Just my 2 cents:
A few problems with attempting to literally interpret some of the sayings or stories in holy scriptures would be that they are:
- Written by people in an entirely different era, ergo words may carry different meanings.
- Stories are often not to be taken literally, but are supposed to impose a moral (The boy who cried wolf for instance)
- Written to people who often had no inclination to follow any kind of direction (interesting story here*) regardless of how logical it may be.
- For "modernised" versions, they may have gone through numerous iterations, each written with a different agenda.
Most religions (Aside from pantheons, which are often made simply to explain the inexplicable and to entertain) often have good values and morals. From Christianity and hell to Buddhism and Karma, most generally lay down some basic laws for civilization and give some incentive to follow them.
The problems arise when it comes to interpretation. As you might imagine, supposed "Christians" howling bloody murder and waving picket signs at people aren't exactly showing compassion, understanding or forgiveness (Essentially what it is based on, what with the sacrifice of jesus and all) and are likely following an interpretation that their local preacher decided to instill.
I knew an interpreter in Iraq who confided in me his frustration with people who killed in the name of Allah, considering nowhere in the Koran (Qua'ran?) does it justify killing anyone (It's pretty close to the old testimate actually).
But then, many recruits are illiterate and have only their Imam (holy man, local priest basically) to receive their religious education from. And his agenda to endure.
So maybe not so much 2 cents as a few thousand, but despite formerly being a christian myself, I believe all religions are valid and often have positive influences or potential, if not for human nature.
(*In some country that I can't quite recall after Spain had brought the potato to Europe, the king of said fiefdom ordered that his farmers start to grow potatoes [Considering they were at war, and marching armies would burn or trample wheat or other crops, but potatos could remain growing and unharmed].
The stigma at the time however was that the plant was mostly for animal feed, so most people ignored his suggestion, despite the logic of it.
He even went so far as to dispatch cooks with recepies for potatoes to various farms as a further incentive, but again, no one listened.
So then he ordered that anyone not growing potatoes would have their ears cut off. Potatoes became pretty wildly popular after that.
The idea here being that people can be wildly ignorant and stupid to the point of having some knowledge crammed down their throats by force being a good thing some times.)
Go pick up a Quran and a Bible and grab a highlighter. (Or just google for Quran/Bible violence quotes).
Don't feed the trolls, unless it's funny to do so...
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