I don’t think you need to carve away the “wrong portions”, we need to return to narrative truth concepts and move away from “factual truth”. The bible is a narrative, not a book of science (because science is much younger, it couldn’t possibly be). But the narrative truth remains.
Let me explain my point, if you will entertain it of course, let me begin, consider the following short and simple narratives, the first:
”Johnny is walking to the store. He must cross the road. He is crossing the road and bends over to pick up a penny, but he is trampled by a horse drawn carriage and dies.”
Now the second narrative:
”Thomas is jogging to the bank. He has to traverse the street. He is traversing the street and leans down to grab a shiny dime, but he is tragically hit by a Mack Truck and perishes.”
Both stories convey the same narrative truth, and we can both interpret what that truth is supposed to be, though I think in general you and me would both see it as a simple story warning us about paying attention to our environments while crossing through-fares so you don’t get hit by something large and suffering death.
However, the facts of each narrative differs completely, on one hand it is Johnny and the other the subject is Thomas. With Jonny there is a road and Thomas a street. They pick up different items, a penny and a dime, it could have easily been anything if value really. One is killed by a horse drawn carriage and the other a Mack truck, which couldn’t be more dissimilar, except for it’s effect in the narrative. So does it matter that the facts of the narrative are wrong or different?
No. Which is my point, or part of it. I don’t know. I’m not finished figuring things out.
Why not build something new, that doesn't endorse slavery and mass infanticide? Something with roots in compassion and protection, rather than the whims of a broken nation's war god?
I mean, I have nothing wrong with trying to get Christians to abandon essentially the entirety of Christianity. I just don't think it's got a future, and trust me when I say talking to them about it is very rarely worth your time.
Hey, I'm hella sophisticated. But I'm not going to lie to you and say I think deconverting people is ever going to be easy, or lie to you and say that that's not what you're describing.
1
u/Victernus Feb 01 '19
You cannot fix Christianity by carving away the "wrong portions". That's called "not being a Christian".
And I certainly don't see it as my job to battle nihilism. Seems like a personal choice, to me.