THE BIBLE: SO MISUNDERSTOOD IT'S A SIN

[Cattledog]

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/01/02/thats-not-what-bible-says-294018.html

They wave their Bibles at passersby, screaming their condemnations of homosexuals. They fall on their knees, worshipping at the base of granite monuments to the Ten Commandments while demanding prayer in school. They appeal to God to save America from their political opponents, mostly Democrats. They gather in football stadiums by the thousands to pray for the country’s salvation.

They are God’s frauds, cafeteria Christians who pick and choose which Bible verses they heed with less care than they exercise in selecting side orders for lunch. They are joined by religious rationalizers—fundamentalists who, unable to find Scripture supporting their biases and beliefs, twist phrases and modify translations to prove they are honoring the Bible’s words.

This is no longer a matter of personal or private faith. With politicians, social leaders and even some clergy invoking a book they seem to have never read and whose phrases they don’t understand, America is being besieged by Biblical illiteracy. Climate change is said to be impossible because of promises God made to Noah; Mosaic law from the Old Testament directs American government; creationism should be taught in schools; helping Syrians resist chemical weapons attacks is a sign of the end times—all of these arguments have been advanced by modern evangelical politicians and their brethren, yet none of them are supported in the Scriptures as they were originally written.

The Bible is not the book many American fundamentalists and political opportunists think it is, or more precisely, what they want it to be. Their lack of knowledge about the Bible is well established. A Pew Research poll in 2010 found that evangelicals ranked only a smidgen higher than atheists in familiarity with the New Testament and Jesus’s teachings. “Americans revere the Bible—but, by and large, they don’t read it,’’ wrote George Gallup Jr. and Jim Castelli, pollsters and researchers whose work focused on religion in the United States. The Barna Group, a Christian polling firm, found in 2012 that evangelicals accepted the attitudes and beliefs of the Pharisees—religious leaders depicted throughout the New Testament as opposing Christ and his message—more than they accepted the teachings of Jesus.

[Binkie The Clown]

1. My late father-in-law uesd to love to quote tow Bible verses to JWs who came to the door.

I don't remember the chapter and verse numbers, but he would quote them together to make his point:

First verse: Judas went forth and hanged himself.
Second verse: Go ye and do likewise.

[TlalocW]

4. A friend of mine (who is a former JW, now an atheist, but whose family still is) handles them thusly

Asks them if they believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, word-for-word, verse-for-verse. (They say it is).
He reminds them of some predictions made by the JWs in the name of God (usually the world ending).
Directs them to Deuteronomy 18:20-22, which talks about how to recognize false prophets (basically, if they say something in the name of God is going to happen, and it doesn't, you've got a false prophet).

He then asks them whom they're going to side with - the Bible and Almighty God or their church full of false prophets. He says that they're welcome to talk to him about anything, but they have to make the choice, or he won't listen to them.

They normally end up leaving.

A different friend actually did something more effective - got a family of JW's to go back to their Kingdom Hall and tell them all to stay away from her house. Dad, Mom, and daughter JW rang her bell. She stepped out onto the porch (wouldn't let them in) and engaged in some small talk with the adults before asking, "And is this your lovely daughter?" "It is," they replied, beaming with pride. Friend got down on daughter's level and said, "Did you know that your mommy and daddy are in a cult? When you turn 18, if you can find your way back here, I'll give you sanctuary." Dad and Mom dragged daughter out into the middle of the street where they made some mystical signs toward the house (not a euphemism for flipping her off - actually waved their hands around) and split.

TlalocW

[Warpy]

2. Then again, having an intelligent person read it cover to cover can be disastrous

for the leaders of organized religion and religious politics. My mother's reaction was one of white hot fury when she read it cover to cover, "That's what's been held over my head all my life?" She pronounced it a badly Bowdlerized Iron Age history at best and a pack of fairy tales at worst and never set foot in a church again.

[3catwoman3]

3. I think I would have enjoyed...

...knowing your mom.

[Mosby]

5. pretty gutsy move by newsweek

To publish an article like this.