they find peace.
serve others without expecting anything in return
mercy, forgiveness, peacemaking
anti-greed (eye of a needle), pro-contentment, pro-charity, pro-service
ins