Conservatives have not read the Bible.
The Right has successfully rebranded the brown-skinned liberal Jew, who gave away free healthcare and was pro-redistributing wealth, into a white-skinned, trickledown, union-busting conservative, for the very fact that an overwhelming number of Americans are astonishingly illiterate when it comes to understanding the Bible. On hot-button social issues, from same-sex marriage to abortion, biblical passages are invoked without any real understanding of the context or true meaning. It’s surprising how little Christians know of what is still the most popular book to ever grace the American continent.
More than 95 percent of U.S. households own at least one copy of the Bible. So how much do Americans know of the book that one-third of the country believes to be literally true? Apparently, very little, according to data from the Barna Research group. Surveys show that 60 percent can’t name more than five of the Ten Commandments; 12 percent of adults think Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife; and nearly 50 percent of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple. A Gallup poll shows 50 percent of Americans can’t name the first book of the Bible, while roughly 82 percent believe “God helps those who help themselves” is a biblical verse.
So, if Americans get an F in the basic fundamentals of the Bible, what hope do they have in knowing what Jesus would say about labor unions, taxes on the rich, universal healthcare, and food stamps? It becomes easy to spread a lie when no one knows what the truth is.
The truth, whether Republicans like it or not, is not only that Jesus a meek and mild liberal Jew who spoke softly in parables and metaphors, but conservatives were the ones who had him killed. American conservatives, however, have morphed Jesus into a muscular masculine warrior, in much the same way the Nazis did, as a means of combating what they see as the modernization of society.
The problem with all of this is that the only people who can wrestle Christianity out of the hands of the conservatives are those more liberal folks who actually live their lives as they believe Jesus had intended for them to.
The problem with that is that, as far as I can tell, the more reasonable members of Christianity are kind of a pansies when it comes to confrontation or fighting for what they believe.
Hell if this were my religion that was being poisoned like this I would be standing on a pile of conservative bodies looking to assholes to add to it. But then again I have anger issues.
Actually right now the more liberal, more Christian if you will, Christians have a rather powerful ally on their side.
Let them find their own religion. I hear Scientology is always recruiting.
ReplyDeleteThat would be effective - NOT.
Do you really think that a fight wtihin fundamentalism, or with fundamentalists (or any stripe) would squelch things? bring sanity?
No. Usually, such a fight makes people hold their turf and dig in like crazy. The most that could be hoped for is that they all split into thousands of very small groups (sects/cults/whatever) such that individually they have no power over any others.
DeleteI must say it was lovely spending Christmas with fellow atheists, agnostics and two cultural Jews! And not so surprisingly, we ALL carry the same thoughts when it comes to politics and moral behaviour!!
Of course not. But it sure would be entertaining for those of us who think both sides are ignorant, paranoid assholes to watch.
DeleteAn amusing aside:
ReplyDeleteI was traveling the other day with a woman I know who is VERY Christian. Almost to a fault. Not quite, but almost sanctimonious.
anyway - at one point she mentioned that she had recently acquired a new Bible and was reading the condensed versions of some of the Bible stories that are in the front and she was amazed that there was this story about Judith.
She'd never heard that story before.
And yet - there it was! Right there in the front of this "new" Bible she had gotten.
I said, "Oh yeah, the one where Judith kills Holfernes and cuts his head off?"
And she looked surprised and said, "Well, yes..."
I said it must be a Douay-Rheims Bible.
She responded, "What is a Douay-Rheims Bible?"
I said it is an older version and contains more books in it than the King James version of the Bible.
She couldn't believe it!
"Versions" of the Bible?
She thought her King James Version was the One and ONLY version of the Bible and IS the LIVING WORD OF GOD.
I encouraged her to read more of her new Bible and get back to me.
Having read both the King James and the Douay-Rheims versions, I pointed her towards Tobit and told her that one was my favorite book in the Douay-Rheims.
She has trouble understanding my interest - and knowledge of the subject - since she knows I'm an Atheist.
I find that a lot of us who were handed the King James version in 3rd grade at church and then memorized a good bit of it in Sunday School over the years, were unaware that other versions existed. Pretty sad that we grew into adulthood convinced women did not belong behind a pulpit, let alone in a leadership position on Deacon Boards or what have you. I think only the dwindling numbers of men in church convinced men that women had better be heard, or there would be no church left.
DeleteAs another atheist it is always surprising to me that more of us seem to have a better "religious" education, but of course on average I will say we have a higher education in general.
DeleteHumans create the gods they choose to believe in, and they created the bible the same way.
DeleteIt's all destructive human bullshit.
Randall, if you REALLY want to blow her mind, get her a copy of "Misquoting Jesus" by Bart Ehrman. If she freaks out at TWO versions of the Bible, how will she wrap her mind around the concept of THOUSANDS?
DeleteOr the fact that changes in the text can be traced to specific points in time. Like, when Christian scholars were embroiled in debates over whether Jesus was just an enlightened man guided by the hand of God or the literal SON/incarnation of God. At this same point in time, one single word was changed from all earlier texts. When Jesus is asked by a Roman if he was "the son of God", Jesus originally says: "yes, I am A son of God". Later, that "A" was changed to "THE". Which of course radically changes everything.
Ehrman's book is also available in audio book. :)
The real kicker, Boscoe, is that Jesus actually said NOTHING. He didn't exist in the first place. Not one word of anything he is quoted in the new testament of the bible as saying, was ever heard by a single one of the people who later fabricated what has come to be known as the gospels.
DeleteI must disagree. There is a good deal of evidence archeologists have found that point to Jesus having lived, and that supports other stories in the Bible. Since neither of us were there, it is a moot point.
DeleteIf you want to get technical, most of the history we know comes from oral tradition. Anyone along the line could have made it up or added to it. There is outside evidence to say that Jesus did exist. (Regardless of how you feel or believe! You can take it on faith that he didn't exist if you prefer. No one will stop you)
@1:07, no...no, there is NOT evidence that Jesus of Nazareth existed. There have been some hoax finds that have claimed that to be but nothing legit. A popular theory is that Jesus was a figure invented by the Roman artistocracy. So...there's that...
DeleteRandall, it may have been a Douay-Rheims Bible your traveling companion was reading, but in fact the Book of Tobit is included in every Catholic Bible. Your assumption that it "must be" a Douay-Rheims Bible suggests that you also are unfamiliar with some of the versions of the Bible in common use today.
DeleteThe Douay-Rheims is still popular, but the New American Bible is the version currently used in most Catholic Churches in the US for vernacular mass readings and religious formation. The Revised Standard Version (Catholic Edition) and New Jerusalem Bible are also popular.
If you wanted to help the woman understand clearly, you could have explained that after the Protestant Revolution, several complete books of the Bible (and parts of a few more) that had been considered canonical for centuries were thrown out. The reasons are complex, and would only bore some of the readers of this blog, e.g., the anonymous Christ-mythicists who choose to remain clueless about boring bookish stuff like history and theological scholarship.
Scientology, the Mormons, the Evangelicals. We pacifist Christians don't recruit. We try to lead by example, but it's tough when you live humbly and peacefully. You tend to get tromped on by the likes of Sarah Palin and Frankie Graham. Not to mention the uber rich Osteens and Rick Warren, who are about as Christlike as the Devil himself. I'm waiting for Perry or someone to ask where in the Bible the Pope gets his power from. You know...actually READ the book?
ReplyDeleteYou "pacifist Christians" are part of the problem. You consider yourself a pacifist, so you can use that as an excuse as to why you get tromped on by the loud-mouthed extremists, but in reality, you're just lazy and unmotivated. It makes you feel good about yourself to call yourself a pacifist and a Christian; you like to think you're emulating Jesus (who I don't believe existed, BTW), which lets you humblebrag about your peaceful philosophy. You ignore the story where Jesus threw the money lenders out of the temple, not too peaceful then, was he? You also ignore the crucifixion wherein Jesus allowed himself to be tortured and murdered, taking pacifism to the extremist extreme. But you pacifist Christians who claim to follow him, won't even get your delicate, special little hands dirty by standing loudly up to the Franklin Grahams and Sarah Palins and publicly presenting another alternative to their evil clown show.
DeleteYou lily-livered cowards make me as sick as they do.
Hypocritical fuckers
Anon @9:48 AM, you call Sally in MI a "lily-livered coward..." but Sally did post using her screenname. You posted under the cover of "Anonymous". Thought I should point out that maybe Sally isn't such a coward after all. Happy Holidays from another Anonymous. : )
DeleteYou're right, anonymous, at 11:00! "Sally in MI" is totally kicking fundy Christian ASS by courageously IDing herself so very distinctly! Sally being such a rare first name, and so very, very few people living in MI, and all!
DeleteSeriously? 11:00 you just showed us again how very, very lame and hypocritical Sally's post was.
Anonymous at 9:48
"The problem with that is that, as far as I can tell, the more reasonable members of Christianity are kind of a pansies when it comes to confrontation or fighting for what they believe. "
ReplyDelete------------------------------------------
Or maybe they are too busy, what with feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead , comforting the sorrowful, bearing wrongs patiently, forgiving all injuries, etc. Actually living out Jesus' message of love and touching many lives in the process. Fighting for what they believe by actually living what they believe. But sure, call them "pansies."
Whatever you call them, they would have less hungry, naked, homeless, sick, imprisoned, dead, sorrowful, bearing wrongs, forgiving injuries ect, IF they could find the time and fortitude to confront. It is kind of hypocritical for the ones that don't confront. They need to address their leaders to be better leaders and show them the way. They are only as true as their weakest links. Weak leaders are a crying shame.
Delete"... IF they could find the time and fortitude to confront."
Delete-----------------------------
I guess i wasn't clear in that I was saying that it is one thing to believe that the actual Christians should confront the christianists. There is nothing wrong with that.
It is another thing to claim that any that don't are "pansies" or "lack fortitude." Much of the work being done by these people requires a great deal of fortitude and courage. Everyone has different strengths and talents.
There are people who speak out as Pope Francis does. But they don't have the money and power that will bring ratings and clicks. So what they have to say doesn't get heard the way every braying message of hate from Yukon Yeehaw does.
Also, why should only those caring for the sick, homeless, etc., be the ones to confront? The false christians are using political means to commit their wrongs and that is the responsibility of all of us.
Gryphen is 100% correct. Too many of them ARE pansies who are either afraid to rock the boat, or who believe that calling themselves saved is all it takes to get their asses into the heaven they claim to believe in.
DeleteKudos to Gryphen for goring some sanctimonious oxes this boxing day.
They need to address their leaders to be better leaders and show them the way. They are only as true as their weakest links. Weak leaders are a crying shame.
DeleteIMO the problem is in leadership. Those doing the difficult work have their tasks. When they deal with their leaders they could make it clear what they want to represent them.
I am with Nefer. True Christians would become CINO's in the fundies world if they stood up to the ugly representatives like Palin or Papa Duck. True Christians are living their lives, as are we atheists, without falling into the Controversy Trap the media spews to keep us riled.
Deleteif you were in a group, organization, church, religion or what you want to call it, that has a person as off center from what the true believers believe as Palin... what would you do. Accept that the world thinks of Palin as your leader? Tolerate the leadership that is complicit and silent?
DeleteChristian leaders are now Satan and the poor pitiful true workers are being used.
I am not a Bible scholar or even close. But as I recall Jesus did get mad and stand up to the fake Priests and money changers.
Why can't sincere believers do as Jesus?
10:14 AM
DeleteThere may not be many True Christians. Even the True Christians are allowing to be represented, under the spell, of Palin or Papa Duck.
It is a tragic statement on Christianity. Which must be Godless except for the fake God they worship or allow to be the God of their Christian Church. Sad.
WWJD?
DeleteSee Track (Menard) Palin's tattoos?
ReplyDeletehttp://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2013/12/sarah-palin-posts-picture-of-eskimo.html
The Gospel according to Sarah Palin:
Leviticus 19:28
http://i2.cpcache.com/product_zoom/416820135/leviticus_1928_classic_thong.jpg?color=White&padToSquare=true
Hot! Hot! Hot! Warrior Body!
Delete6:45
ReplyDeleteYou mention the mormons. Those believers in the teachings of the angel Moroni are guilty of the sin of nepotism. Here jn the West Mormons band together in the workplace to promote each other.
Most human resources departments fail to do anything against it, since it could be seen to be anti religious.
Dear Mormons, you’ve been given a rare second chance – don’t blow it
Deletehttp://americablog.com/2013/12/dear-mormons-youve-given-rare-second-chance-dont-blow.html
What a great cartoon & article....no truer words. Democrats are always for progress, the country, the masses.....Republicans are always for power, the money, and themselves. Electing a black man dissolved any pretense or subtlety of their true agenda of keeping this country under the power of rich, white men. Above all else they must be "Christian", their warped idea of it anyway. Fear of the wrath of God and always hate....hate as loud and as often as possible. In their world nothing is off limits,,,cheat, lie, bully, incriminate, deny, judge and do ANYTHING to hold on to the ignorant sheep that keep electing them. Take as much money as you can in whatever way you can and keep voting to keep them in poverty, unemployed, sick and make sure education is an evil word. Rich, white men must make the rules to insure power and wealth....all the rest, including the planet be damned. Did I miss anything??
ReplyDeleteNope. You summed it up pretty well!
DeleteO/T but THIS is what we can expect in the next two years if Hillary does run, which it seems more and more like she will. It's gonna get ugly...
ReplyDeleteThe GOP's History of Sexist Hillary-Bashing
Desperate to stop a second Clinton presidency in 2016, it’s a sure bet many in the GOP will reprise the ugly attacks they used on her 22 years ago.
While Hillary Clinton has made clear that she won’t decide whether she wants to pursue the presidency in 2016 until next year, Republicans have decided they already are going to make her a top target. Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee Chairman, has promised this month to go after the “rough stuff” about Clinton in an ad campaign that will be “very aggressive.” The Republicans are promising a shotgun approach; just shoot out things like the “a botched health care roll out in the '90s and Benghazi,” and hope something hits.
This isn’t the first time that Republicans have tried to nasty attacks against Hillary. That tradition stretches back to 1992, when Republicans decided to go after her with a series of sexist attacks that continued into her husband’s administration. As Republicans start to open up attacks against Hillary once again, it’s worth remembering the sexist overtones in the earliest Republican attacks on Hillary, and how these attacks can backfire on Republicans.
“Hillary-bashing” became a central theme in the Republican campaign in 1992. “No one can convince me that the American people are so blind that they would replace Barbara Bush with Hillary Clinton," Pat Roberston told the Republican convention. This was no ordinary First Lady, she was, as Patrick Buchanan said, a “lawyer-spouse” who “has compared marriage as an institution to slavery.” While Hillary had been the stable breadwinner in years when Bill tried to get his political career to take off, Republicans were deeply uncomfortable with the idea of a marriage in which a woman could hold a successful career, especially one that may be on par with that of her husband. Even Barbara Bush, who first resisted the idea of going after Hillary, eventually came around to seeing her as “quite different” and a fair target.
In that election cycle, Republicans were attracted to portraying Hillary’s career as the manifestation of something maniacal about her intentions. In 1992, the right-wing American Spectator characterized Hillary as the “Lady MacBeth of Arkansas.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/26/the-last-time-republicans-fought-hillary-they-used-sexism.html
she isn't going to run.
DeleteHillary IS going to run and the GOP will be wasting their time with the sexism. First of all, Hillary has already proven she can handle it and secondly, it will only alienate more women voters.
DeleteShe is running for money. More donation$ only.
Delete@10:06 am: Hi $a®ah™! Actually, Hillary doesn't NEED any more money. Please Google the term "projection". loser.
DeleteIf I were Hillary, I would not announce my intention to run until the very end and only when she absolutely has to!
DeleteWhy go through all the crap the Republicans have already mapped out to counter her? Love how she is doing it right now - not answering anyone and just making statements and speeches (she's paid for well for them too!) off and on. I hope she puts Elizabeth Warren on the ticket with her. They'd be a slam dunk!!!
The Republicans have no one of her caliber, education and experience to put up against her and they know it.
I can hardly wait to have another eight years of Democrats in office!!! Oh boy, are they gonna be pissed!!!
Elizabeth Warren ran on the fact that she is of American Indian herritage, insisted in sticking to this stoty, refused to talk to native American groups, and is dead silent when it has been proven that there is no trace anywhere in her family's history. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of her having any part of government, if she can't respect some groups of people, just use them to get elected.
DeleteBelieve me, I know what I'm talking about. My grandmother was a Cherokee princess!!! SNARK!!!
Hillary's running for money? BWAH ha ha! She could shit out a book and it would make more than Sarah makes in a whole freaking year. Because she's still popular and people actually like her, unlike Sarah who is H.A.T.E.D outside of a very, very narrow segment of the population.
DeleteBest review of good tidings so far:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.patheos.com/blogs/billykangas/2013/12/sarah-palins-good-tidings-and-great-joy-or-how-not-to-have-an-argument.html
Christian cons and lunatics. Too bad TMZ doesn't point out mini me being used to promote the Palin Brand pack of lies and continuing fraudulent propaganda. Levin thinks Bristol writes her blog's moose-poo and she knows the subject matter? Bristol Palin is a tool and an idiot and must be exposed. The sooner the better for all.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tmz.com/2013/12/26/sarah-palin-umm-i-never-read-phil-robertsons-gq-article-even-though-im-defending-him/
Christian blog. What version of the Bible does Bristol read? She follows Phil Robertson and Sarah Palin's Gospel. It doesn't matter what they believe, any Christian that tolerates this supports and is supporting the fakes.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/2013/12/leave-phil-robertson-alone/
If Brisket really believed in the bible she would have stoned herself to death after becoming pregnant out of wedlock.
DeleteBrisket would call her bastard a bastard and not a stud.
DeleteThe "new" Jesus looks just like Track Menard.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the track marks.
DeletePope Francis Rails Against Conservative Christians’ Superiority Complex (VIDEO)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/22/pope-francis-rails-against-conservative-christians-superiority-complex-video/
Pope Francis Gives Christmas Presents To Poor Immigrants In Latest 'Liberal' Move
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/24/pope-presents-immigrants/
Pope Francis Is Hated By Conservatives, But Americans Approve Of Him By A Landslide
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/12/24/pope-francis-is-hated-by-conservatives-but-americans-approve-of-him-by-a-landslide/
I'm not Catholic, not even Christian, and yet a great man stands out regardless of his religious trappings. This is a great man.
He shows leadership. Why can't Protestants do better?
DeleteIf you're a poor woman, Francis might hand you a present. But if you're a woman with a life-threatening pregnancy, even with a non-viable fetus, don't go to a Catholic run hospital. They will let you die rather than perform an abortion to allow you to live -- even if, as I said, your fetus has no chance of being born alive anyway. And you know who approves of allowing you to die that way? Pope "feed the poor and protect the fetus but not the mother" Francis.
DeleteI don't know where you get your info from @12:27 but im pregnant and using the services of a practice in a Jesuit hospital and they're very forthcoming abd proactive about genetic testing and I flat-out told the counselor that I wouldn't go forward with a pregnancy of the baby had Trisomony 18 or 23 and the counselor didn't bat an eye and told me that there would still be time for me to terminate my pregnancy if I needed to and didn't say boo about trying to stop me.
DeleteObama highlights common ground with Pope Francis
ReplyDeleteThe president praises and quotes the pontiff, and makes clear he sees him as a potentially useful ally in shrinking the gulf between rich and poor.
...Obama's interest in the pope's message on economic justice surfaced in early October during a television interview. In response to a question from CNBC's John Harwood, the president said he had "been hugely impressed with the pope's pronouncements" and Francis' "incredible sense of empathy to the least of these, to the poor." White House officials said aides had not prepped Obama in advance on the pope's writings.
This month, Obama went further, saying in an interview on MSNBC that Francis was showing himself to be an "extraordinarily thoughtful and soulful messenger of peace and justice."
Aides, who would describe White House discussions only on condition of anonymity, said Obama had talked about the pope with members of his inner circle, which includes Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, a Catholic whose brother Kevin is a priest and former high-ranking official in the archdiocese in St. Paul, Minn.
The president, the aides said, has read the ample news coverage of the pope's activities, including reports on Francis' apostolic exhortation on economic justice, which was his first major writing since he became head of the church in March.
Obama, a Christian who attended a Congregationalist church before coming to Washington and now occasionally attends an Episcopal church near the White House, has shown interest in Catholic thinkers and teaching before. He has said that Catholic social doctrines influenced his work as a community organizer in Chicago, and Catholic writers have discerned that influence in some of his speeches, particularly his second inaugural address.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-francis-20131226,0,5555668,full.story
Too bad Pope Francis doesn't believe in justice for pregnant women with life-threatening pregnancies, huh?
DeleteHas anyone written TMZ about the 'real' Bristol Palin - the whore and mimic of her mother? She's an adult now and it's way past time she stood on her own, got some 'real' education, was a good mother to her son and shared him equally w/his father, Levi, and his wife, Sunny.
ReplyDeleteShe is to take the young ones and children into the way of Palin. No one cares about children enough to stand up for them against Palin fakes.
DeleteSounds like a good idea, so WTF don't you do it, 11:27?
DeleteAmerican Legion Post Betrays The Constitution and Launches a Religious Threat to Democracy
ReplyDeleteIf there is a trend sweeping America in conservative circles that is troubling, it is the tendency to disregard the Constitution and punish Americans who are inclined to adhere to the nation’s founding document and not biblical law. One would think that an organization like the American Legion would welcome, and defend vigorously, any American’s strict adherence to the Constitution, and yet for the second time in six months an American Legion Chapter has distinguished itself for abandoning the Constitution over its opposition to the 1st Amendment’s Separation of Church and State clause proving once again that religion is one of the greatest threats to America’s democracy.
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/26/american-legion-post-betrays-constitution-launches-threat-democracy.html
What can anyone say to this?
ReplyDeleteThe new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2013
. . . nearly 50 percent of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were a married couple.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually true.
I had an awesome 7-hour threesome with them back in the '90s, and boy did they know how to put the sodom into sodomy.
Like Obama, the Pope is a threat to the status quo.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sure like Obama, there are factions out there who have at least discussed how to rid themselves of this troublesome Pope.
Unlike Obama, no one has attempted to carry it out. And there are no websites up encouraging the mentally challenged to take back the church by killing the Pope.
But give them time.
Obama will be replaced in three years. But the Pope is still relatively young and healthy. He could be Pope for 30 or 40 years more. Not sure the right wing conservatives will tolerate that long a wait for a new Pope.
Actually, I consider Jesus more of a Rabbi (teacher) than "preacher". The last supper was Passover meal. Mary was a young jewish woman and Joseph was a jewish man. Ignore all that, and "Christians" might as well pack it up and go home.
ReplyDeleteI was raised Catholic, and know of few who've read the Bible cover to cover. The problem compounds itself when people "interpret" the Bible to "Fit their interpretation of what's wrong or right with a particular issue... comb the bible, and you're sure to find a short quote, out of context, that supports your argument.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/liberals-might-be-winning-the-so-called-war-on-christmas
ReplyDeleteGreat piece on the hijacking of faith on Talking Points Memo. The piece even argues that the Charlatons are losing.