do people who believe there was once a talking snake think? -------------------------- It is truly amazing how "they" took that teensy weeny concept of a talking snake and ran with it.
You have to remember that less than 1/1000th of the population in biblical times could read and write (only high priests and the ruling class were taught these rare skills). The bible is a collection of stories that would allow those who could read to explain relatively complicated and abstract concepts to the illiterate and uneducated masses in ways they could digest, grasp and understand. Hence, the collection of metaphorical stories known now as the 'bible' was developed, written by many different authors, and slung together for mass consumption. By the way, why do you think the 'stained glass window' (prevalent in cathedrals all over Europe) came to be? Same reason. The masses were still illiterate in middle Europe. Stained glass windows are literally 'comic books' with pictograms so that those who can't read can follow along.
This should not be about believing in the bible or whether you are a Christian, but rather about political figures who would wrap themselves around the flag or their religion - all for the sake of political, ideological and personal gains. There are many examples of this with G W Bush, but more importantly for the coming election, it is what McCain has done. For example, the story and advertisement that McCain ran on his experience with a Hanoi Christian prison guard appeared to be embellished at the minimum or total fabrication at its worst: http://www.jedreport.com/2008/08/sullivan-on-mcc.html