[Normand O. L.]

Excellent question! The short answer is of course intolerence. But that begs the question. Why are people intolerant in an age defined by tolerance? I believe that the answer may be found in the cultural upheaval of the sixties. The social icons and mores that had largely defined 'normal' were replaced by...well, we're not sure are we? We, as a society, bought into the idea that much of what was respectable was in reality bigotted, intolerant, base, etc,etc,. There are some who are now questioning the wisdom of that acceptance, including myself. Unfortunatly, those who are now in power, the elites of society, were in many cases the very ones who agitated for change in the sixties. Bill Clinton comes to mind, notwithstanding his well known devotion to the Bible. It is important that the changes that were begun in the sixties be brought to a successful completion. This is just the nature of political power. In order for the desired transformations to take place requires that many of the old taboos be completly destroyed. Hence, Bible bashing. This is a short answer to a very good question and I'm sure that others have another point of view. I look forward to reading those points of view.

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Name : Normand O. L., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 50, City : Alameda, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Mechanic, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Al]

Why is it that the expression "Bible believer" seems to evoke the stereotype of a throwback who beats his kids, hates his wife and wants all dissenters put to death?

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Name : Al, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 49, City : Ottawa (Ontario), State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : audio engineer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jesse-N30802]

I don't know about kid-beating or wife-hating, but for many, many years the official policy of the Roman Catholic Church was to put to death all dissenters, usually in the most painful way possible. As the descendant of dissenters the church missed, that's what it means to me.

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Name : Jesse-N30802, Gender : M, Religion : Jewish, Age : 40, City : Herzliya, State : NA Country : Israel, 

[JerryS]

I would guess it is because many people who beat their kids, hate their wives, and want everyone who disagrees with them put to death use the Bible (or the Koran, or any other suitably weighty authority) as justification for their own behavior. I see that you're from Canada, so evidently this stereotype isn't unique to the USA. Putting it more generally, religion of any kind is often used to justify the most hideous acts because it helps dehumanize the victims; that, in turn, tars all believers with the same brush even though many true believers are reasonably tolerant of others and are generally nice people.

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Name : JerryS, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 52, City : New Britain, State : CT Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[C.A.L.]

I once saw a bumpersticker that pretty much exemplifies the point i am going to try to make here. It said 'The Christian Right is neither Christian nor Right'. When people talk about Christians in the sense that you described- i.e. as being haters, homophobes, racists, abusers etc- they are describing a narrow version of Christianity. They are basing their views of Christianity as a whole on the few radical examples they see on television and in the papers- the people who use the Bible and Christianity to justify and support their own biases. When people learn that Christianity is NOT about hate or condemning others, their opinions will probably change. However, i don't see that happening any time soon.

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Name : C.A.L., Gender : F, Religion : Pagan, City : St. Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : college student, Education level : High School Diploma, 

[Jack]

When I think of 'Bible Believer,' I don't think of somebody who is necessarily physically violent, I tend to think of people who try to make laws to do things like restrict religious freedom, and I think of people who key cars up for having non-Christian bumper stickers. Obviously most people who believe in the Bible probably aren't like this, but it's out of personal experience for me.

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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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