The implicit assumption that the tribal myths of a small group of profoundly ignorant goat-herders who lived 3,000 years ago can be in any way relevant to any aspect whatsoever of modern life is, to be polite, rather optimistic. In fact there is zero value in debating conflicting interpretations of any myth because they are all the products of limited intellect and even more limited knowledge of reality.

We would all be better off by making reference to real-world complexities, accepting that there cannot be any abstract one-size-fits-all morality (the famous Trolley Car Problem demonstrates this elegantly), and therefore all morality is consequently relativistic.

Furthermore, as most evangelicals hold mutually exclusive beliefs (abortion is said to be bad but they oppose making contraception readily available, they claim to be pro-life but support the death penalty, etc.) it’s clear that their myths have no practical use nor intellectual coherence. Moving away from pointless sterile debates about how to interpret childish stories about gods and goblins would open up the possibility of moving towards humane real-world solutions. Alas, in the USA this is highly unlikely ever to occur.