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{{quote|''I '''really''' don't like that this is your main takeaway from the Bible!''|England, speaking to Scandinavia|''[[Scandinavia and the World]]'', "[https://satwcomic.com/death-of-the-author Death of the Author]"}}
 
== [[wikipedia:Template:Abrahamic religionsTraditions|Abrahamic Religions]] ([[Judaism]], [[Samaritanism]], [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Druzism]], [[Mormonism]], [[Baháʼí Faith]], [[Rastafari]]) ==
* According to [[The Quran]], the Virgin Mary was a single mom (but still a virgin), and Jesus uttered the whole [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|"first stone" speech]] at a few days old, in the defense of his mother, and not the unnamed woman caught in adultery.
** He also ascended to heaven before he was crucified because god wanted to spare him from the a horrible painful death.
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*** [[Richard Dawkins]] in ''[[The God Delusion]]'' goes through many accounts of Biblical events and comes to the following conclusion: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” He goes on to say that while the Old Testament God was harsh and cruel, He did stop when those who angered Him were dead. The New Testament added in Hell.
*** Christopher Hitchens gave similar interpretations of the character of God of the Bible many times, especially in [[God Is Not Great]]. Sam Harris did it as well in The End of Faith.
* Judas, from [[The Bible]], is frequently given a sympathetic [[Alternate Character Interpretation{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]]—usually — usually because the narrative seems to imply that without his "betrayal" Jesus would never have been arrested, and hence could not be tried or executed. The musical ''[[Jesus Christ Superstar]]'' is one of the most famous examples of the idea that Jesus was going to be arrested regardless of who betrayed him, or even ''if'' someone betrayed him. Judas, not Jesus, is the main character, and he betrays Jesus to the Romans not because he wanted the money, but because he was afraid; he believed that the crowds Jesus was drawing were becoming more and more radical, and he felt he needed to end things before large-scale violence broke out. The final scene consists of the entire cast, including Judas, in ''Heaven'', singing a reprise of the title song and wondering what the significance of Jesus's life and death actually was. However, various interpretations of the show have also had Judas reprise the song from Hell, including a 2000 film version which has Judas taunt and goad Jesus on as he carries his cross.
** [[Truth in Television|Real World Example]]: According to the Cainite and Gnostic interpretation in the [[wikipedia:Judas gospel|Gospel of Judas]], Judas Iscariot didn't betray Jesus out of greed for money, but acted on Jesus' secret orders, because Jesus believed that his crucifixion was a part of God's plan, which would make Judas an instrument of divine purpose. The translation sponsored by ''National Geographic'' is an extreme [[Macekre]] of the original text - to the point that it omits the word "not" from a couple passages, completely changing their meaning. * Sigh.*
** A secondary alternative character interpretation of Judas is that his "betrayal" was more of a [[Chessmaster]] ploy gone wrong. Judas wanted Jesus to stand trial and ''win''. It would push Jesus's ministry to the forefront of the Jerusalem scene, and ironically Jesus's worst enemies would help fund it. His subsequent dismay was completely predictable.
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** In ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' John Galt's interpretation of Genesis is that after eating the fruit humanity gained morality and after that (when they had to begin working) productivity, main virtues.
** There's also the idea that he is metaphor for sex and the loss of virginity.
** There is also the idea that Adam and Eve left the Garden more or less voluntarily because once their eyes were opened they realized it was completely and utterly dull. (Which would make Genesis 3:24 (quoted elsewhere on this page) an [[Older Than Dirt]] case of [[And Stay Out!]])
** Jewish Interpretation: before the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were static creatures unable to create things. They left because the garden, being perfect, was too small for them. they were subsequently given a broken world to fix together with God.
** One interpretation of Genesis is that the first man Adam was split into male (ish) and female (ishshah) halves, neither having primacy (rather than thinking of Adam as "first" and Eve as "second"). [And thus god was not forgetful, nor was the same story told twice]
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== [[Classical Mythology]] ==
* Any character in [[Greek Mythology]]. There are about six different versions of the Taking of Hippolyta's Girdle ''alone'', never mind the amount of times someone goes all [[SchrodingersSchrödinger's Cat|Shrodinger]] and is either dead or living on a different continent which later comes to be named after them.
* As war has becoming less accepted in the world modern interpretations of Ares make him increasingly evil, rather than just a force of nature. This is arguably also true of Hades.
** The Romans took this in the opposite direction, reveering their Mars as a hero, as opposed to the childish and violent Ares of Greek myth.
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