Interesting to me is that the one book that is most banned all over the world, including your neighborhood public school, is the Bible. You can have just about any other book at a public school, but the “tolerant” educrats don’t want our young people reading the Book on which much of our law and Western Civilization are based. (BTW- I am not saying that we are a Christian nation.)
Good thing, too, Pete, or this would be a lot longer comments section. The only Christian Nation is the saved in Christ, and that’s an international franchise.
Most basic against your point is the idea they were “deists” and therefore not Christian. this, of course, ignores that deists get their idea of God (distant though he may be) somewhere and that there were no non-Christian educational facilities in America until Ben Franklin founded one well after the revolution. No English translations of the other classic religious books (save the Koran) until much later either. So there was really only Christian ethic to found the country on. Atheists it seems lie to themselves as well as the rest of us as well as the rest of us do. :-)
I’m pretty sure most of our law and western civilization was based on the Greeks… minus the sex with little boys part, of course
I do think it would be helpful to teach the Bible in the proper historical context; its basis in the Torah, other various mythologies that contributed to its writing, and Qur’an’s strong foundation therein. that most Americans think that the christian god and “allah” are two separate entities is kind of embarrassing (as they’re both the “god of abraham”). teaching the bible in schools as the Inerrant Word of God is where it becomes a bad idea.
I am minded of the wonderful volkslied, done by the Limelighters many years ago: Die Gedanken sind frei
Badly translated it goes:
The thoughts travel free,
no-one can detect them,
like shadows they flee
through night to protect them.
The cops cannot grill them
and hunters can’t kill them:
their guns cannot see
a thought running free.
I think as I choose,
my luck’s open-ended,
but all without clues,
so no-one’s offended.
My want and desire
shall find no denier
when they find the key:
That thoughts must be free!
And if they’ll be locking
me up in their dungeon
they shall not be blocking
me or my conscience,
for thoughts take no orders
and will break through borders
and walls with esprit:
The thoughts, they are free!
Actually, Mike, you get in LOTS of trouble in our local school if you read from the Bible and the Koran is accepted for ‘religious” study, as well as the Vedas and the Tao te Ching. One doesn’t want to OFFEND.
Study you refer to showed that the Christians who took the test did worse on questions of other religions than Atheists and agnostics and Jews and that they did no better than the other groups on Christian questions. And then you have to consider the Christians who would be reading NYT would be from liberal branches more concerned with social issues than religious ones. So that skews it quite a bit. An interesting study nonetheless.
Gweedo: you are no worse than anyone unsaved and lots of them can quote Scripture til the cows come home. You are no worse than the saved, and lots of them can’t quote it any more than you can. JW’s aren’t Christian, so please don’t get confused. And the TV evangelists you are listening to about letting go twist the Scripture they do know to get money to keep their ministries going.
Try walking into a United Methodist Church which has a lot more liberal and less Biblical approach and you may be surprised.
Oh, and you do realize your anger toward the Bible is the same as the many other book banners you likely dislike.
Also means you may be hearing a distant calling voice to make you think on it some more.
It’s rather amusing to me which books public school systems want to ban when I think back to my high school days at a Catholic high school ( from 1971-1975, just so you know what time period I’m talking about). We read books like The Scarlett Letter ( about adultery obviously ), 1984 ( about a society in which technology is God, so to speak), To Kill A Mockingbird (on the banned list, one of my favorite books and movies), Catch-22 ( a book with a lot of stealing during wartime, with plenty of prostitution thrown in for good measure) and a few others which escape me at present. Seems the more established the religion is, the less likely they are to want to ban books and other potentially “sinful” writings. The Catholic Church got over most of that after the Protestant Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition (who would have expected that?)generally, and now it’s some of those Protestant sects and their followers as well as those good folks who follow the Koran/Qu’ran, or however you want to spell it (as long as you don’t make fun of it) who are into book banning.
zero over 13 years ago
Read between the lines…
lewisbower over 13 years ago
Until recently Banned in Boston, my bitter new book,
Elvis Commands you Kill Everyone who doesn’t Agree with Me
Available only online until a publisher can be reasoned with
Nighthawks Premium Member over 13 years ago
thank you. thankyouverymuch
lebron over 13 years ago
Interesting to me is that the one book that is most banned all over the world, including your neighborhood public school, is the Bible. You can have just about any other book at a public school, but the “tolerant” educrats don’t want our young people reading the Book on which much of our law and Western Civilization are based. (BTW- I am not saying that we are a Christian nation.)
freeholder1 over 13 years ago
Good thing, too, Pete, or this would be a lot longer comments section. The only Christian Nation is the saved in Christ, and that’s an international franchise.
Most basic against your point is the idea they were “deists” and therefore not Christian. this, of course, ignores that deists get their idea of God (distant though he may be) somewhere and that there were no non-Christian educational facilities in America until Ben Franklin founded one well after the revolution. No English translations of the other classic religious books (save the Koran) until much later either. So there was really only Christian ethic to found the country on. Atheists it seems lie to themselves as well as the rest of us as well as the rest of us do. :-)
person918 over 13 years ago
I’m pretty sure most of our law and western civilization was based on the Greeks… minus the sex with little boys part, of course
I do think it would be helpful to teach the Bible in the proper historical context; its basis in the Torah, other various mythologies that contributed to its writing, and Qur’an’s strong foundation therein. that most Americans think that the christian god and “allah” are two separate entities is kind of embarrassing (as they’re both the “god of abraham”). teaching the bible in schools as the Inerrant Word of God is where it becomes a bad idea.
amythekay over 13 years ago
Well done, Pab Sugenis! This week’s panels were a needed reminder.
phydeaux44 over 13 years ago
Feel Free To Read!
Spyderred over 13 years ago
I am minded of the wonderful volkslied, done by the Limelighters many years ago: Die Gedanken sind frei
Badly translated it goes: The thoughts travel free, no-one can detect them, like shadows they flee through night to protect them. The cops cannot grill them and hunters can’t kill them: their guns cannot see a thought running free.
I think as I choose, my luck’s open-ended, but all without clues, so no-one’s offended. My want and desire shall find no denier when they find the key: That thoughts must be free!
And if they’ll be locking me up in their dungeon they shall not be blocking me or my conscience, for thoughts take no orders and will break through borders and walls with esprit: The thoughts, they are free!
kfaatz925 over 13 years ago
A great week, Pab.
ChukLitl Premium Member over 13 years ago
Years past, I thought it was just Pab’s gag, but my sister sent me a link. They should do it in May, it sounds like a good Summer reading list.
freeholder1 over 13 years ago
Actually, Mike, you get in LOTS of trouble in our local school if you read from the Bible and the Koran is accepted for ‘religious” study, as well as the Vedas and the Tao te Ching. One doesn’t want to OFFEND.
Study you refer to showed that the Christians who took the test did worse on questions of other religions than Atheists and agnostics and Jews and that they did no better than the other groups on Christian questions. And then you have to consider the Christians who would be reading NYT would be from liberal branches more concerned with social issues than religious ones. So that skews it quite a bit. An interesting study nonetheless.
Gweedo: you are no worse than anyone unsaved and lots of them can quote Scripture til the cows come home. You are no worse than the saved, and lots of them can’t quote it any more than you can. JW’s aren’t Christian, so please don’t get confused. And the TV evangelists you are listening to about letting go twist the Scripture they do know to get money to keep their ministries going.
Try walking into a United Methodist Church which has a lot more liberal and less Biblical approach and you may be surprised.
Oh, and you do realize your anger toward the Bible is the same as the many other book banners you likely dislike.
Also means you may be hearing a distant calling voice to make you think on it some more.
vldazzle over 13 years ago
Banned books = a good way to get rebelious teens to read;-P It worked on me;-)
MisngNOLA over 13 years ago
It’s rather amusing to me which books public school systems want to ban when I think back to my high school days at a Catholic high school ( from 1971-1975, just so you know what time period I’m talking about). We read books like The Scarlett Letter ( about adultery obviously ), 1984 ( about a society in which technology is God, so to speak), To Kill A Mockingbird (on the banned list, one of my favorite books and movies), Catch-22 ( a book with a lot of stealing during wartime, with plenty of prostitution thrown in for good measure) and a few others which escape me at present. Seems the more established the religion is, the less likely they are to want to ban books and other potentially “sinful” writings. The Catholic Church got over most of that after the Protestant Reformation and the Spanish Inquisition (who would have expected that?)generally, and now it’s some of those Protestant sects and their followers as well as those good folks who follow the Koran/Qu’ran, or however you want to spell it (as long as you don’t make fun of it) who are into book banning.