What baffles me is how truly compatible science and religious faith could be, only in that religion attempts to provide answers that science cannot. But rather than pushing hard to only provide those answers, and reading the texts in the context of the time, these religious leaders get unbelievably bent out of shape and decide to die on hills that are just trivially and demonstrably false.
Like evolution, the age of the earth, heck a few years ago even a heliocentric solar system. It does not matter at all if this is a heliocentric solar system, and yet folks were happy to die on that hill (even killing others who just point out the truth) turning away everyone who won’t submit. That’s what finally got me, the constant claims to seek truth, and yet inevitably ignoring it completely when it slaps you in the face.
It’s so close-minded and completely misses the point. If all they did was say “here’s some moral teachings on how to be better to each other” at least I could get on board with that. But no, it’s somehow required to buy into all the false teachings too.
It feels like a dead sea effect, where the only people left are those who comply when they see red plate and the leaders tell them to call it blue. To me that’s not about seeking truth or trying to live a more moral life, but rather about control and power.
Indeed, you have restated my position in fewer words.