I’ve always marveled at peoples’ assertions that, even if they don’t believe the bible is the word of God, they still respect it as a great work of literature. I suspect that they really do believe it, humans can invest a whole lot of positive associations with things simply through expectation and social conditioning. But my opinion of it as a literary work is low enough that I have a hard time coming up with any sort of of comparison which doesn’t make it sound like I’m making a deliberate effort to mock religious people.
I’ve always marveled at peoples’ assertions that, even if they don’t believe the bible is the word of God, they still respect it as a great work of literature. I suspect that they really do believe it, humans can invest a whole lot of positive associations with things simply through expectation and social conditioning. But my opinion of it as a literary work is low enough that I have a hard time coming up with any sort of of comparison which doesn’t make it sound like I’m making a deliberate effort to mock religious people.