I quite agree with you, DA. I don't think the bible does have any special moral authority. (And I confess that Weasly is my king.)
Like I said, the problem is in the interpretation. Your example of tithing is an excellent illustration of foolish and corrupt people using the bible inappropriately. Please understand, in no way do I support taking the bible as anything more than a remarkably old and vivid piece of literature. Like all works of fiction, it must be understood as metaphor; anybody who tries to take it literally is behaving like an idiot.
What I have been trying to say is that I think people should be held accountable for their own idiocy, rather than laying blame on a book. I believe modern evangelical Christianity to be a disturbing and dangerous movement, and very few things anger me more than the people who are trying - and often succeeding - in foisting their twisted belief system on human society as a whole. In fact, I propose that nothing threatens American society (for I have trouble speaking for the rest of the world) more than these fundamentalist charlatans.
DA, don't you agree that the people, not the book, should be castigated?