Why do, "Many Christians who've stopped really believing now insist that they revere the Bible as a source of ethical advice?"
I frame the stated arguments as proxy arguments rather than "fake."
As an atheist in a Christian cultural mileau, I found use in reading the Bible as a background info about Christians and the powerful Christian aspect of our culture. Jews too, and to a lesser extent Islam. I've seen how Christians who used to believe do not become like me simply because they no longer really believe. Upbringing sets many moral/ethical defaults, and these defaults are not systematically changed by rejecting Christian theistic epistemology.
Why do, "Many Christians who've stopped really believing now insist that they revere the Bible as a source of ethical advice?"
I frame the stated arguments as proxy arguments rather than "fake."
As an atheist in a Christian cultural mileau, I found use in reading the Bible as a background info about Christians and the powerful Christian aspect of our culture. Jews too, and to a lesser extent Islam. I've seen how Christians who used to believe do not become like me simply because they no longer really believe. Upbringing sets many moral/ethical defaults, and these defaults are not systematically changed by rejecting Christian theistic epistemology.
Messing with defaults is dangerous.
Also of course carrying a... (read more)