"That doesn't make sense to me."well, too bad for you... i don't have a fine understanding of string theory, but i assume that those who believe in it have done their research... i assume it makes sense to them... as far as i'm concerned, they can be completely wrong... but i'm not qualified to make that judgement.
for an atheist to say, "That doesn't make sense," is the same... i'm sure most atheists will tell you that they've read the Bible from cover to cover... and i'm just as sure that 99% of them are lying... religious texts are difficult to read, even after it's been dumbed-down into modern lingo, usually translated by some well-meaning idiot who doesn't have the greatest grasp of the English language, and almost no grasp of the original Hebrew and Greek... but let us assume that we're talking about a well-educated atheist who has actually read the bible and cross referenced the important passages with a Hebrew and Greek concordance (i prefer James Strong's)... this educated atheist often makes the common mistake of reading the text through the filter of their own prejudices... the Bible is filled with war, murder, and destruction... a pacifist would say it doesn't make sense to kill and murder with such wanton cruelty... but consider the time and context.
Numbers 31, the massacre of the Midianites, is often used by atheists who abhor violence... the Bible says God commanded them to kill all males and all females who were not virgins... horrible, right?... not in context... the Midianite women were known to have spread a "plague" to the Israelites (at Peor)... apparently, it was known to be an sexually transmitted disease... all virgin girls were spared (and could be verified, physically)... they didn't have a Center for Disease Control, so all other women were suspect... to allow them to live would be to allow the disease to spread, thus endangering all people... as for the men, how exactly would they determine who has the disease?... a laboratory blood test?... also, in that time, males were the ones who fought and waged war... to allow the young men to live would be to harbor the vehicle for war within your own fortifications... and to top it off (if the educated atheist were to truly read the passage) the Israelites forced their own soldiers to quarantine themselves and the virgin female captives... and on the third and seventh day, all clothes and anything made of leather and goat-hair should be purified (unclear on whether this is washing or burning)... the Israelites were terrified of this plague which the Midianites carried.
just because something doesn't make sense to you, does not mean there is no sense to it... the failure is not in the Bible, but in the reader.
and the sheer hubris of the individual to pass judgement over something which he knows little to nothing about... it astounds me... somehow, this person (no matter how educated) declares something to be untrue, and because this person says so, anyone who disagrees with him is also wrong... the amount of ego which that takes can only be topped by a seventeen year-old child who declares his parents to be ignoramuses... to say "I know better than thousands of generations; people beyond number; I am the ultimate authority on Truth!"... it sickens me beyond words.
there are reasons and rationales in all religious texts... but it isn't laid out bare to the world... you have to look... you have to think... and you have to humble yourself, and allow your preconceived notions to be wrong.
scio me nihil scire
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