Christian based censorship

[Chris James]

Here we go again. Parents in an Idaho school system have forced the ouster of a book used in the classroom because it doesn't meet their standards.

http://news.msn.com/us/idaho-school-system-removes-book-from-curriculum-after-parental-outrage

That standard is skewed in favor of Christian teaching. Yes, we understand that the Bible is only book they want to see in a classroom, but that is not going to happen.

[Cole Parker]

Why is it that these people want to prevent their high school aged kids from learning about the world they live in? Does anyone think kids that age haven't already heard pejorative words used for body parts? Or slurs directed towards people of other races, religions or anyone who's not a majority?

These are books. They're there to help kids understand the world they live in. And they're not written for 8-year-olds. They're written for kids who can handle them. As the book won awards and is in school libraries, there must be literary merit to it. It isn't a rant against everything these people holy holy with no redemptive message.

I wonder if it's time to stop calling these people conservative Christians. They seem to follow the Old Testament in their views, and that was written before the time of Christ. It doesn't celebrate his life, but times preceding his. He celebrated and ministered to the outcasts and marginalized in society. These conservatives want to do the opposite.

C

[Merkin]

Good point, Cole. I have always been led to believe that a major focus of Christ's mission was to clean up the mess and misunderstandings created by the religious leaders who preceded him and who relied upon those very same flawed teachings handed down.

[Chris James]

Has anyone read Zealot by Reza Aslan?

This is the Muslim author, although not a strict Muslim and with impeccable academic credentials not many Christians have, who has written the book about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. There was an outcry from the religious right about the book...one of those how dare a Muslim write about our savior kind of things. Well he dares and he writes a damn fine and detailed account of the man and the times in which he lived. Jesus didn't become a god until later on and in the author's opinion that was not the intent of his life.

In his opinion Jesus was pretty much a socialist who felt that the current government of Roman origin and wealthy Jewish bad guys were a detriment to society at the time. I am about halfway through the book, a very scholarly work, and I am learning so much. I recommend this to everyone because it is not a Bible tale, just something very real.

I doubt if many Christians will see their Jesus in this book, but the Bible stories are contradictory. This Jesus of Nazareth thought little of the ancient Jewish tradition and he wasn't around for the creation of the New Testament. I have always found it hard to understand why people say the Bible is the word of God. If I were a god I wouldn't write books.

[Nigel Gordon]

In his opinion Jesus was pretty much a socialist who felt that the current government of Roman origin and wealthy Jewish bad guys were a detriment to society at the time. I am about halfway through the book, a very scholarly work, and I am learning so much. I recommend this to everyone because it is not a Bible tale, just something very real.

There are quite a few writers who have put forward the view that Jesus was essentially a socialist reformer, indeed the whole basis of the rise of Socialism in 19th and early 20th century England is very much based on the idea of Jesus the socialist. Unfortunately I tend to find that the Christian Right are not much interested in Jesus or his teachings, they just want to maintain a world of privilege and subservience in which they are the ones with the privilege. Well if they actually read the sayings of Jesus and not the interpretations put on them by the later writers they would find something that makes Marks look right wing.

[Steven Adamson]

If I were a god, my books would be written the size of niagara falls on cliffs made of diamond.

[Alien Son]

It's ironic that censorship often results in publicity for, and increased popularity of, that which is being censored. That has happened in this case: "An ironic outcropping of the controversy is that the book is now in high demand in local public libraries..." the article says. So the kids the Christians were trying to "protect" have probably since read the book anyway. The people concerned could have spent their time and effort much more productively by teaching their children the values and qualities that Jesus promoted. Sadly, I think it's more likely that they're passing on to their children the same prejudices and intransigence they've displayed by taking this action.

There was a time when I might have taken the same view as these Christians. While my commitment to - and belief in - Jesus has not changed, my thinking on some issues has changed, as have some of my attitudes. Articles like this one just make Christians look stupid - and they only have themselves to blame for that. Moreover, actions like that taken in this case are often counter-productive.

Chris, I probably disagree with your view of the Bible and of Jesus (I say 'probably' because I've only seen glimpses of what you believe), but I don't want to turn this into an argument on the merits/shortcomings of Christianity. I just wanted to point out that not all Christians think the way these people did in this situation, and that we can - and often do - agree with non-Christians.

[Nigel Gordon]

Thanks Chris for pointing me at Zealot by Reza Aslan, a well written and well researched book. It repeats a lot of idea that are found in Herodian Messiah: Case For Jesus As Grandson of Herod.

This idea has been around for a long time and is the core of the retelling of the story of Jesus found in 'King Jesus' by Robert Graves.

[JamesSavik]

Bonnie Stiles, mother of four students in Meridian schools, said she pushed for the removal from the high school curriculum after reading the book and counting 133 profane or offensive words in its 230 pages.

I'd like to put a microphone on the school bus her little darlings use to go to and from school.

If her kids are average, their vocabulary might make a sailor blush.

[Nick Deverill]

Best take Chaucer off the shelves and secondary school curriculum then. He used the 'C' word several times in his Canterbury Tales. However, as Bill Bryson recounts in one of his books, Chaucer was a bit undecided as to how it was spelt.

Not really my theory, but the Victorians have a lot of blame as the original definition of a rude word uses the crude or rustic definition of rude. Largely a class affectation that spread. The Victorians were the ones who put 'dresses' on piano legs, lest the men get excited, renamed a bird the Wheat Ear (clue to the older name, bird has a white bottom) and yet, took the art of pornography to new heights.

Very mixed up!

[Chris James]

Chris, I probably disagree with your view of the Bible and of Jesus (I say 'probably' because I've only seen glimpses of what you believe), but I don't want to turn this into an argument on the merits/shortcomings of Christianity. I just wanted to point out that not all Christians think the way these people did in this situation, and that we can - and often do - agree with non-Christians.

Can't say that anyone would be interested in my take on the Bible or the Gospel according to Chris. But I will say these things: in my view Jesus is a much maligned historical figure and that isn't his fault. The Zealot book did bring up some interesting points about the life and times of Jesus. And the latest discovery about the man is fascinating, except perhaps to those who have changed history from within the walls of the Vatican.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/harvard-journal-says-gospel-of-jesus-wife-is-ancient-not-a-modern-forgery/2014/04/10/7b172910-c0f7-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3_story.html

I could accept the notion that Jesus was married, that was one of the tenants of the Jewish faith, and he was Jewish, although perhaps a radical one. But just as Christian revisionists have suppressed the concept of Jesus having a family they also pay little heed to the mention of his brothers in the Gospels.

I suppose if Jesus had a wife, and thus had kids since that was also part of Jewish life, it would be a wanton distraction from the confirmation of the man as a god. I am afraid the ignorance and revisionism of history in the Bible is akin to the modern day purges of reality in totalitarian countries.

Just as the Old Testament is a compendium of stories from many sources, the New Testament cherry picked the gospels from among many to build the life of Jesus for the faithful to believe....how unfortunate. All this tampering with historical fact only leaves us with a book that is probably more fiction than fact. But one fact we can believe is that the faithful were not even allowed to read and interpret the Bible for centuries, and for good cause.

Just as the priesthood of the Roman church kept the book in Latin so that their flock could not understand it, and thus usurp their source of power and greed, the moment it was translated into the common tongue the arguments began. Today we see all manner of Christian leadership espousing to their congregation just what the Bible means, and a lot of them have it wrong.

Those who say the Bible is the undisputed word of god are full of themselves and not worthy of trust. Those who claim direct communication with the divine are just plain nuts. Christianity today is not something I want in my life or in any form of relationship to me. Christianity in America has gone off the deep end and I won't be going with them.

[Nigel Gordon]

I could accept the notion that Jesus was married, that was one of the tenants of the Jewish faith, and he was Jewish, although perhaps a radical one.

This is almost a certainty as he is formally addressed as Rabbi and under Jewish tradition at that time the term Rabbi could only be applied to a man who was married.