I’ve noticed that some of you Christians like to quote the Bible. I know the Bible is your law, but it is not necessarily the law for the rest of us infidels. If it is indeed your law, then most of you are lawbreakers.

Of course, the main way to deal with sin is to accept Jesus Christ as your savior (that’s what they tell me), but did you know you are supposed to slaughter a bull as well?

“If the congregation of Israel sins unintentionally, when the sins shall become known, the assembly shall offer a bull to be slaughtered before the Lord” (Leviticus 4:13).

I haven’t seen too many bulls being slaughtered lately. I’m sure some of you out there have sinned. Either own up and slaughter your bulls or stop telling us heathens your Bible is law.

Perhaps you quote the Bible because it is a reputable source.

“Thou shalt not kill.” Okay, I understand that.

“You shall keep the Sabbath; Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death” (Exodus 31:12). WHAT!?

Actually, in many instances does the Bible tell you to kill and resort to violence. Maybe some of you aren’t Christians at all? The Code of Hammurabai tells us “an eye for an eye.”

If that is why you kill, then stop calling yourself Christian and call yourself Babylonian (which predates Christianity by a thousand years anyway.)

Babylon aside, I think a commandment is of a higher priority than most anything else said in the Bible. So stop killing everything. (This refers to hunters of sport, armies with God on their side and people who step on defenseless insects.) If you must keep killing, then don’t quote the Bible as a source of virtue.

If you (who quote the Bible for the rest of us) do so because you lack original material, then you are a good Christian. The Bible has also borrowed material from other sources. Even I’m a good Christian in this sense; I borrowed quotes from the Bible to help me write this column.

The story of Noah, the Flood, Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden are all Sumerian stories. The Sumerians may have even borrowed these stories from more ancient peoples. Even the concept of Satan was Persian before it was Christian.

It’s good to see the Bible borrows from other civilizations. It broadens the appeal and shows a bit of diversity.

It’s unfortunate some of those who read the Bible have to use it to suit their own needs and opinions. It’s sad they feel that they are the righteous ones. It gives the name of Christianity a scar it does not need.

Most of us secularists are sick of Christianity because those who like to impose their self righteousness will do so whether we want to hear it.

Most of my friends are Christian. They are truly good people in every sense a human being can be.

They also do not share with me their Christianity unless I ask. A little common courtesy makes a good welcoming mat for any religion.

If you want someone to join your religion, let them see it for themselves. Don’t threaten them with fire and brimstone and Hell and damnation.

Even I have been to church a couple times. Not because I was asked to, but because I wanted to see for myself where all this self-righteousness was coming from. Certainly not from this church.

The minister had only love and brotherhood to preach. Using a gentle voice, the minister didn’t even have to quote the Bible to get his message across. He had entirely original words for common thoughts.

He didn’t point and condemn. He didn’t dictate God’s laws. He let all members of his congregation be Christians on their own accord.

As I sat through those services, I wondered how this religion could be so tainted that Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in Northern Ireland.

I wondered how so many armies could march in the name of God.

I wondered how Christians could point at and persecute others who follow their own gods or no gods at all.

It is not because of Christianity, but because of a few Christians.

Like every group or tribe or society, there are a few bad apples.

To those who still quote the Bible for their own needs or to attack the morals of others, I say this: Please leave the homosexuals, secularists, atheists, agnostics, heathens, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Carmens and infidels alone. Thank you.

Now it’s time to go slaughter some bulls.

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Carmen Cerra is a senior in biological and premedical illustration from Redondo Beach, Calif.