I'm not a fan of the metaphor defense. It essentially comes down to: "This is subjective, so I can never be wrong".
This isn't a bad thing, in fact many of them think the bible is so great because it can hold the attention of a six year, and a 50 year old.
In reality, most people aren't even familiar with these metaphors, let alone the passages themselves. I would even guess that most "Christians" today have yet to even read the bible in full, especially in younger generations.
that's because when push comes to shove most of them aren't really Christians.
These metaphors have been passed down and twisted with each retelling that the Christians of today just believe what their local pastor tells them...10 steps later and they're voting against what are essentially individual liberties, and they don't have any factual reasons or applicable logic for doing so.
it seems like you have more of a problem with religious institutions than you do religion. Maybe you should look into this guy http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Søren_Kierkegaard
or http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitarianism
The actual teachings of Jesus seem lost on most of them. If they actually "are" Christian in their minds, then that would really just be a mark against their religion in my book. They play the part to get elected, but most of their actions don't seem to fall in line with what Jesus would have wanted. Of course, this all varies from individual to individual.
I don't disagree.
True. From my perspective, its a matter of the electorate being uneducated, and lacking critical thinking. Religion doesn't exactly promote critical thinking.
I disagree, the Catholic Church might negatively influence thinking skills, but religion as such should have no affect.
Many of my qualms with religious people of today would be squashed if they could simply "walk the talk". I'm not against anyone practicing their religion. However, as soon as it affects our society as a whole, you can be sure I'll speak out against it.
I agree with you, but don't make enemies where they aren't needed. The person I linked to above would be one of your biggest allies in the fight you're trying to fight, but new atheists disregard him because he is a religious christian.