RETURNING TO THE REAL WORLD

18. October 2009 by Frank.

The last month has been quite an ordeal and I have been remiss in staying on topic and updating.  That’s about to change, like right now.

Have you noticed any articles about a very small Baptist church (only 14 members) that is planning a good old fashioned book burning?  I’m not going to provide them with a link because I really don’t want to draw any more attention to these whack heads than they have already  gotten.  Book burning is absolutely despicable, disgusting, backwards, ignorant and hundreds of other negative words of loaded connotations.  I find it appalling.

The catch here is rather bizarre.  These primitive morons aren’t going after atheist or humanist literature, they are going to burn bibles!  That’s right, bibles.  Specifically any bible that isn’t a 1611 King James Bible.  In their little pea brains it alone is the word of god.  Every other version or translation is an abomination, a perversion of the truth.

As if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, they are going to burn books written by popular christian leaders that use quotes from any other bible than the official KJV.  Because for English speaking (real) American believers god chose 1611 English as the only language worth communicating with.

Sounds insane, right?

I used to be a part of a church that had a pastor who became a KJV Only whackaloon several months after it started.  No one knew when he joined their ranks or even that he was considering such a thing.  I had absolutely no idea until one fateful Sunday morning as I was teaching on the gifts of the holy spirit and I used quotes from the New International Version.  I had used it before, in fact, I used several different versions regularly because I could often only make a point by using something with alternate wording.  (That’s a whole subject by itself.)  Everything went along as normal until it was the pastor’s turn to preach.  Why he chose that moment to come out as a KJV Only dickhead, I’ll never know.  But come out, he did.  And he came out swinging.

Right at my head, as a matter of fact.

I don’t know if you have ever had an entire sermon denouncing you as a servant of satan preached with great forcefulness while you sat there dumbfounded but I can assure you it isn’t pleasant.  In fact, it’s enough to make you wonder if they don’t intend to burn you at the stake right after the last hymn.

It amazes me that this movement is still alive and well.  This happened to me back in the nineties and here they are making news a decade later.  It doesn’t surprise me that these kinds of people would also be the type that would indulge in a book burning.  What surprises me is that this kind of primitive fear still has such sway in our supposedly modern society. 

The whole thing bothers me so much because I understand that kind of fear all too well.

Go to any large sufficiently stocked christian bookstore and you will find books by a multitude of different factions that not only contradict each other but frequently denounce and condemn one another.  Christian denominationalism is an ugly thing.  Like minded books are usually grouped together so you can be sure that the next section down contains books which will reject everything you believe in your section.

I used to be terrified to read any books like that or even read the blurbs on the covers.  Why?  Because they could cause doubt.  And the tiniest amount of doubt could completely derail my faith.  It was that fragile. 

This fear is taught in churches constantly.  I was the type who latches onto such things wholeheartedly.  I would regularly carry various teachings to extremes.  Probably what got me in so much trouble with various pastors over the years.  So I can understand how fearful people can be so terrified of anything that threatens their isolated limited understanding.

But to be so frightened of opposing ideas that you would burn books, no, that’s gone way too far.  To be so frightened of different translations of your holy word moves you way out to LaLaLand.  If you can’t handle some other viewpoint, don’t read the books!  Where do you get off burning them?  No one is making you read them, I’ve never seen anyone hold a gun to someone’s head to force them to read something.

What century is this anyway?

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