@ChrisAine Even that’s generous!! It’s in the millions.

@ChrisAine
I agree that it’s the fault of the maker, but assigning blame doesn’t solve the problem. The human still has to live with the faulty construction.

And yes, there are some things we can do to reduce the suffering, but that suffering isn’t in an imaginary afterlife. It’s here and now.

So as long as theists and atheists take the mythology literally, they both miss the remedy, and we remain here in hell, good company notwithstanding.

A metaphorical reading reveals a path to liberation from that suffering while we are alive.

It all reminds me of the saying “Misery loves company.” Personally, I’d rather lose the misery than to be comforted by the company of other miserable people.

In any case,
Best regards

@skado A metaphorical reading alters nothing. Except that it give more freedom of interpretation for evilly intended to use. Religion interpreted metaphorically is still basically a source of fake authority used to justify things which its controllers can not justify by reason, debate, or appeal to popular judgement.
There is no faulty construction, humans are evolved, not made or constructed, and evolution, because it exist in the real world, always falls sort of perfection, but it is value free, and therefore can never be faulty. If faults with it are therefore found, the fault is with the culture doing the finding.