I was under the assumption that the bible was written at a time when stoning criminals and selling women as slaves were all common practices.
The interpretation of the bible by the church and its believers has changed dramatically over time, things once considered taboo have become commonly accepted, where as other practices have been completely abandoned in shame. It seems fair to question that if the interpretation of the bible is so easy to waiver at the moral whims of society, how are we to know that the modern day interpretation (any one of them that is) is correct?
There is always the assumption of divine truth, of right and wrong, of just and unjust, but these ideals change so frequently that they can't possibly be real.
If you examine the bible as a piece of literature written by an average citizen of the time period (this is assuming there is no deity) then the writing of the bible, and what it says literally in the text makes perfect sense. The bible was written with rules and guidelines to everyday life and to civilization in general based upon what was believed to be right and what was believed to be wrong at the time.
True, a portion of the bible is told through stories or allegories, but the lines in question are didactic. They are told in the second person, not the first or third.
Overall, religion has both positive and negative effects on society. On one hand, it gives people hope and a reason for acting in a cooperative manner and indeed without these implied rules of god, there would be anarchy. On the other hand, however, religion can slow scientific and moral progress and narrow the minds of it's followers.
