Paxman tells it like it is...

[Lord Jim]

Actually insulting people who held beliefs they didn't share by calling them "stupid people" is something I would expect from a 6 year old....

Or maybe a 12 year old.....

One that had been taught no manners...

ETA:

But I get it....

Hurling juvenile insults about people he looks down on is what this guy does for a living, and that's okay; there's clearly a market for that....

But I think trying to pretend that that isn't what this guy does is silly....

[Sean]

Well no offence Jim but I too feel that anyone who believes Adam & Eve, Noah et al as literal fact is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I would however be interested to hear your (and others') opinion of these stories and the people who treat them as gospel (Was the pun intended? Perhaps we'll never know... )

[Lord Jim]

I don't take those stories literally....

But nor do I think much of folks who make their living sneering and hurling juvenile insults at people who's religious beliefs they don't share....

To me that's not being a "no bullshit, seeker of truth".....

It's just being a rude bully, and as Big RR pointed out, it adds nothing to the discussion...

But again, this guy is rude as a profession, it's what he does for a living....

As I said, there's a real market for people sneering at, and hurling juvenile insults at people who's beliefs they don't share, on both sides of the political spectrum....

The market consists of the millions who also sneer at and look down on people who's beliefs they don't share, and they enjoy hearing their low opinions of others being expressed publicly....

ETA:

Frankly, I think this guy is successful, (to the extent that he is; I assume he is) for precisely the same reason that Rush Limbaugh is successful....

He confirms and validates the negative opinions of others held by those in his audience.

ETA II:

It seems to me that the fact that our own resident sneering insulter par excellence had this to say:

He's a very good interviewer.

Wish we had more like him

Ought to serve as pretty good evidence for my points about Mr. Paxman....

[Crackpot]

But for all you know you have just seen somebody who is very familiar with the Bible describe Genesis* as stupid*.

People do have varying opinions on this you know... I feel that they are perfectly entitled to them.

TBH, the reaction from some of you here is what I would expect from my 6 yr old if I dared to describe Buzz Lightyear as stupid (or indeed, hogwash).




*He only described Genesis thus. He didn't offer an opinion on Ecclesiastes or Proverbs.

*The word he used was hogwash but I don't think that's worth quibbling about. I just wanted to clarify.

I went by what the article said. YO usaying they didn't get it right?

[Sean]

Not at all mate. The article states that he referred specifically to Genesis as "religious hogwash". He described the people who believe in the OT as "stupid".

[Sean]

I don't take those stories literally....

Fair enough. May I ask why not?
And do you take the New Testament literally?

Please feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you feel that I'm overstepping the mark with these questions regarding your personal beliefs.

[loCAtek]

Well no offence Jim but I too feel that anyone who believes Adam & Eve, Noah et al as literal fact is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I would however be interested to hear your (and others') opinion of these stories and the people who treat them as gospel (Was the pun intended? Perhaps we'll never know... )

Actually the story of Noah, is one of the stories most likely to be based on factual events. There a great legendary flood in almost every religion and culture; meaning you have corroborating evidence that that event did occur.

[loCAtek]

Wondering, why not;

[Sean]

Well no offence Jim but I too feel that anyone who believes Adam & Eve, Noah et al as literal fact is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I would however be interested to hear your (and others') opinion of these stories and the people who treat them as gospel (Was the pun intended? Perhaps we'll never know... )

Actually the story of Noah, is one of the stories most likely to be based on factual events. There a great legendary flood in almost every religion and culture; meaning you have corroborating evidence that that event did occur.

No, what you actually have is evidence that the fairy tale was not an original idea.

[dales]

God should've sought copyright protection.

[Big RR]

Where's god going to find a lawyer?

[dales]

Perdition?

[Lord Jim]

Where's god going to find a lawyer?

That's an excellent point....

He'll have to make a long distance call; there certainly won't be any in His immediate vicinity....

[Sean]

God should've sought copyright protection.

I very much doubt that the God of Abraham would be entitled to hold the copyright on that one Dales...

[dales]

Well, I'll be be begotten.

[Sean]

Just as long as you don't fill the next three pages with your entire family tree in 'begats'...

[loCAtek]

Actually the story of Noah, is one of the stories most likely to be based on factual events. There a great legendary flood in almost every religion and culture; meaning you have corroborating evidence that that event did occur.

No, what you actually have is evidence that the fairy tale was not an original idea.

So, you aren't "interested to hear your (and others') opinion of these stories and the people who treat them as gospel"?

Well, in the 'Great Flood' case, the legend is global, they say there are as many as 200 accounts with many similarities;


Some examples-
African;

Yoruba:

A god, Ifa, tired of living on earth and went to dwell in the firmament. Without his assistance, mankind couldn't interpret the desires of the gods, and one god [Olokun], in a fit of rage, destroyed nearly everybody in a great flood. [Kelsen, in Dundes]

Native American;

He continued to flee before the raging flood, but could find no dry land. In sore despair he then called upon the God of Heaven to save him, when there appeared before him a great canoe, in which were pairs of all kinds of land-beasts and birds, being rowed by a most beautiful maiden, who let down a rope and drew him up into the boat.

Indian;

The story of a great flood is mentioned in ancient Hindu texts, particularly the Satapatha Brahmana.[2] It is compared to the accounts of the Deluge found in several religions and cultures. Manu was informed of the impending flood and was protected by the Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu, who had manifested himself in this form to rid the world of morally depraved human beings and protect the pious, as also all animals and plants.[3]

Just a few examples, here's a page with a pretty comprehensive list;
Flood Stories from Around the World

There are legends across each continent, except Antarctica which of course, has no native population. All of these peoples could not have been in communication in ancient times to pass along this story.

[Scooter]

No, but it's not as if floods which appeared severe to local inhabitants would not have occurred in the areas those stories were written. That doesn't provide evidence for a worldwide flood which, according to the Bible, would have covered the entire earth with water five miles deep, an obviously ridiculous assertion. Plus, it's not as if the biblical story could not have been borrowed from flood stories that were written earlier in that region, much of which lies in a floodplain.

[Econoline]

There are legends across each continent, except Antarctica which of course, has no native population. All of these peoples could not have been in communication in ancient times to pass along this story.

Hey, I'll bet the penguins have their own legends, too!

Seriously, there's no way of knowing the exact timeframe for any of these legends, and it's not surprising that many cultures have at some point in their history experienced a Really Big Flood (or maybe a Really Big Tsunami)--which, naturally, as the tale was passed down became more and more exaggerated in the same way that today's "urban legends" do as they pass from "a friend of a friend" to "a friend of a friend of a friend" to "a friend of a friend of a friend of my great-great Uncle Bert" and so on.

I can just hear some old Sumerian codger saying, "You call THIS a flood, sonny? Why, when I was a boy, my grandpa told me about the flood that happened when his grandpa was a young boy..."

[loCAtek]

'Cha, yet the message is the same: practice humility. You are not greater than the forces of nature/God, around you.

Show some respect.