bible, religion, justice, poverty, religious, right,I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be shocked by this:
I do not think this is an example of the sort of ignorance that keeps people from correctly identifying their own country on a map. I think this is a direct result of decades of the Religious Right villifying welfare, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, immigrants (legal and otherwise), blacks, gays, and anyone else not them.
Right now, 45,000,000 of their fellow countrymen lack health insurance and are suffering for it. And the Religious Right lies about death panels and rationing. Bring up the poor and you'll be treated to a tirade about welfare queens. They froth at the mouth when gay rights come up and have equated law-abiding gays with pedophiles in TV ad after TV ad.
All this and they expect us to associate fairness and justice with the same Bible they're beating us over the heads with? Good luck with that.
Only 13 percent of Americans surveyed by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American Bible Society was able to correctly credit the Bible as the source of Proverbs 31:8-9, the Contemporary English Version of which states: “You must defend those who are helpless and have no hope. Be fair and give justice to the poor and homeless.”
I do not think this is an example of the sort of ignorance that keeps people from correctly identifying their own country on a map. I think this is a direct result of decades of the Religious Right villifying welfare, food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, immigrants (legal and otherwise), blacks, gays, and anyone else not them.
Right now, 45,000,000 of their fellow countrymen lack health insurance and are suffering for it. And the Religious Right lies about death panels and rationing. Bring up the poor and you'll be treated to a tirade about welfare queens. They froth at the mouth when gay rights come up and have equated law-abiding gays with pedophiles in TV ad after TV ad.
All this and they expect us to associate fairness and justice with the same Bible they're beating us over the heads with? Good luck with that.
it doesn't help that so many Christians don't really read the Bible; they know what gets preached to them. but actual study of the Bible is rare.
ReplyDeletei don't know why...
Because reading the bible is the fastest route to atheism.
ReplyDeletei know that, you know that, and i think PREACHERS know that -
ReplyDeleteone of "my" kids [who isn't a kid anymore; he's 24!] recently got engaged. he's [nominally] Catholic, and she's, well, she attends a Unitarian Church. and J asked his priest about kids, what his duties were. the priest gave him some huge verbal list. J asked which parts of the Bible these instructions were from, because he wanted to read it, have access to it at all times, etc. and the priest threw a bit of a fit - the way J described it to me, he said "he was insulted that i "wouldn't take his word for it" and kept trying to snow me with official doctrine. i wasn't disbelieving him, i just wanted to be able to show M the verses. but he was pissed that i asked."
is that common? for clergy to try and convince people to NOT read it in the Bible? i thought Catholics, at least, were *supposed* to "question" and "test their faith"?
No, no no. Question your faith? God, no. The nuns were very clear on that. With rulers.
ReplyDeleteIn the RCC, God tells the pope, the pope tells the cardinals tells bishops tells preists tells you. Who are you to question God? You hellbound heathen, you.
*falls down laughing* thanks Uzza!
ReplyDeleteso Pete likes to say he is "Jesuit". because he went to a catholic school until his senior year, and all the teachers were Jesuits [all-boys school, too] and he somehow got the idea that Jesuits were DIFFERENT than catholics - because at school the Jesuits told him to question, and at Sunday school the nuns told him not to question.
it's hilarious :D
[the more so because i *know* he's faking the "belief" that Jesuits are different from Catholics; he admitted that he's 3rd grade teacher corrected his, erm, "mis-belief", because Pete was pissing of the Bishop with his while "I'm not *catholic*, i'm Jesuit" line. and he only pulls it on Catholics - i think he just likes the hilarious reactions from people]
but, dude, if heaven is filled with the sanctimonous, self-righteous, bigioted fucktards like the "religious right", then i'd probably be HAPPIER in Hell, ya know?