You think the bible is bad? You've obviously never seen trekkies argue over the star trek timeline!
Yeah, but there are a couple of key differences. One is that trekkies are aware that the timeline was written by humans, and its fiction. For many people, the Bible has a different deal going on, it's learning religion straight from God, and kid's that a whole different world.
Because in that, I don't care how much you want to believe Star Trek, there is no call to any action, save bugging the Federal Government for more money for NASA. But everything in the Bible is a call to action. The Bible does not wish, implore or suggest you act in certain ways, it demands it, straight from God's lips to your ears as they say.
Even though a solid rational science-based agnostic, or perhaps because of it, I had my kids read the Bible*, or at least parts of it as per my 'suggestions' - OK I didn't suggest, I forced them to do it. So we would read, and discuss, and read again (like any good reader would) the parts I felt were the most valid/meaningful/critical. I felt it was important for three reasons. One, its the foundation of Western Literature, and if you don't know those words/ideas your going to be profoundly at a loss when it comes to comprehending literature. So when some writer says their character is going through 'the trials of Job' your not going to be able to comprehend that until, or unless you read the Book of Job. I don't think anything ever written addresses suffering and the nature of evil like the Book of Job does. Moreover, its critical to talking about the notion: "Is misfortune always a divine punishment"? Something I wanted to talk to my kids about.
And I could go on about why I wanted them to read Genesis, Exodus, and why Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy not so much. I always like Ruth, Ester and Danial, so we did those. And we did the history ones - because part of the bible is pretty much not about god, but a history of the Israelite people, so Kings and Chronicles. And we would skip around to a few other stories. And I would put particular stress on Psalms, Ecclesiastics, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon and Lamentations as they are so perfect in the poetics
Only then, when we had finished the Old stuff would we move to the New. And in that, only the Gospels. Matthew and John in full, Mark and Luke in parts. (Mark and Luke can't hold a candle to Matthew and John as writers - although I find Luke to be the most credible of the four).
I never had them read the Acts and Letter, especially Paul. I hate Paul. Paul sucks. Paul was the first in a long line of people stretching to the present day who completely and utterly missed the point. (He was also the first 'convert' giving credence to Nichole's theory about converts being such zealots.)
The other thing I did, which several people have though was slightly weird - others understand the true brilliance of it - is that the bibles in my house had the Revelation of John (the Apocalypse in the Catholic bibles I used) cut out of them. I did not want my kids to read that anytime before they had finished college, preferably not until they had finished their PhDs and could arm themselves against the most dangerous and deadly book ever written.
No book ever written has been more dangerous than this one. Dangerous to others, and dangerous to the reader. For anyone who thinks that books are just words and are not dangerous, I would offer up the Revelation of John as a pretty good reason why some books ought to be banned, or at least kept under very strict control.
And, its not because it's bad, hell no. Only the Song of Solomon had a better writer. In terms of Literature, nothing else compares to the Revelation of John in its vision (and oh boy was he seeing visions), its style, its increadible use of symbolism, and its end message. I doubt that any work ever done in any language save the Tao Te Ching has as many possible meanings as the Revelation. It has as many meanings as it has readers. Which is what makes it dangerous. Where meaning in the Tao is largely good - contemplating your existence and how you work with the world rather than against it - the meaning of John is the most horrible blood soaked death trip ever. It is profoundly negative.
A bunch of people were having a discussion about the most horrible thing you could ever do to anyone, and they had thought up some pretty horrible stuff, real gruesome, real mean, incredibility complex but I won with my simple idea. If I really hated someone, I mean really hated them I'd give them a massive dose of pure lysergic acid diethylamide-25, and lock them in a room with nothing but the Book of Revelations. They would either kill themselves, or come out and kill everyone else. Either way, they would be out of their mind, insane crazy forever.
David Koresh's Branch Davidians in Waco Texas, that's the Book of Revelations at work. Why did that whole Waco deal go down like it did? Because they were either going to die, or they were going to go on a killing spree, and I think that's why the government acted as they did (I would have suggested a different tactic, but even then I think the end result would have been the same). Why? Because if you read it, and believe it - then nothing matters. Nothing. Nothing you do, or ever can do, is going to change the end as it is written, and as its written the end is nothing you want to be around for. But written it is, and that's the way it is. There is a finality to Revelations, perhaps the final finality that makes all of life pointless and meaningless. Which in turn, makes it very dangerous.
Anyway, point is, everyone does with the Bible what I did with my kids. Take what they like and ignore the rest. I'm just being upfront about it.
* I did not "home school" my kids, though I could have as a trained teacher with a doctorate, but instead I let the school handle the standard stuff, and I would work on the more important stuff, like natural science (taught in the Jeffersonian manner) and Literature, taught in the old school way of reading, thinking, talking and reading again. Amazing how much time kids have for you to fill when there is no TV.
