Atheist Debates - What's wrong with Louisiana and Oklahoma?

Louisiana is requiring the 10 commandments to be posted in all classrooms that receive state funding - Oklahoma is requiring all teachers to have a Bible in their classroom and to teach from it.
Even the math teachers??

[@CaptainRedBull]

What amazes me also…Lots of Louisianians were extremely vocal about being “forced” to take the covid vaccine. Apparently public safety is something they’re against while religious indoctrination isn’t.

[@NotIdefix]

same people refuse to wear helmets because it deprives them of their god-given rights to experience blunt force trauma

[@Backwoodsmachinist]

Both forced vaccinations and forced religious association is wrong. Perhaps you should both learn to mind your own fucking business

[@LukeSumIpsePatremTe]

Just yesterday two of my coworkers talked about how they were forced to take covid vaccination. People are stupid.

[@jwsanders1214]

Louisiana is Great ! Thank you Jesus !

[@JonO387]

If you're for vaccine mandates, you're on the wrong side of history.

[@hail_satan]

Its disgusting how little respect these conservative christians have for the billions of people around them. It's unfortunate that they constantly force their antiquated and often harmful ideology on everyone else.

[@BIayne]

It really makes their fear of other religions, sexualities and immigrants make sense, doesnt it.

[@_Omega_Weapon]

Unfortunate and disgusting and dangerous

[@brenta2634]

The overlap between religions thinking and authoritarianism is obvious. The ultimate expression is divine command theory. 🤮

[@jwsanders1214]

excuse me , there are 2.5 billion of us

[@ancientfiction5244]

​@jwsanders1214 Which leaves 5.6 billion non-Christians.

[@fakename5788]

I live in a country that doesn't have church state separation (U.K.) and somehow we are more secular than the USA.

[@miro.georgiev97]

I've always found it remarkable that the least religious places on Earth are Western and Northern European countries with official state churches. One has to wonder if giving everyone a mostly unqualified right to believe in any God (or none at all) is actually "better" than legally mandating everyone or most of everyone to be part of the "official church" or "state religion."

[@roberthunter6927]

@@miro.georgiev97 The main reason is that religious wars have made up a good deal of European history.

[@Nick-Nasti]

Correlation is not causation

[@roberthunter6927]

@@Nick-Nasti Correlation is not necessarily causation. You usually have to demonstrate a mechanism[s] that moves a system from state A to state B.

[@keithulhu]

You don't have christian nazis trying to force everyone to adopt their religious beliefs.

[@christopherconkright1317]

Only 2 commandments are even laws like 6 are stroking the supreme beings ego.

[@frankpulmanns6685]

And at least four of them are so utterly basic and banal I struggle to comprehend why Christians are so adamant they're superior moral teachings.

[@FoursWithin]

@@christopherconkright1317 true. Abrahamic impotent Gods egos require many believers eager hands for the warm up until becoming ready to blast to high heaven.

[@a1612]

actually youre right. I had too read it but just murder and theft, meanwhile don't covet your neighbors property like goats sheep and WOMEN

[@NPazdernik]

Oklahomie here, this is one of the main reasons my wife and I are not having kids yet. We're waiting to run away to Switzerland first lol

[@spocksvulcanbrain]

If you do, your kids will be better educated, not indoctrinated with religious myths, probably speak several languages and be much more informed about the world. Kudos.

[@NPazdernik]

@@spocksvulcanbrain my wife is a Swiss citizen, so hopefully that'll make it easier!

[@eeroraute281]

You aren’t having kids because you are an atheist which leads to hedonism and nihilism

[@ZeroAlligator]

“The United States was not founded as a Christian Nation or a religious nation of any kind.” James Madison, 1809, probably.

[@enlacostaizquierda]

There's one of the first treaties the US ever signed between ourselves and Tripoli that clearly stated the US was in no way, shape, or form a Christian nation. That was around 1797. But with the "red scare" in the 1950's that started to erode when they crammed "under God" into the Pledge and forcing "In God We Trust" on the coins.

[@lzzrdgrrl7379]

Because the United States was founded by people who were already implicitly and explicity Christian - just about everybody in 1809, probably.......'>......

[@CaptainRedBull]

I’m in Louisiana. What’s wrong with it? Might be easier to list what isn’t wrong. Last gubernatorial debate brought up “inclusiveness” in schools & such but when answering how they would handle pronouns & things like that, they immediately jumped to “chopping body parts off of children”. These people don’t even know the topics they’re making/denying laws about…

[@LukeSumIpsePatremTe]

Yep. That's democracy.

[@jwsanders1214]

So its ok with you morality police to put drag shows in elementary schools but ......

[@jwsanders1214]

Move to Vermont , we don't need you

[@daimend211]

​@@jwsanders1214drag story hours yes, whats wrong with those?

[@jessesipprell8287]

@@jwsanders1214Hail Satan!

[@flanderg123]

Helped free me brother, thank you for your service.

[@effief7635]

So well said, but we live in a timeline of insanity

[@TheGretsch6120]

Bright side… atheist teachers will now be allowed to teach the Bible to kids. ;-) Didn’t say they had to teach it favorably.

[@MrCanis4]

Also my thought. Investigate the 'whole' bible, not just the nice parts.

[@alphaomega1351]

The only way to counter this is to request the same for other versions of religious mythology. 😳

[@MrGibsn1960]

One of my favorite courses at LSU was “Religions of the World” Fantastic and eye opening.

[@FoursWithin]

"Madison said nice things about the 10 commandments.." And Jefferson (actually) said good things about Islam , so we better get the Quran in our classrooms now.

[@stephenstarr6388]

And SCOTUS chambers display Mohammad next to Moses

[@FoursWithin]

@@stephenstarr6388 Mo hummer displayed anywhere would be pretty amusing.

[@brianray2614]

Excellent! Thanks Matt!

[@PlumpClump]

Yesss! thanks Matt

[@Marchant2]

For a political party that is so obsessed with the 10 Commandments, why are these same people supporting a man who proudly admits he has broken at LEAST 9 of the 10 Commandments?

[@joeylizotte7537]

Trump? Trump isn't a Christian. I think it's weird that evangelicals treat him like a prophet, but it wouldn't be right to hold that against him. Between Trump and Harris, I'll take Donald Trump.

[@scottymeffz5025]

I'm glad you're doing this. I find it depressing and must look away

[@Raz.C]

I found that bit at the start, where he says that 'Loisianna passed a law that failed to pass in Texas' to be VERY funny!! I guess, because I'm not American, I have some very definite ideas (which might not always be entirely accurate) about what American states are like.

[@larrycampbell7442]

Sadly, the Bible’s used in the Oklahoma classrooms, will be treated like the Bible in churches. The inconvenient parts will not be taught. I’d start in Deut 22 and Leviticus 20 … this could produce a new generation of atheists

[@PontiusLucifugous9594]

"MAYBE TODAY SATAN"

[@jwsanders1214]

No , but Satan will bow his Knees to Jesus soon

[@linkeron1]

@@jwsanders1214there is no evidence for Satan or Jesus existence.

[@eeroraute281]

Lol i think you are the one to believe in fiction

[@Doombot2point0]

@@jwsanders1214 Sounds hot! What's the link?

[@PhilipPedro2112]

I want that t-shirt!

[@doneestoner9945]

Welcome to Gilead. I guess Marg Atwood was a "prophet".

[@slyfoxxsr.941]

Matt is starting to look like God!

[@MrCanis4]

Looks like the images they made of their god. 🤣

[@MrCanis4]

@AllSortsOfStuff58 Made-up images of a Made-up God exist.

[@slyfoxxsr.941]

@AllSortsOfStuff58 😆😆😆

[@BK-hp6fv]

Well he's pretended to be god for long enough

[@glenisterm]

I think (a) teachers in those schools could also put up other religious posters, and (b) instead of arguing that it is unconstitutional in court, use the 43alley idea and get those arguing for the law to legally agree that the 10 Commandments are only the "Laws given by Yahweh to Moses", " Written on stone tablets", and "Referred to as the 10 Commandments in the bible", and then have to legally both post the version of the 10 Commandments that includes "Thou shalt not boil a baby goat in its mother's milk".

[@TheIfifi]

The Title makes this worth it.

[@InactiveNode]

I grew up in both and the poor educational system and the infulence of religious leaders is too damned high. They are raised to be gullible and they are super gullible adults.

[@skiphoffenflaven8004]

America is on its downward spiral. Even though I was born and raised here, I cannot say that I view most Americans as decent people. From all along the political spectrum.

[@smh8678]

I love in Louisiana and I'm horrified on a daily basis. Thank God I don't have kids in school.

[@rykoodasr]

“Reading, writing, and arithmetic” definitely isn’t “3 Rs,” but it is definitely catchy 😂

[@captainmorgan2307]

Greetings from Louisiana! I'm not an Athiest, and I don't see much wrong with the commandments itself. However, the commandments should not be in schools any more than statues of Satan should be in parks. You are right about not being biased and accurate about the level of education here in Louisiana. At my university, a large percentage of students' writing, reading, and reasoning skills are indistinguishable from 5th-grade essays (I compared them). It's unfortunate how so much effort is being put into re-establishing religion in school while subjects vital to future success fall by the wayside.

[@itsJPhere]

The first commandment outlaws other religions and atheism, the next 3 commandments have nothing to do with morality, they just deal with religious practice. These are not universal truths that everyone could agree with. You don't see anything wrong with that?

[@quacks2much]

The trouble with teaching comparative religion is that the teachers can spin their favorite religion to be the preferred or the best religion. Think of the hostility that, for example, mythicist children and teachers will get if they express their beliefs that Jesus never existed. I know when I was in grade school (in the 1960s), hostility against Mormons was way worse than it is today, and I was afraid (more like embarrassed) to let other children know I was a Mormon. Some of the children could freely talk about their religion, mostly Catholic, where I lived and partly because JFK was a Catholic. Parents can teach their children at home. When the children become adults, then I have no problem with comparative religion classes.

[@Nijeguhz]

Matt, what games do you enjoy? I see your description says gamer.

[@tonyd3927]

Due to problems at birth I grew up basically an atheist but back in the 70's we had to take RE lessons in the first 3 years of secondary school perhaps due to Mt RE teachers main subject being history we were taught the history of most of the more common religions and not any religious teachings. Those lessons just solidified my views on religion

[@emmacohen3926]

You’ve confirmed what I’ve long believed 👏👏👏👍🇬🇧🇬🇧👏

[@vibrantphilosophy]

From a Catholic perspective and speaking as an Oklahoman, the 10 commandments being required to be displayed in public schools in Louisiana is a clear violation of the First amendment. As far as bibles in schools are concerned, I don’t have a problem with teachers having one in their classroom for personal reasons. But being required to teach it in schools is something I don’t agree with and also violates the 1st amendment. If teachers want to have a personal bible in their classroom for their own sake then that should be their choice. But they should not be required to teach it. This is why I don’t like Ryan Walters. He’s continuing to push Christian nationalism and I’m against it.

[@MrStringybark]

Imagine if the main religions were revealed in classrooms and one of those religions spoke about how men should control women and then males began to think, "Wow, that sounds like the religion I need to belong to. No more women telling me what to do or not to do and no more telling how to act and how not to act."

[@roysmallian2889]

Matt is a shining light in a Universe of Religious intolerance and outright religious scams.

[@ceceroxy2227]

Matt is the essence of darkness

[@garythecyclingnerd6219]

I fear that in the coming years or decades, the Christo-facists will want me on a cross for being atheist.

[@kevinkelly2162]

A point I think is overlooked in this discussion, or at least I have never heard brought up, is the sexualisation of children. If I had a seven year old in school I would not want them coming home asking 'Daddy, what is adultrey?' What if a kid were to ask this in school? How would a teacher explain the concept of sexual infidelity to a group of under tens?

[@redcommander27]

Matt Dillahunty looks like a wizard with that beard (Not that I think that’s a bad thing)

[@calebgray1733]

I have family that teach in oklahoma. They are very conservative, I'm the black sheep being an atheist. They have all said they won't teach from the bible or any other religious text book because that's what church is for. Plus they absolutely hate the state superintendent.

[@moodyrick8503]

*The Bible : **_"Lean not on your own understanding & trust in the Lord with all your heart"_** .* Translation : Stay ignorant & put your trust in the _men that "claim" to speak for God/Jesus._

[@commentator-tl9h]

If the framers of the constitution had wanted the Ten Commandments be displayed in public buildings or the Bible taught at School, they would have included that in the constitution. If they wanted to affirm the US a Christian nation, they would have stated so in the constitution. In fact, they went all the way to introduce, as the very first amendment, the constitutional bedrock for the separation of Church and State.

[@juliehudson6539]

And so every teacher in that state is well qualified to teach the intricacies of the Ten Commandments the version they chose

[@johnwilliamson7506]

I’m curious! Why is so much focus on the “TEN COMMANDMENTS”, when (if I’m remembering correctly) there are over FIFTY commandments (I may be wrong about the amount…but not by much)! So why do churches never mention or teach them?

[@SansDeity]

@johnwilliamson7506 there are 613. You were off by more than you thought. Some are only relevant to Jews as a separate covenant

[@geelee1977]

This is a product of judges being part of a judicial system that is based on logic and rationality, but instead ignoring the foundations of that system, and using faith instead, to make decisions. Judges should be barred from serving, if they cannot demonstrate at least academic proficiency in the laws of logic and rationalism.

[@charlespat136]

What are churches for? I thought that was a school for religion? I'm confused.......

[@TheoLogicAlt]

You better also try to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.

[@blueredingreen]

I don't think people really care whether Madison actually said that. In the modern day, statements of fact are being used as rhetoric with little concern for whether they're actually true. Also, for any teachers who aren't on board with this, consider that actually reading the Bible and gaining a historical understanding of the Bible is how a lot of atheists were born. And "every" class should teach from it? How would a maths class teach from the Bible? Well, I guess you can teach that pi equals 3.

[@jwsanders1214]

So , you arent as educated as you think , I refer you to Solomon's sea 'which equaled pi , Shalom

[@blueredingreen]

@@jwsanders1214 I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say.

[@jwsanders1214]

You said how would you teach a math class from the Bible . Solomon's sea = pi didn't you know that ?

[@blueredingreen]

@@jwsanders1214 The values in the Bible for Solomon's sea are 10 cubits diameter and 30 cubits circumference - didn't you know that, or do you think that 30 divided by 10 equals pi? Spoiler alert, but it isn't. It equals 3, like I mentioned in my original comment. And I'm not saying there are precisely zero correct maths in the Bible. I'm saying it's a mythologised history book and cherry-picking whatever little maths you can find in there is going to be far inferior to having a book that is dedicated to just maths, for the purposes of education, and based on modern knowledge, and written by experts. You know, like we've been using in practically every maths class in the civilised world for quite a few years now.

[@matdarg2875]

What bible verses should i send my child to school with?

[@camwyn256]

Math teachers teaching from the Bible. I guess just how to count to 10

[@shannontaylor1849]

I wonder how other religions feel about their taxes paying for "Thou shalt have no other gods..." and such? Why would I pay tax to violate my own rights?

[@ThroneofDavid8]

Are atheists supposed to ignore who wrote the 10 commandments ?

[@chemquests]

Moses?

[@ThroneofDavid8]

@@chemquests Whoever.

[@chemquests]

@@ThroneofDavid8 I was just checking if you thought god wrote them. To an atheist the author is irrelevant to the validity of the contents.

[@ancientfiction5244]

​@ThroneofDavid8 Why do you ignore the laws of Hammurabi given by the god Shamash, Christine? *"Hammurabi - World History Encyclopedia"* (Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon best known for his famous law code which served as the model for others, *including the Mosaic Law of the Bible.)*

[@wyldink1]

No one knows who wrote them, so it's kind of a moot point.

[@AmyGrape-wc9uy]

As far as I'm concerned, Louisiana belongs to the skeeters now...

[@laurencress2013]

As long as Christianity exists they will try and force it on the young.

[@gertjanvandermeij4265]

Fun and all, BUT what WHO da f*ck is this"gawd" caracter ?!?

[@AdamHedley-v2e]

who wouldve thought that satanists are the good guys

[@jwsanders1214]

Only some one like you , you are the spitting image of your father

[@Palalune]

Are we sure the SC will throw this out?

[@ryanrobinson2380]

14:33 ya they shouldnt be allowed to use tax payer money to fight against the tax payers in order to violate the peoples constitutional rights

[@TheNoladrummer]

Alphabetically, or in order of importance?

[@SplashyCannonBall]

“God” is the human Mind. The “on” You don’t make your hair grow kind of “on” In the Christian texts, the a Jesus is the oil in your body or your Sun/son. He rises the spinal cord to activate the process of taking the 90% instead of the other 10% you sacrifice in meditation. That’s just a summary of the text called the Bible. Proverbs 1:6. To be wise learn the ancient sayings. Shoot the bull has nothing to do with a bull. Just as water into wine has nothing to do with water and wine. It’s an allegory. The question is, For What.

[@PaulHosey]

Tornadoes

[@rinos7902]

I don't know why do you expect your mission to successed , I don't think talking to individuals one by one and putting them on trial and forcing them to unswer difficult questions and making them feel uncomfirtable would attract people to your cause it could get some , but people like to be guided and that means your have to be an actor and make false promises and pretend to know what you & they don't , people don't like (I don't know ) i don't know is not gonna get you anything

[@HR2007-o3f]

Matt, if you support education about Christianity because of its historical and cultural relevance, that doesn’t mean you have to support education about Islam, as that faith hasn’t played a major role in the formation of America and its culture. You could make a better argument for Judaism.

[@zaconeil3709]

What, so the war on terror post 2001 did not majorly influence American culture? In any case, you don't teach Christianity because of its cultural and historical relevance to the USA, you teach it because it's a major world religion, which is also true for Islam, a the USA could possibly do with its citizens being more informed about world history and culture, not less. Maybe then it wouldn't be so inwardly focused.

[@HR2007-o3f]

The beliefs of Islam aren’t ingrained in American culture.

[@christopherconkright1317]

What if they the parts that make students not believe. The resurrection they mix together into one story but tell different stories. Talking donkeys.

[@PapaBear-k4k]

You're against democracy now?

[@gorillaguerillaDK]

"What’s wrong with Louisiana and Oklahoma" you ask - that they’re part of the USA?

[@aetherkid]

Oklahoma is terrible

[@bootskanchelsis3337]

sux too, because it is a beautiful state.

[@moodyrick8503]

*You are watching the beginning, of the downfall of America.* But that's just my opinion, _as I'm not a prophet._

[@johnirish989]

Wow. It doesn't matter what James Madison said or thought. But somehow it matters what Matt Dillahuny says and thinks. You have read Nietzsche, I'm assuming? As in why truth? Why your truth, Matt? Why not just naked in your face bald power? Good ole atheism. Throw the way the TRUTH and the life under the bus and everybody does as thou will. As in thou will to power. As in thou will to a naked bald power grab.

[@cowsaysmoo51]

It doesn't matter what Madison OR Dilahunty think. It matters what the Constitution says. The government (federal or state) has no right to force one particular religion upon students and teachers over any other. If you think otherwise then you should be totally happy if a state mandates teaching the Quran to students. We are not a Christian nation, nor have we ever been and nor should we ever be. These pathetic and backwards lawmakers are making last-ditch desperate measures to keep their religion afloat despite the immense decline in Christianity and rapid rise in non-religiosity we've been experiencing for decades. Christianity is soon to be a minority in this country, and for good reason.

[@flat---line]

Im a non-believer and can't see anything wrong here... literally. Who actually cares!? Just don't read them!

[@infiniteworfare5089]

kids get punished if you chose not to. it would just further push them towards atheism :)

[@ga6589]

In Oklahoma, teachers are being forced to teach from the Bible, or they'll lose their teaching license. They have no choice.

[@FortunePayback]

That's the point, you're not getting a choice.

[@ga6589]

@@FortunePayback And this is clearly unconstitutional.

[@infiniteworfare5089]

@@ga6589 in today's world, it doesn't matter what is moral and what isn't. Humans lack natural selection and lack of natural selection is causing impaired thinking skills, delusional behavior, and sadistic behavior. Who said that the governor had to have proper thinking skills? Evolution?

[@kennyimmekus3210]

You are doing the devils work plain and simple.

[@SansDeity]

@kennyimmekus3210 sorry you believe in nonsense like the devil.

[@PhilipPedro2112]

Your all-powerful god seems to be sitting this one out, as in every other case since...forever.

[@CNCmachiningisfun]

Your god created the devil, so blame her, instead! Edit: *KARK IT,* NaziTube!

[@CNCmachiningisfun]

Clueless christ-stains! Edit: The KIDDIE FIDDLERS at FascistTube need to STOP CENSORING MY REPLIES!

[@CNCmachiningisfun]

Why does your god fiddle with kiddies?

[@_Omega_Weapon]

@6:00 If these Christo-fascists are fine with pharmacists refusing to fill birth control prescriptions on "moral" grounds, then every teacher should be able to refuse to have a bible/teach it in their classes for the same reasons.

[@frankpulmanns6685]

Why are you expecting consistency from these people?

[@FoursWithin]

Fasco-Christists. I prefer that order at the moment. Because they have certain fascist traits which stand far above any of their Christian beliefs.

[@fjborg6978]

Does that mean that teachers are not allowed to be pacifists? Pacifists are not gun owners in general so having a gun in the classroom is against their beliefs. So should they be fired? Should atheists be fired also. These so called gun loving christians love to discriminate against anyone who does not subscribe to their BS dogma.

[@PippetWhippet]

I prefer malicious compliance. Don’t change the content of any lesson, but rename the subject from math to “How best to stone a person to ((conclusion))” - conclusion being a 5 letter word beginning with D and ending in eath that Google doesn’t like me saying and Geography to “((Houseguests who can’t leave and have to serve you)) are your right to own”

[@the-trustees]

They want everything their way, regardless of whether or not it results in hypocrisy, which their pretend god character must love since they ALL love their hypocrisy. Same goes for lying (punishable by DEATH, supposedly), which they also boldly do, ESPECIALLY when it is to prop up their make-believe god character.

[@chrisose]

"A version of the Ten Commandments." I'm fine with George Carlin's version.

[@TheFuzzician]

Aye. Short and to the point.

[@chrisose]

@@RandomStuff-i4i Private companies can do what they want and those who work there have a choice to be there. We are talking about the state mandating this display in facilities paid for with taxpayer funds. This is a direct violation of the 1st Amendment.

[@chrisose]

@@RandomStuff-i4i Then that is also a violation of the 1st Amendment.

[@chrisose]

@@RandomStuff-i4i Facts don't trouble me. People who spit on the Constitution bother me.

[@RandomStuff-i4i]

@@chrisose People who spit on the constitution bother you Just like people who spit on the 10 commandments bother them.

[@JohnSmith-gu6ii]

It's almost like the bill of rights & constitution are useless 😞

[@bobbun9630]

Not useless. Certain people view them as weapons to be used against their enemies, though, not as laws intended to serve the public interest. They read the Constitution much the same way as they read their Bibles--cherry pick the parts you need and twist it as much as you need to affirm what you want to be true, discount or make excuses for the rest.

[@Critical_Explorer-vw5hy]

Comparative religion classes would be great. Teach about Greek, Babylonian and Roman mythology and draw comparisons from that to the bible.

[@jwsanders1214]

Get your kids out of government schools if you love them

[@ancientfiction5244]

Exactly. Do a comparison of ancient Near Eastern religions and literature to see where the Israelites borrowed some of their ideas from and see if people still think the Bible is the "word of God". --------------------------------------------------------- *The Enuma Elish would later be the inspiration for the Hebrew scribes who created the text now known as the biblical Book of Genesis.* Prior to the 19th century CE, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and its narratives were thought to be completely original. In the mid-19th century CE, however, European museums, as well as academic and religious institutions, sponsored excavations in Mesopotamia to find physical evidence for historical corroboration of the stories in the Bible. ***These excavations found quite the opposite, however, in that, once cuneiform was translated, it was understood that a number of biblical narratives were Mesopotamian in origin.*** *Famous stories such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood were originally conceived and written down in Sumer,* translated and modified later in Babylon, and reworked by the Assyrians ***before they were used by the Hebrew scribes for the versions which appear in the Bible.*** ***In revising the Mesopotamian creation story for their own ends, the Hebrew scribes tightened the narrative and the focus but retained the concept of the all-powerful deity who brings order from chaos.*** Marduk, in the Enuma Elish, establishes the recognizable order of the world - *just as God does in the Genesis tale* - and human beings are expected to recognize this great gift and honor the deity through service. *"Enuma Elish - The Babylonian Epic of Creation - Full Text - World History Encyclopedia"* *"Sumerian Is the World's Oldest Written Language | ProLingo"* *"Sumerian Civilization: Inventing the Future - World History Encyclopedia"* ("The Sumerians were the people of southern Mesopotamia whose civilization flourished between c. 4100-1750 BCE." "Ancient Israelites and their origins date back to 1800-1200 BCE.") *"The Myth of Adapa - World History Encyclopedia"* Also discussed by Professor Christine Hayes at Yale University in her 1st lecture of the series on the Hebrew Bible from 8:50 to 14:30 minutes, lecture 3 from 28:30 to 41:35 minutes, lecture 4 from 0:00 up to 21:30 minutes and 24:00 up to 35:30 minutes and lecture 7 from 24:20 to 25:10 minutes. From a Biblical scholar: "Many stories in the ancient world have their origins in other stories and were borrowed and modified from other or earlier peoples. *For instance, many of the stories now preserved in the Bible are* ***modified*** *versions of stories that existed in the cultures and traditions of Israel’s* ***older*** *contemporaries.* Stories about the creation of the universe, a cataclysmic universal flood, digging wells as land markers, the naming of important cultic sites, gods giving laws to their people, and even stories about gods decreeing the possession of land to their people were all part of the cultural and literary matrix of the ancient Near East. *Biblical scribes freely* ***adopted and modified*** *these stories as a means to express their own identity, origins, and customs."* *"Stories from the Bible"* by Dr Steven DiMattei, from his website *"Biblical Contradictions"* ------------------------------------------------------------------ In addition, look up the below articles. *"Yahweh was just an ancient Canaanite god. We have been deceived! - Escaping Christian Fundamentalism"* *"Hammurabi - World History Encyclopedia"* (Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon best known for his famous law code which served as the model for others, *including the Mosaic Law of the Bible.)* *"Debunking the Devil - Michael A. Sherlock (Author)"* *"The Greatest Trick Religion Ever Pulled: Convincing Us That Satan Exists | Atheomedy"* *"Zoroastrianism And Persian Mythology: The Foundation Of Belief"* (Scroll to the last section: Zoroastrianism is the Foundation of Western Belief) *"10 Ways The Bible Was Influenced By Other Religions - Listverse"* *"January | 2014 | Atheomedy"* - Where the Hell Did the Idea of Hell Come From? *"Retired bishop explains the reason why the Church invented "Hell" - Ideapod"* Watch *"The Origins of Salvation, Judgement and Hell"* by Derreck Bennett at Atheologica (Sensitive theists should only watch from 7:00 to 17:30 minutes as evangelical Christians are lambasted. He's a former theist and has been studying the scholarship and comparative religions for over 15 years) *"Top Ten Reasons Noah’s Flood is Mythology - The Sensuous Curmudgeon"* *"Forget about Noah's Ark; There Was No Worldwide Flood | Bible Interp"* *"The Search for Noah’s Flood - Biblical Archaeology Society"* *"Eridu Genesis - World History Encyclopedia"* *"The Atrahasis Epic: The Great Flood & the Meaning of Suffering - World History Encyclopedia"* Watch *"How Aron Ra Debunks Noah's Flood"* (8 part series debunking Noah's flood using multiple branches of science) *"The Adam and Eve myth - News24"* *"Before Adam and Eve - Psychology Today"* *"Gilgamesh vs. Noah - Wordpress"* *"Old Testament Tales Were Stolen From Other Cultures - Griffin"* *"Parallelism between “The Hymn to Aten” and Psalm 104 - Project Augustine"* *"Studying the Bible"* - by Dr Steven DiMattei (This particular article from a critical Biblical scholar highlights how the authors of the Hebrew Bible used their *fictional* god as a mouthpiece for their own views and ideologies) *"How do we know that the biblical writers were* ***not*** *writing history?"* -- by Dr Steven DiMattei *"Contradictions in the Bible | Identified verse by verse and explained using the most up-to-date scholarly information about the Bible, its texts, and the men who wrote them"* -- by Dr. Steven DiMattei

[@eeroraute281]

Real events resemble fiction compare titan(fiction) titanic(real)

[@eeroraute281]

The idea that the genesis was ripped from gilgamesh has been so debunked the biblical flood narrative existed before gilgamesh

[@eeroraute281]

Nice copypaste

[@doneestoner9945]

According to John Adams - "The Government of the United States is in no sense founded on the christian religion".

[@Mrfrancis1971]

according to the lgbt movement, you can either be a man or a women whenever how you feel

[@justanotherdayinthelife9841]

​@@Mrfrancis1971why are you the dumb?

[@steve1340]

States with the best public schools: Louisiana - 49, Oklahoma 44. Although this is in 2022, Oklahoma and Louisiana have been declining or stagnant for 20 plus years in the field of educating its citizens.

[@olmis6289]

He stated the values in the video.

[@jwsanders1214]

get your kids out of government school if you love them , Home School

[@landsgevaer]

@@jwsanders1214 The situation has to be very dire for homeschooling to be preferable for the average population, especially in today's world where people get stuck in information bubbles. My commisserations.

[@frodotheewok]

Who needs education when you can indoctrinate

[@uninspired3583]

​@@jwsanders1214if you love your kids, don't limit their teaching to your own limitations

[@bchristian85]

Not just Louisiana and Oklahoma. It's anywhere that Southern Baptist is the dominant faith.

[@jwsanders1214]

correction , where God is known . Louisiana is mostly Catholic / French , good people

[@jessesipprell8287]

@@jwsanders1214Hail Satan!

[@uninspired3583]

​@jwsanders1214 where is god known? God works in mysterious ways, have you figured them out?

[@toughenupfluffy7294]

The Southern Bastards.

[@jwsanders1214]

@@uninspired3583 Yes , God has not left us ( His people ) in darkness as others are in darkness Colossians 1:15 God has redeemed us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son Jesus Christ " God loves you, turn to Jesus , Shalom

[@ph5541]

The Statanic Temple is effective so long as courts aren't willing to go as far as to favor one religion over another. Do we really think that's a given anymore? I sure don't.

[@eeroraute281]

Great

[@fanofentropy2280]

If they had tried this 30 years ago when I was in high school, the students would have revolted, protested and walked out. Don't today's kids have a say in their own education any more?

[@miro.georgiev97]

They really don't. One could say they never have because that's not what our "education" system is or has ever been about. The aim of compulsory public education has always been creating the next generation of good little worker bees, and you can't have that by fostering a genuine spirit of inquiry because inquiry leads to skepticism, skepticism leads to questioning authority, and we all know what questioning authority leads to. So, it's in the public education system's best interest to give the most surface-level knowledge of core subject areas, especially history and literature, so that people are _just_ educated _enough_ to know how to file tax returns or negotiate contracts and sign legally-binding documents or vote in elections but _not_ to ask those questions all parents hate, i.e., "Why?" and "How?"

[@tracewallace23]

I think today's kids have grown up learning how to "tune out" things like forced ads, ignorant classmates, etc better than we ever did. So they honestly may not even notice enough to care🤷🏻‍♂️

[@jwsanders1214]

@@miro.georgiev97 God is Good !

[@alekhinesgun9997]

That almost certainly would not have happened. Also today's kids don't care about their education in the slightest, they're raised by the internet.

[@jwsanders1214]

50 years ago the 10 commandments were in every school , we prayed every morning , said the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the national anthem every morning

[@travisthompson9554]

The Constitution and Bill of Rights are little more than suggestions at this point. In Ghost's song "Kaisarion" part of the lyrics are "It is the noise of the righteous dogma that hides the handmaid's tale". So true, and the song is about the fall of an empire.

[@_Omega_Weapon]

Ghost rocks!🤘🤘

[@Mash333]

I lived a few miles from OK, during grad school. I learned a lot about bigotry, religious fundamentalism, and anti-science politics via that experience, dealing with the humans and policies that exist there (and TX was not much better)

[@jwsanders1214]

Oh you poor baby !

[@EmersumBiggins]

Who else here would love to show what’s in the Bible to teenagers? 😂

[@bootskanchelsis3337]

ezekiel 23:20

[@bootskanchelsis3337]

leviticus 14

[@bootskanchelsis3337]

1 Timothy 2:9-15

[@bootskanchelsis3337]

leviticus 25 39-48 I can go on ....and on.

[@zecuse]

It's not just teenagers though. It could very easily be used to traumatize young kids. Just imagine what the parents would think when their 1st/2nd grader comes home asking about Isaac or Jephthah's unnamed daughter (glossing over why she isn't named).

[@Kayceesoutdoorliving]

Matt, idk if you'll read this. But YOU specifically impacted me in a way unlike most anyone else. THANK YOU for opening my eyes to skepticism. You ARE NOT wasting your time and those of us who've changed our minds thanks to your arguments and explanations are grateful for it.

[@Raz.C]

Additional. When he intimates that Louisianna might actually win, thanks to the supreme court, I was reminded of that futurama episode: "Yeah, well I know a place where the constitution doesn't mean squat!!!" - the camera then cuts to a scene outside the supreme court. Maybe some religious nutcases in Louisianna watched that episode and took it to heart?

[@stephpar.official]

A big part of the cause of these problems is that in the US, you have popular elections for positions that should be filled through merit, which means that you end up with the best politician for the job rather than the best person for the job.

[@JonO387]

DEI says hello.

[@eeroraute281]

That isn’t democratic i thought you atheists supported democracy or are you doing the other type of atheist society like china or the soviet union eill se how big you k/d ratio is

[@Callimo]

@@JonO387 What do you think DEI is? I'm curious if you actually know or are just going by buzzwords. :>

[@Blazingbiskit]

@@Callimo They don't, propaganda bots don't care.

[@MrCanis4]

Handmaid's Tale in the making??

[@George89999]

I can't help thinking that there would be a lot fewer of these stupid performative laws (and just *maybe*a slightly greater emphasis on education) if the politicians behind them had to pay for the legal costs out of their own bank accounts. With the taxpayers of their state paying for the lawsuits they have no incentive to avoid such displays just to play the victim.

[@jwsanders1214]

Bring it on ! Jesus wins !

[@George89999]

@@jwsanders1214 Sarcasm?

[@HTGY6YTH67Y]

Grabbing my popcorn to watch all the lawsuits to come out of this 🍿

[@andrebrown8969]

It's gone beyond that now.

[@nitehawk86]

The goal here is to get lawsuits going. The christofacist supreme court has announced they are going to let stuff like this through.

[@jwsanders1214]

Bring it on ! Jesus wins !

[@jessesipprell8287]

@@jwsanders1214Hail Satan!

[@Skumm93]

@@nitehawk86 there might be push back from the more moderate conservative justices

[@rodrigovieirastudies]

I have a better idea: let's teach the kids how to fill an IRS form and how social security works instead. That'll will really come in handy.

[@uninspired3583]

They only need to know how to use irs forms if they have an income. Based on the quality of education in these states, they shouldn't have to bother with those.

[@FoursWithin]

@@uninspired3583 There's plenty of low level jobs ready for uneducated highschool kids to begin working. Many jobs don't require much more than just paying attention to what's going on with the task at hand.

[@a1612]

@@FoursWithin Missouri passed a child labor law to allow 10 year olds to work in factories cause they don't need no edumacation

[@uninspired3583]

@@FoursWithin those jobs are quickly being replaced by automation

[@FoursWithin]

@@uninspired3583 It been a long time since I've been in a McDonald's so I didn't realize the McRobots are cooking up and serving the happy meals these days. Times are changing so quickly...

[@doranku]

I forgot, which 10 commandments? The first set that got smashed and replaced? From which sect of christianity? From which bible translation?

[@a1612]

they'll fight among themselves about those issues.

[@BMFstudiosNYC]

I always thought basic psychology, logical fallacies, biases and our constitutional rights should be part of the high school or even middle school education. So many people don't know what their rights are and are way too logically flawed to make good decisions. I think you missed an important point though, which is, a lot of this has to do with "pay back" for how they see teachers bringing an LGBT "agenda" into the classroom and they think it's a rational response.

[@coeal2680]

you are asking people that really care a lot about what some dude said 2 THOUSAND years ago to stop lying about what some dude that lived 200 years ago said. Matt, i love you, but they are way too far gone for basic logic like that...

[@HTGY6YTH67Y]

"You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into."

[@Bungaloo]

The Ten Commandments are not Christian commandments they are Jewish commandments. I think it says in the New Testament that there was just one commandment. If the bible were studied it would be found that Christianity would have gone nowhere without the apostle Paul. He was an educated Greek and knew all about Epicurus and took those teachings to literally re-write Christianity incorporating those ideas into the Pauline Gospels.

[@cerisambrook7692]

It all seems like a sort of Christian consription effort. Unhealthy.

[@williamskinner]

Oh goodie, goodie teacher, can we study my favorite bible verse? Ezekiel chapter twenty-three paragraph twenty through twenty-two and can you tell us all about it, we all want to know.

[@daveward4358]

Im'e glad i live in the UK and its only gonna get a lot worse after your strange election. Ours took 24 hrs not Months.

[@nimzomitch]

I don't find our political times particularly baffling or confusing... Just consequences with local flavor As a L leaning D of many years, it all started making more sense to me when I migrated leftwards of those positions, esp as the D party has continued their ever-rightwards drift these past 50 years

[@Leith_Crowther]

I love how Oklahoma and Louisiana are so determined to break the second commandment by posting the Ten Commandments everywhere. It almost sounds like something I would do to blaspheme the Abrahamic god.

[@eeroraute281]

Again stop quoting the bible out of context

[@Leith_Crowther]

@@eeroraute281Who are you, again?

[@uninspired3583]

​@@eeroraute281 if you want to quote the bible in context, you need to talk about all the cultures and mythologies it borrows from, like gilgamesh, Shamhat, Pandora, and Plato's metaphysics. We need to talk about the known forgeries as in the book of daniel, the later additions like the woman at the well. And we need to talk about the cultural context of things like misogyny, slavery, and both human and animal sacrifice. We need to talk about how the cannon was chosen, and why the book of Enoch or the book of Thomas were excluded. "Context" doesn't get you to inspired and inerant word of God.

[@eeroraute281]

No biblical scholar or historian believes that genesis copied from greek mythology there are flood myths in america did they also copy from gilgemesh china too Also there isn’t one gospel of thomas there are several texts claiming to be the gospel of thomas it isn’t canonical because it wasn’t written by the apostle thomas and was at the time known for being a gnostic forgery Enoch is canon the idea that it isn’t is protestant

[@mathiasgustafsson4200]

Hi! Here's a comment from the many times the "happiest country in the world" Finland. We have a subject in schools called "religion". The kids learn about all the major religions in the world and how they differ from each other. Yes, we have a major church here and all the children who are not a member of this church get to skip these classes. BUT, all preaching and such is forbidden in our schools.