I do not mean that no atheist would read the Bible, but that even the sort of atheist who would not read the Bible has had their world view shaped by Christianity (including the Bible). I am a Christian and I have read bits of other religions' scriptures and a lot of other religions' mythology.
How do you inform yourself about reading the Bible? Conflicts about interpretation, applicability, cultural context, personal context, translation, true original text, and even canon? I find the biggest problem (with both Biblical literalists and atheists!) is the tendency to read it as one book by one author. It is not even one genre! Or are you just interested in how a literal reading influences American politics?
If you are talking about people using the Bible in a political context, most of the time they are misusing it. Not only are they cherry-picking but Jesus was apolitical ("give to Caesar what is Caesar's"). The book I mentioned argues that this evolved into separation of church and state (a concept that has been far more successful in historically Christian countries).
How do you inform yourself about reading the Bible? Conflicts about interpretation, applicability, cultural context, personal context, translation, true original text, and even canon? I find the biggest problem (with both Biblical literalists and atheists!) is the tendency to read it as one book by one author. It is not even one genre! Or are you just interested in how a literal reading influences American politics?
If you are talking about people using the Bible in a political context, most of the time they are misusing it. Not only are they cherry-picking but Jesus was apolitical ("give to Caesar what is Caesar's"). The book I mentioned argues that this evolved into separation of church and state (a concept that has been far more successful in historically Christian countries).