Material girl, it seems that the primary qualification for religious belief is to be able to read this:
Quote:And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."...
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
and blame everyone but God for what happened.
God lied when he told Adam that he would die if he ate the fruit. The serpent told Eve truthfully that they would not die, their eyes would be opened, and they would be like God, knowing good and evil.
The church would have us believe exactly the opposite. Perhaps it is some kind of initiation rite. If you are gullible enough to believe that God did not deceive Adam and Eve but the serpent did - even when Bible itself absolutely refutes that interpretation - then you can be a Faithful Follower and will not quibble when you are told that black is white or wrong is right.
Eve had a mind of her own and was able to weigh the words of God, the serpent, and the evidence of her own eyes to determine that the fruit was indeed good. She risked her life to gain wisdom. If it had been up to Adam, we would still be running around naked and ignorant.
Eve should be revered as a heroine who paid a high price to bring knowledge to the human race. Instead, she is blamed for the pain women suffer in childbearing, the humiliation of being forced to submit to inferior men, and for bringing the burden of sin to all mankind. Not only that, but in many cultures women also toil in the fields and so must bear the punishment meted out to Adam as well.
