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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Censoring The Bible

When Christian author Rachel Held Evans heard about the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn controversy, she was upset because she loves the book so much. How dare people change the book by revising parts they don’t like?!

And what about the House Republicans’ desire to read the Constitution aloud… but only after omitting that whole Three-Fifths Compromise? How dare people change the Constitution by getting rid of the parts that don’t sit well with the public?

That’s when she realized she had been doing the same thing with the Bible:
I was putting together the liturgy for The Mission and decided I wanted to include Psalm 9 in our reading.
…
Verses 4-6 didn’t sound very Christlike to me, so I whipped out that most venerated weapon in the Bible-reader’s arsenal — the ellipses — and with the precision of an expert, surgically removed them. Our liturgy was tidy and consistent and comfortable again. No one would even notice those three little dots.

It took about 17 seconds for the irony of the situation to settle in.
It raises a lot of questions:

Why is it ok for Christians to effectively ignore books like Leviticus in their Bible studies?
Why don’t pastors ever seem to talk about the rape and murder in the Old Testament?
Why is it ok for Christians to clip out Bible verses they don’t think represent their faith well when preparing a reading?

It’s not like they “sanitize” the Bible for children and then give them the real, full version as adults — the adults ignore the embarrassing parts, too.

If you’re going to be a Christian, you can’t pretend like those verses aren’t there.
Posted by cooperlife at 6:15 AM

22 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 27, 2011 at 7:28 AM

    They censor the bible cuz they only want the sheep to hear the good things. IMO

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  2. UnknownJanuary 27, 2011 at 9:36 AM

    This is exactly why I don't like religions. If those people are going to practice a religion, especially one that has been around for more than 1500 years, they better stick to all its rules. It is too easy to pick and choose what you believe in the doctrine, like hating on gays while ignoring all the other incest stories in the bible. People who do that are simply using religion as an excuse to justify their personal opinion on certain subjects. Rage....

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  3. Public ConfessionsJanuary 27, 2011 at 10:32 AM

    i think this is a great idea

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  4. my day in a sentenceJanuary 27, 2011 at 10:52 AM

    Bible is filled with some freaky shit.

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  5. LeXJanuary 27, 2011 at 11:35 AM

    who reads the bible?

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  6. IsaacJanuary 27, 2011 at 1:51 PM

    Easy to write off parts of a religion you don't like and call it "interpretation"

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  7. ZippyJanuary 27, 2011 at 2:16 PM

    The bible is an "interpretation" to start with. It's gone through quite a few language translations and translations of translations.

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  8. VaporJanuary 27, 2011 at 2:54 PM

    Zippy nailed it.

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  9. Cpt PownzorJanuary 27, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    this is pretty much a debate someone started because they were bored religion isnt forced on you just because you read the bible. teach however you want to teach its interpretation if anything its just a group of stories no point in censoring a work of possible fiction.

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  10. Mister SharafJanuary 27, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    nice

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  11. SuciĆ“ SanchezJanuary 27, 2011 at 5:12 PM

    @ Zippy - as the Midwesterner said: "I stick with the KJV. If it was good enough for God, it's good enough for me."

    (Ignorance is bliss.)

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  12. LesJanuary 27, 2011 at 5:47 PM

    Everybody seems to be hypocrits these days. It's rare to see a religious person admit it about thier religion though.

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  13. radness4lifeJanuary 27, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    the hypocrisy of religions is astounding as many science-religion debates show. It's often seen that the sciences prove a point while religions only show their proof lies in not being able to disprove something.

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  14. Clarence MillerJanuary 27, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    the bible has been a great tool for teaching morals to populations for centuries, it is the greatest book ever written. enlighten your mind and think about it. read between the lines....

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  15. ericsJanuary 27, 2011 at 10:53 PM

    she makes a very good point there. i wonder what other christians have to say about this.

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  16. HrusJanuary 28, 2011 at 12:53 AM

    I think the whole bible should be banned from exsistence

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  17. Intellectual RelapseJanuary 28, 2011 at 4:06 AM

    I'm not sure if i know many Christians who have even read the whole book

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  18. JoeJanuary 28, 2011 at 4:48 PM

    You do realize the 3/5 compromise isn't part of the Constitution anymore?

    And yeah, Christians do have a habit of ignoring the parts of Bible they don't like.

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  19. tigeyJanuary 28, 2011 at 11:46 PM

    Interesting words about the bible

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  20. Scootland EconomicsJanuary 29, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    i think this is a great idea

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  21. Red BaronJanuary 29, 2011 at 11:55 PM

    pwah who reads the bible ?

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  22. CandleintheDarkJanuary 30, 2011 at 9:56 AM

    You should preach. You bring on good points. lol

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