: : Besides, you can't tell me that an African tribe that speaks in clicks and clacks has a meaningful and accurate translation of the entire holy bible or that such a thing is even feasible in such an obscure tongue. :
: Actually, there are several thousand languages in the world (I think 6000, something like that), including 1000 in New Guinea alone. And no, plenty of them do NOT have translations of the Bible.
True, in fact most dialects of San (the "clicks and clacks" language of the !Kung that I think DD9 was referencing) don't even have written forms among native speakers! (all written forms of these languages are created by linguists for their own purposes, and generally not adopted by the speakers.) Therefore, the bible, or indeed any book, can't have been translated into San, or if it has, the native speakers can't read it in any case. The BaMbuti of the Congo basin speak a related language (MaMbuti) that also has no written form among the aboriginal speakers. The BaMbuti are some of the most gentle, resourceful and beautiful people in the world. If Shaun's god is sending all of them to hell on the basis of a lack of access to some book, well then I want nothing to do with him!
Seriously, there is a huge philosophical hole in any faith that claims that an all-knowing, loving creator sends a huge number of his "children" to eternal torment due to accidents of birth that, by all accounts, he predetermined. That is, imagine god is sitting around creating and says to one of his creations "OK, soul #5,498,342,023, you are going to be born in the forests of the Congo. Your people have no written language, so they have no access to the bible. I send everyone to hell unless they read the bible, so I'm really creating you just so I can have you tortured forever, and you have no choice in the matter." If god is really that sadistic, I'm not interested. I've met people that are this petty and nasty, but somehow I expected more from a diety!
-Floyd
