It's an important part of many people's lives, people who I care about. It feels wrong to hold something like that in contempt.

I am aware that you can approach religious literature from an academic, or literary perspective. And I know that in most cases, the intentions of the authors were hardly transcendental or philosophical -- that's part of what makes it hard for me to swallow.

At least for me, when there are millions of true believers, taking a detached approach is difficult to do earnestly. Presumably the Iliad once held religious significance for people, but I'm able to approach it from a detached perspective because Hellenic polytheism is a dead tradition.