i did read the bible from front to back when i was a kid because i was that kind of kid. i even have a favourite bible quote:

And the angel of the LORD said to him, Why have you smitten your ass these three times? - numbers 22:32

i read it like an anthropology text book. the truth is it's a good story. it's perhaps not particularly accurate, but it does provide some historical information on the levant during the period after the iron age collapse, through to the persian conquest, and all the way to the roman occupation. it's not devoid of value.

but i've been a staunch atheist ever since.

to suggest that the bible is completely ridiculous and you'd have to be a retard to take it seriously would be a politically correct understatement. these people should be rounded up and put in asylums.