Now you are opening an even more complicated conversation than we had about gender. I am trying to figure out how to keep my response simple. Perhaps an analogy would help. When you look at the strident voices on the right making simplistic claims about gender, there is no truth in their statements, and a lot of confirmation bias as you would say in pulling isolated anecdotes at random. When you look at the actual science, the truth is much different.

The same could be said of the Bible. It is a collection of 66 books much of which is archaic superstition, or written to teach using an analogy, rather than be taken literally. Some of it is historical, in particular the gospels. To understand the Bible you have to read it as a whole and sift through that which leads to God and that which are mere arbitrary human standards that describe the history of ancient people. There are eternal truths in the Bible and the groups I work with do not resemble the political evangelicals in the slightest. They quietly live lives of service, which reflects the highest ideals of Christianity. So does God exist? Let me just say that I believe He does and I think there is evidence for it. But again we are into a very complicated and nuanced area. To get you started, Adam Hamilton’s book, Making Sense of the Bible, where he lays out a methodology for dissecting it is a good starting point.

I can tell our relationship is likely to be challenging. You ask good questions, but you choose perhaps some of the most complicated subjects that are out there. In any case, I enjoy your inquiries.