God creates Adam–as painted by Michelangelo

• Noah saves the world’s wildlife by stuffing them into an ark. Sure—untrained wild animals are going to meekly walk, two-by-two, into a huge building. Then they’re going to let themselves be caged. And Noah and his family must store a huge variety of food for each type of animal for an indefinite period of time. Transporting large numbers of animals poses a Herculean challenge for circuses even today.  And the sheer stench of all that animal urine and feces in a closed Ark would have been horrific. 
• Moses parts the Red Sea. Some scholars believe “Red” has been mistranslated from “Reed,” which is like upgrading “the White Quail” to “the White Whale” in Moby Dick.

Moses (played by Charlton Heston) parts the Red Sea

• Lot’s wife becomes a pillar of salt.  A human being can be turned into ashes, but not salt.
• Samson kills 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his physical strength couldn’t kill so many men—except with a machinegun.
• Daniel is thrown into a pit of lions—but survives because an angel closes their jaws. This sounds inspiring—until you remember that didn’t happen when Christians were thrown to the lions by the Romans.
• The will of God violates physical laws. Jesus turns water into wine and raises Lazarus from the dead; Jonah lives inside a fish for three days; Noah dies at 950 years. 
• Jesus redeems mankind from sin. Adam and Eve brought “sin” into the world—not by murder, rape or incest, but by gaining knowledge in the Garden of Eden. To redeem billions of future men, women and children from a “crime” they didn’t commit, God impregnates a teenager without her consent to sire a son so he can be tortured and murdered.
• Jesus rises from the dead. There have been near-death experiences, but there has never been a documented case of someone being certified as dead who came alive again—especially more than 2,000 years later.
• Jesus will return more than 2,000 years after he died to wipe all evil from the earth and usher in a paradise for his faithful followers. This is the ultimate “Get-Out-of-Death-Free” card. Everyone fears death. Science says it’s final—but Christianity promises you can live forever if you just follow the teachings of Jesus—as interpreted by any number of would-be clergy. 

“The Transfiguration of Jesus” as painted by Carl Bloch

• “One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4). Wrong. According to astronomers, in about 7.5 billion years, the Sun will become a red giant, expand beyond the Earth’s current orbit, and vaporize the planet. Which raises the question: If God is all-wise, why did he create a self-destructing universe?

So why do millions of people unquestioningly accept so many stories that totally contradict the most basic truths of common sense?   

• Countless parents have told them to their children.
• So have countless pastors and priests.
• From the 1940s to the 1960s, audiences reveled in such spectaculars as “Samson and Delilah,” “The Ten Commandments” and “King of Kings.” When people watch Biblical movies, they believe they’re seeing The Truth as it’s laid out in the Bible.
• Gospel music has produced mega-hits like: “Shall We Gather at the River?” “Take Me to the King,” “Down By the Riverside.”
• Fear of death—and the hope to live forever—as Jesus allegedly cheated death through his resurrection.
• To bring a sense of purpose to their lives by “enlisting” in a Heavenly (if imaginary) community.

It is not necessary to actually be religious to run for and win public office in the United States. But it is essential to claim to be.

Donald Trump—a lifelong criminal totally lacking in humility and spirituality—became the darling of evangelicals in 2016 by claiming to love Jesus.