@banana
I'm inclined to mock the literalists less than the apologetics. The westbro baptist church might have some appalling morals, but at least they're consistent in their believes. I think a metaphorical interpretation of the bible is virtually useless. You can pick and choose a couple dozen verses out of thousands that could be useful or thought provoking, but statistically it's a bleak endeavor.
That is not to say knowing the bible is useless. You need to know the bible to understand literature, but I wouldn't put it above Iliad or the Odyssey... or 1984 for that matter.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. If you really want to make an argument for the existence of a god, start off by defining god, so we know what we're talking about.
If you don't actually believe in a god, I'm curious why you would think that religion is useful in any way, or why you don't think that oval office prayer is deserving of ridicule.
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