Why is the Holy Bible considered evil?
I have not yet seen why people consider the bible to be evil. Can someone give reason as to why it is?
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I could write a whole book about it but here are a few reasons. Note that many of these arguments deal more with the biblical god's character, but since he is supposedly the inspiration of the Bible the two go hand in hand. SLAVERY -God says slavery is okay (Leviticus 25:44-46). -God says it's okay to beat your slaves as long as they survive the beating for a few days. Exodus 21:20-21. -God says selling your daughters as slaves and/or wives is okay. Exodus 21:7. -God tells his followers to make entire cities into slaves or kill them if they don't cooperate and keep the women as "plunder". Deut 20:10-15 KILLING SOMEONE FOR BEING HELPFUL "When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God." 2 Samuel 6:3-7 The god described here is petty and cruel, not kind and loving. Let's look at a similar scenario. You tell your son not to touch the vase on the mantle. The cat knocks the vase off the mantle but instinctively your son catches it. He knows how much you love that vase and wouldn't want it to get damaged. So what would you do to your son, thank him for saving your vase or kill him? Well, if you follow gods example you should kill him because you told him not to touch the vase. SEXISM -Men rule over women [Genesis 3:16] -Abraham and many other of gods chosen people have multiple wives and concubines. Here are just a few examples: Genesis 25:1-6, 2 Samuel 5:13, 1 Kings 11:1-6 -It's okay to sell your daughters as slaves and they are to be slaves for life unlike men who must be set free after 7 years. Exodus 21:7-11 -Women who give birth are considered unclean for 1 to 2 months and is forbidden to enter the sanctuary or touch anything sacred. To cleanse her an animal must be sacrificed. Not only that but if the woman gives birth to a boy she is considered unclean for 30 days, but if they give birth to a girl it's 60 days. LEVITICUS 12:1-8 -Woman who are on their period are also considered unclean and are treated like they have a disease. To cleanse them once again you have to sacrifice animals, "one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. In this way he will make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge." Apparently menstruation is a sin. -Women are nothing more than plunder. Deuteronomy 20:14 -Women who are not virgins before marriage are to be stoned to death. No such rule applies to men. They can have multiple wives and concubines. DEUTERONOMY 22:13-21 -Women must remain silent in the church. 1 corinthians 14:34 That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to sexism in the Bible. GOD IS A COMPLETE PSYCHOPATH This passage shows just how depraved the god of the Bible is. It's very long so I trimmed it some to keep it a reasonable length. "Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people... if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country... The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks... The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish... The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed. The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies... and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth. Your carcasses will be food for all the birds and the wild animals... The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind person in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you. You will be pledged to be married to a woman, but another will take her and rape her... Your sons and daughters will be given to another nation, and you will wear out your eyes watching for them day after day, powerless to lift a hand... you will have nothing but cruel oppression all your days. The sights you see will drive you mad. The Lord will afflict your knees and legs with painful boils that cannot be cured, spreading from the soles of your feet to the top of your head." Deuteronomy 28:15-68 This kind of stuff is why atheists think the god described in the Bible is a complete psychopath. If we don't do exactly as he says he will make our lives a living hell and torture us until the day we die, and then after we die he will sentence us to eternal torment in hell. Wow, what a kind a loving guy god is. It's a good thing I don't believe he is real, because a god that sadistic would scare the crap out of me. THE STORY OF JOB The story of Job is a horrific tale of unimagined cruelty inflicted on one of gods most faithful followers, all so god could win a bet with Satan. -All of Job's possessions were destroyed. -500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys, and 3,000 camels were stolen. -7,000 sheep were burned up by "The fire of God which fell from the sky" -All of his servants were killed -The house of the firstborn was destroyed killing all 10 of his children. -His whole body was covered in boils. Questions: 1. Why would god care what Satan thinks? 2. God can supposedly see the future, so he would have already known that Job would have stayed faithful to him. Why would he let all those horrific things still happen to Job? 3. How can a loving god let such horrible things happen to Job, his children, his servants, and thousands of animals just to win a bet with Satan? HE CREATES PEOPLE KNOWING BEFOREHAND THAT THEY WILL END UP IN HELL Why would god create someone if he knows they are going to end up in hell? Christian’s often claim that god can see the future and is omnibenevolent (all good). If god can see the future and knew that millions of people would end up in hell, why would he even bother creating these people? Why not just create the ones that he could foresee as making it into heaven? Before creating each person he can just look into the future to see if that person would end up in heaven or hell. If he sees they will end up in hell he can just skip creating that person and move onto the next one. You can't claim that he is taking away the free will of these people, because you can't take away the free will of something that doesn't even exist. If god created these people knowing they would suffer eternally, then he is not omnibenevolent. How can any god that would create something that he knew would end up in hell be considered good? ETERNAL TORMENT Eternal punishment for finite crimes is not a fair punishment. Let's take a look at a hypothetical situation. In this situation there is no god and people live forever. You are a 40 year old adult, and you have a 13 year old daughter. You daughter just threw a major tantrum, cursed you out, and ran away. She disappears for 60 years. You are now 100 years old and finally find her. She still refuses to talk to you. Do you think the following would be a fair punishment? Lock her in the basement and torture her for the rest of eternity and say "I love you but you disobeyed me and didn't ask for forgiveness, so I'm going to torture you for eternity as punishment." Is that what a parent that loves their child would do? That's exactly what the god of the Bible is planning on doing. I don't care how much your child screws up, torturing them for eternity, or even for a day is unacceptable and is not something that a loving god would do. PUNISHING THE WRONG PERSON If your great, great, great grandfather murdered someone in the past, is it fair to punish you for his crime? I think nearly everyone would agree that it is not fair. So, why is it fair for god to punish all of humankind for the sins of Adam and Eve? Why not just punish Adam and Eve and create 2 new people and give them the same opportunity to decide whether to eat the fruit, or better yet, don't put the tree there in the first place. HE CREATED EVIL PEOPLE According to most Christians, god can see into the future. If this is the case, then he knows before he creates each person whether they will end up being a loving charitable person or a horrific murderous pedophile. If he chooses to create the murderous pedophile, is he not partially responsible for the atrocities that happen to the victims of this person? If a prison guard were to willingly let a pedophile escape, knowing with absolute certainty that the pedophile would molest other children, wouldn't you think that it was wrong of the guard and hold him partially responsible for the crimes committed by the pedophile? How is that any different from god creating the pedophile knowing in advance the horrible things that would happen? How could a loving god do such a thing? THE CIRCLE OF LIFE Think about the circle of life. In order for life to survive it must kill and consume other life. Why would a benevolent god create a system of life that needs to brutally kill and eat each other to survive? 1
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This is incredible. Never have I seen such a dedicated argument. I think it should be taken into consideration that (for some hypothetically) if the bible was fabricated at the time it would contain the moral values of that time. Back then all things described in your post were socially acceptable. Just as if today a similar document was composed and was viewed a couple thousand years later it too would be scrutinised and rejected as immoral because morals change. Which the bible is ironically proof of. SLAVERY This page gives a pretty good in context description of the slavery going on. KILLING SOMEONE FOR BEING HELPFUL I'm pretty sure what's actually happening here is God teaching people to have faith in Him. He wouldn't let the Ark of His Covenant fall to the ground. Just because the oxen stumbled doesn't mean God would have. Also, I'm not even sure of what's falling in this passage; Uzzah could be falling and take hold of the Ark to steady himself. If so, he could have grabbed on to many other things, and did not have to grab the Ark. I am gonna get off for a while, but I will come back and finish the list later. 2
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SLAVERY This is going to be long, but since I keep hearing the same apologetics over and over again from Christians I want to be thorough and make sure you have a clear understanding of what the Bible really says about slavery, not the white-washed version that Pastors and apologists tell you about. There are two different types of servitude described in the Bible. Leviticus chapter 25 begins with, “The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying:…” So, if we are to believe the text, these are direct quotes from God. The chapter talks about two different types of servitude, voluntary servitude to pay off debt and lifetime slavery. . VOLUNTARY SERVITUDE Starting at verse 39 he describes voluntary servitude, which only applies to Israelites. These servants are to be set free once they have paid off their debt or on the year of Jubilee, which is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. These types of servants are not to be treated harshly. “If any who are dependent on you become so impoverished that they sell themselves to you, you shall not make them serve as slaves. They shall remain with you as hired or bound laborers. They shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. Then they and their children with them shall be free from your authority; they shall go back to their own family and return to their ancestral property. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold. You shall not rule over them with harshness, but shall fear your God.” Notice how he makes it very clear that Israelites are not to be treated like slaves or ruled over harshly. Why would he need to say that if slaves aren't treated harshly like the apologists claim? Deut 24:7 says, "If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die." This shows us two things about slaves. First, they are kidnapped, it's not voluntary like the apologists claim. Second, treating someone like a slave is such a horrible thing that it's worthy of death. Yet as we are about to see, slavery is perfectly acceptable as long as it is done to non-Israelistes. . LIFETIME SLAVERY Starting at verse 44 god talks about real slavery. I applies to non-Israelites and is similar to modern day slavery where the person is treated as property. These people are slaves for life and cannot buy their freedom. God doesn’t say not to treat these slaves harshly and in fact says you can beat them with a rod as long as they survive the beating for a day or two. “As for the male and female slaves whom you may have, it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves. You may also acquire them from among the aliens residing with you, and from their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may keep them as a possession for your children after you, for them to inherit as property. THESE YOU MAY TREAT AS SLAVES, but as for your fellow Israelites, no one shall rule over the other with harshness.” That last verse is a clear indicator that slaves are treated harshly, otherwise there would be no reason to put the rest of the verse in there. Verses 47-55 describe how if an Israelite falls on hard times and sells themself as a servant to a non-Israelite, the servant has the option of buying their freedom. No such option is available to non-Israelites or women. . RULES FOR HEBREW/ISRAELITE SLAVES Now let’s jump to Exodus 21:1-6 where god outlines some additional rules for slavery and tells people how they can exploit a loophole in his slavery laws to force someone into a lifetime of slavery. Exodus 21:1-6 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. So here we have god saying that Hebrew slaves are to be set free after 7 years. However, if you give your slave a wife and they have kids, you can hold the wife and kids hostage in order to get the slave to serve for a lifetime. . SELLING YOUR DAUGHTERS, SEXISM & POLYGAMY In verses 7-11 god tells the people that when they sell their daughters as slaves and/or wives they are slaves for life, unlike males who are set free after seven years. Starting at verse 10 god also talks about polygamy, saying that if the person buying a girl chooses to make her a wife, he is not to diminish the marital rights of his first wife. Exodus 21:7-11 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money." . BEATING SLAVES Next let’s jump down to verse 20-21 to see what god says about beating slaves. “When a slaveowner strikes a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies immediately, the owner shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, there is no punishment; for the slave is the owner’s property.” So according to god it is okay to beat your slave with a rod as long as they survive the beating for a day or two because they are your property. Those hardly sound like the words of a benevolent god. . SLAVES ARE WORTH LESS THAN FREE PEOPLE Continuing on to verses 28-32 god says if someone has a bull that frequently gores people and the owner doesn't keep the bull penned up, if the bull kills someone both the bull and the owner are to be put to death. However, if the person that got killed was just a slave the owner only has to pay 30 shekels. Remember, these things are supposedly direct quotes from god, so god clearly doesn't think people are equal. . SLAVERY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT Slavery is not limited to the Old Testament. Colossians 3:22 says “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord.” Titus 2:9 says, “Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back.” . CONCLUSION The god described in the Bible clearly doesn’t object to slavery. He even defines the rules for it. So as I see it we are left with two possible conclusions. 1. God condones slavery and is therefore not benevolent. 2. The Bible was written by men who claimed god said those things, but god never really said those things or he simply doesn’t exist. . APOLOGETICS Exodus 21:16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.” Apologists often site this verse as proof that god is against slavery. At face value this seems like a valid argument but there is one big problem; this verse is only referring to the kidnapping of Israelites. Why do I think that? 1. The same rule is restated in Deut 24:7 but this time with added clarification. “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die." If it's wrong to kidnap anyone, why would he add "any of his countrymen of the sons of Israel"? There would be no need to include that part. 2. Remember how god said, "it is from the nations around you that you may acquire male and female slaves." Well, it turns out that doesn't necessarily mean go to foreign cities and buy slaves from them; gods buddy Moses actually tells his followers to enslave all the non-Israelites cities in the area. Deuteronomy 20:10-15. . Eph 6:9 "And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favouritism with him." Since god has already stated there is no punishment for beating your slaves with a rod, either Jesus is not god, god changed his mind, or this is only referring to Israelite slaves. . Coll 4:1 "Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven." What's right and fair is to not be a slave! 2
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KILLING SOMEONE FOR BEING HELPFUL I'm pretty sure what's actually happening here is God teaching people to have faith in Him. He wouldn't let the Ark of His Covenant fall to the ground. Just because the oxen stumbled doesn't mean God would have. I highly doubt Uzzah had time to stop and analyze the situation. There is no indication that he was trying to be disrespectful. It sounds like it was just a reflex reaction. Even if it weren't, do you really think murdering someone is a acceptable way to teach someone to have faith? Also, I'm not even sure of what's falling in this passage; Uzzah could be falling and take hold of the Ark to steady himself. If so, he could have grabbed on to many other things, and did not have to grab the Ark. Unless you were there and saw the angle he fell there is no way for you to know what was available to grab onto. Plus when you stumble you don't have time to analyze all of the possible things you can grab onto; you just instinctively grab the first thing you see. 1
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"Morally questionable" verses from the Bible: 1. Kill the Entire Town if One Person Worships Another God: " Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. "The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him." (Deuteronomy 13:13-19 NLT) 2. Kill Followers of Other Religions: 1) If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB) 2) Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. (Deuteronomy 17:2-5 NLT) 3. Kill People for Working on the Sabbath: The LORD then gave these further instructions to Moses: 'Tell the people of Israel to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you forever. It helps you to remember that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. Yes, keep the Sabbath day, for it is holy. Anyone who desecrates it must die; anyone who works on that day will be cut off from the community. Work six days only, but the seventh day must be a day of total rest. I repeat: Because the LORD considers it a holy day, anyone who works on the Sabbath must be put to death.' (Exodus 31:12-15 NLT) 4.Infidels and Gays Should Die: So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved. When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. They are fully aware of God's death penalty for those who do these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (Romans 1:24-32 NLT) 5. Kill People Who Don't Listen to Priests: Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT) 6. Kill Nonbelievers: They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB) 7. If A Man Rapes A Woman, He Should Marry Her: "If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her." (Deuteronomy 22:28-29 NLT) 8. Death To Rape Victim: "If within the city a man comes upon a maiden who is betrothed, and has relations with her, you shall bring them both out of the gate of the city and there stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbors wife." (Deuteronomy 22:23-24 NAB) 9. Rape Of Female Captives: "When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives, if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife, you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife. However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion." (Deuteronomy 21:10-14 NAB) 10. Sex Slaves: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she will not be freed at the end of six years as the men are. If she does not please the man who bought her, he may allow her to be bought back again. But he is not allowed to sell her to foreigners, since he is the one who broke the contract with her. And if the slave girl's owner arranges for her to marry his son, he may no longer treat her as a slave girl, but he must treat her as his daughter. If he himself marries her and then takes another wife, he may not reduce her food or clothing or fail to sleep with her as his wife. If he fails in any of these three ways, she may leave as a free woman without making any payment." (Exodus 21:7-11 NLT) Christian inspired atrocities: 1. Crusades 2. Spanish Inquisition 3. Witch hunts 4. Mass muder, enslavement, and forced relocation of The Native Americans 5. Enslavement of Africans 6. Holocaust (Hitler identified as catholic many times and in his speech at the Reichstag in 1936 he said: “I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews I am fighting for the Lord’s work.” He also managed to gather the support of the predominatley Christian population of Germany and Churches) 7. Bombing of abortion clinics 8. Rwandan Genocide (although often argued that it was politically motivated, multiple churches and priests participated) 9. Genocide of Bosnian Muslims in the Yugoslavic wars of the 90's 10. Ngo Diems perseccution of buddhists during his rule of South Vietnam 11. Destruction of Pagans during the Christian rule of the Roman Empire 12. The Catholic Church "Pedophile" network 13. Genocides in Africa being condoned and commited by various Christian churches and priests 14. Bushes "faith inspired" war on terror has caused over millions of lives ranging from American and NATO soldiers to countless of Afghan and Iraqi civilians. 15. Mass murder, enslavement, and forced relocation of Austrailian natives 16. Throughout the history of the Russian empire, the various Czars with the backing of the Russian Orthodox Church persecuted Jews and ethnic minorities. 17. Charlemagne had 4500 saxons beheaded for refusing to convert to Christianity 18. Catholic led extermination camps in Croatia during the early 1940's 19. The Modern day Catholic church discourages use of contraceptives in heavily HIV infested parts of Africa, causing the lives of many to AIDS each year 20. The largley "Catholic" Irish Republican Army and their violent campaign in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Etc. It's really just Old Testament that contains the "evil" parts. Even God says he is responsible for evil in OT: Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." I think people should do as Thomas Jefferson did and make a Bible containing only the parts that they like. |
