"White People do this (bangs on bongos)..." "Black People do that (bangs on same bongos but differently)..." I wish I could find that Chapelle skit, but alas I cannot.
So in other words. The Bible stopped them from getting railed by 3 bros every weekend. Good for them.
People can just adopt the concept of empathy rather than having to go through all these hurdles and mental gymnastics through some ancient fairy tale book.
I've read the whole thing. I actually highly recommend it. Tremendously helpful when you get in those arguments with people who say there's something in the Bible to justify whatever evil you'd like. Also useful in fending off proselytizers who make up crap. Also nice for those oblique references in literature and art. And inside jokes. I was actually thinking I should probably read it again because it was maybe 20 years ago when I did that project. Of course I still get it in snippets in sermons, but going cover to cover is a different experience. I tried to read the Koran too, but I really didn't have the context to understand it. I should probably try with some sort of companion book for non-Muslims. If I can pull that off, then it'll be on to the Popol Vuh.
Many moons ago I tried to read the Bible from cover to cover but man, the Old Testament was hard to read, I do like the New Testament much better and have read about 85% of it but not in one sitting but like over the course of 20 years.
I recommend those read-the-Bible-in-a-year pamphlets churches hand out (like this one). It breaks it up so you only have to digest small doses of the OT at a time. Also, a companion book that can explain a bit about the historical context in which each book is written, can show you maps, etc.
