Monday, January 4, 2010

To the Bible burners and Miles...

I learned this morning that my friend Miles got in a fight on New Years with some people who were burning Bibles. My first thought was "Go Miles!" and my second was "What kind of idiots would want to burn Bibles?"

To the Bible burners:
I know you think you're a bunch of bad-asses for making a public display of your disdain for the dominant religion of your area, and I understand where you're coming from. You're tired of being the minority. You think that people are blind and ignorant who take every word of the Bible as literal and true. I understand. I do.

But even if you don't take the Bible as all literal truth, heck even if you don't agree with any of the rules written in it, if you don't think the miracles could have happened, if you don't think the text was inspired by God, you can't deny that it was INSPIRED. The Bible is a compilation of 66 historical documents written from hundred of years before Christ to about 50 AD. These books are still used today as historical documents. Poeple use them to study ancient Middle-Eastern civilization. Many significant historical artifacts that are still being found are considered great finds because of their evidencial significance in reference to the Bible.

So what if you're not a history buff...what about poetry and literature? The Bible is the most quoted book in literary history. It's quoted by great writers from Shakespeare to Dan Brown. The Bible itself contains plenty of poetry--ever look at the Song of Solomon? "How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride/ How much more pleasing is your love than wine, /and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice./ Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;/ milk and honey are under your tongue." Prude? No. Poetic? Yes.

Are you a language scholar? The Bible allows students of Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin to study authentic, original texts. Today, efforts are still being made to translate the Bible into every language of the world--even the isolated dialects of small, hidden tribes of South America and Africa. Many of these minor languages would never have even been discovered and documented if not for missionaries.

You like movies? What would Indiana Jones have been without the Holy Grail to inspire the Last Crusade? What would have been the point of Raiders of the Lost Ark without the Ark? Countless movies make reference to Judas, the prodigal son, Armageddon, angels, demons, Heaven, Hell, God, Satan...I could go on. The fact that I don't even have to describe to you what these things mean in the Bible shows how pervasive Biblical themes our in our modern culture. You can burn the Bible, but you cannot escape it.

Yes it upsets me that you were burning Bibles, but it does not surprise me. Many countries have banned Christianity and the Bible at one point or another incuding China, North Korea, and Afghanistan. Feel free to join their pleasant company. Frankly, I don't think any book can really be considered significant unless it was at one point banned, burned, or buried by a mass if ignorants. So actually, go right ahead. Add to the holiness, significance, and controversy of my Bible. It does more good inspiring my awe and loyalty while burning in a dazzling, holy fire than it does sitting on a shelf and never getting read, or worse, getting handled by you zealots who would misuse it, misquote it, and stain it with your grubby, ignorant fingers.

And now for Tim's argument:
"The dumb thing is, it was a bunch of Atheists who were burning the Bibles. They don't know WHAT they believe!"
Very good point, my dear.