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Dec 21, 2013

Right-Wing Group Seeks Help Rewriting the Bible

 
 
Liberal bias in the media pales in comparison to what you’ll find in your standard-issue Bibles, according to Conservapedia.com, a kind of Wikipedia for the religious right. The King James Bible, not to mention more recent translations like the New International Version (NIV), are veritable primers of progressive agitprop, complains Andy Schlafly, the founder of Conservapedia.com. (His mother, Phyllis, is an activist best known for her opposition to feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment.)

But not to worry. Andy Schlafly’s group is on the case, and they have invited you to pitch in. Well, maybe not you, exactly, but the "best of the public,” whose assistance is solicited in proposing new wording for left-leaning Bible verses.

Don’t know Aramaic, Hebrew or ancient Greek? Not a problem. What they are looking for is not exactly egghead scholarship, but a knack for using words they've read in the Wall Street Journal. They have a list of promising candidates on their website— words like capitalism, work ethic, death penalty, anticompetitive, elitism, productivity, privatize, pro-life—all of which are conspicuously missing from those socialist-inspired Bibles we’ve been reading lately.

In the several years since their translation project was inaugurated, all of the New Testament and several books of the Old have been thoroughly revised. But lots still remains to be done. If you've got a soft spot for Leviticus, the Book of Amos, Lamentations or Numbers, they are all still available for rewrite, so get cracking! 

To give a sense of how to go about your own retranslation, here are some examples of changes the editors have already made.

Take that story where the mob surrounds a woman accused of adultery and gets ready to stone her, but Jesus intervenes and says, “He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone" (John 7:53-8:11). It might have been a later addition that wasn’t in the original Gospels, according to some right-thinking, or rather right-leaning scholars. So the editors have excised this bleeding-heart favorite from the Good Book, and they've also removed Jesus’ words on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

“The simple fact is that some of the persecutors of Jesus did know what they were doing,” Schlafly points out, proving that, “Jesus might never had said it at all.” 

Another thing Jesus might never have said at all is, “Blessed are the meek.” Change that one to, “Blessed are the God-fearing,” the translation’s editors advise, which is far less touchy-feely than the King James version.

Where Jesus teaches that, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:24) our mentors at Conservapedia recommend that we scratch the word “rich” and replace it with either "fully fed and entertained" or, if you prefer, "idle miser," which have none of the Occupy Wall Street-ish sour grapes of the better-known translation.

When Jesus greets his disciples with the blessing, “Peace be with you” (John 20, 26), the editors cleverly change the wording to, "Peace of mind be with you," so that nobody gets the wrong idea and thinks Jesus was some kind of lilly-livered pacifist.

Likewise where Jesus says, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but to save it” (John 3, 17), they change “world” to “mankind,” so it is clear the Christian savior is not advocating environmentalism here. Hey, you can’t be too careful!

Finally, when Jesus admonishes hypocrites to, “Cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye,” the conservative Bible replaces the word “hypocrite” with "deceiver," since hypocrite is often “misused politically against Christians.” Good point!
 
Once you start tweaking the Bible, the possibilities are endless. One smart aleck on the Internet has suggested an alternate rewrite for the one about the rich guy who wants to become a disciple: "It is easier for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than a poor camel driver." Brilliant! You know, it still kind of sounds like the original, but with a far more capitalist-friendly takeaway message.

Be creative. Include some brand new commandments of your own such as, “Thou shalt not ... raise taxes on the rich, regulate the financial industry, permit gay marriage, take climate change seriously, feed the poor, clothe the naked, heal the sick...."

Richard Schiffman is an environmental journalist, poet and author of two books. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Atlantic, Reuters, NPR and the Guardian, among other outlets.


Dec 20, 2013

Email Battle Over Religion: Excerpts

From: Jon H. <********@hotmail.com>
To:
Dennis

Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 11:03 AM
Subject: The perversion of the Truth



As usual the Liberal media has taken the TRUTH and perverted it to fit their own ignorance.  In their condemnation of Phil Roberts' comments on homosexuality, particularly male homosexuality, the left has once again tried to fit Jesus into their own concept of an all loving and all accepting liberal puffball icon. They have compared Roberts' statement to those of the new POPE, who is reported to have said,  "who am I to judge." when asked about homosexuals in the clergy. The only problem is, that isn't what he said. What he actually said was: "Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?" the pontiff said, speaking in Italian. "You can't marginalize these people." The conditional part of the phrase is: who seeks the lord. In other words, seeks to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ. For Christ Himself said: 

Luke 6:46

New King James Version (NKJV)

46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

Seeking the Lord means adhering to his word. But in the fuzzy headed brain of feel good liberals, the POPE words mean,     GAY IS A OK! Once again liberals are attempting to transform reality into to their own contorted version.To better understand their confusion, read the following article.
Furthermore, religious morals that deny the legitimacy of homosexuality is not bigotry. But forcing everyone to accept your perversion by law and force, is!
The Truth is, if you don't agree with Christ's teachings, don't follow him, but don't try to rewrite what his teachings are.

Jon
_______________________________
From: Dennis
To: Jon H. <********@hotmail.com>
Sent: Thu, 19 Dec 2013 12:36:06 -0800  
Subject: Re: The perversion of the Truth
 
"As usual the CONSERVATIVE media has taken the TRUTH and perverted it to fit their own ignorance."

It works both ways and always has.
Your side, your agenda, your ideology, isn't better than the 'other side' it simply lacks agreement and remains stagnant in the limbo of disagreement.

Jon, you need to research this book you're quoting. It isn't holy, it is a manuscript written by men.
Blatantly and apparently on base discrimination.


-Dennis
 _______________________________

From: Jon H.
To: Dennis
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 12:52 PM
Subject: RE: The perversion of the Truth

As I said.  The Truth is, if you don't agree with Christ's teachings, don't follow him, but don't try to rewrite what his teachings are. There is no conservative perverted truth in this. If there is, point it out like I did.


That is you opinion, which seeks to reconcile all the discord in the world. I can understand you wanting to do that considering your upbringing. But the truth is not all things are profitable. If you are correct that it's all a matter of just singing cumbaya and eating marshmallows with other people, great. But if you are wrong and there are standards that GOD expects man to adhere too, you in for a bad time.
Jon
_______________________________


From: Dennis
To: Jon H. <********@hotmail.com>
Sent: ‎12/‎19/‎2013 4:25 PM Subject: RE: The perversion of the Truth


"That is you opinion, which seeks to reconcile all the discord in the world."

Its not my OPINION. It is research. Easily accessible research.
There are no real teachings of Jesus. Just the hearsay of what presumably his followers TOLD other people, then they wrote them down.
 
Jesus never wrote scripture, (another reason I think of him as a hippie) you have never seen words from Jesus, just the gossip.

Luke was added to by the church because it didn't seem complete. Enoch was left out of the canon. A pagan emperor was the 'decider' of what was left in. The bible is redundant, repetitive to the point of being redundant.
It is pointlessly violent, and incomplete as a book of morality.

You have been commanded to kill anyone asking you to worship any other god besides god. Not save, admonish, ignore. Kill.
 
Lot's daughters got him drunk and they both had his babies?!
In Genesis it says that "Giants walked the Earth"?
After Noah's flood the tower of Babel was being built 150yrs later?
Moses was only gone 40 days and his people started worshiping golden chattel? 40 days, that was all.
Men are living to be 500yrs old?

This is childish!
 -Dennis
 _______________________________
From: Jon H.
To: Dennis
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 4:44 PM
Subject: RE: The perversion of the Truth


Where have I been commanded to kill any one who worships another god show me where I am commanded. As for Moses, and the people of Israel, that's. You and me. Read to seek wisdom. Not facts

Sent from my Windows Phone
 _______________________________
From: Dennis
To: Jon H.
Sent: ‎12/‎19/‎2013 7:10 PM Subject: Re: The perversion of the Truth
Seriously, are you lecturing me on a book you haven't read?


"If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or you intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him.  Your hand shall be the first raised to slay him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery.  And all Israel, hearing of this, shall fear and never do such evil as this in your midst."   (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)


-Dennis
 _______________________________

From: Jon H
To: Dennis
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 7:17 PM
Subject: RE: The perversion of the Truth


I am not Jewish are you?

Sent from my Windows Phone
_______________________________
From: Dennis
To: Jon H.
Sent: Thursday, December 19, 2013 11:48 PM
Subject: Re: The perversion of the Truth
 
Wait, what?
This is from your sacred book. Who granted you the right to pick and choose?

If you can decipher what is and isn't 'righteous' in the old testament, why can't you see the hubris in accepting the fallacies in the new testament?
And if fallacies exist in the book from he who is infallible, why is what you pick and choose holy?

Who gave you that ability?
Who gave the men who wrote the book the inability to make it the perfect word of god?

Let me add one more tidbit; we are all guilty based on this scripture I sent you.
We ALL walk around bowing to our technical god while reading our phone.
We supplicate ourselves to it, Jews included.

Jon, it isn't possible to live a life designed to be righteous from a book with poor design.


-Dennis
_______________________________
There was no follow up reply.....
_______________________________

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