It’s That Time Of Year
I have been going back and forth on whether or not to really post this. But I am irritated so I will. If your a fan of Fox News you may have heard about this lovely, quaint, little southern church here in my neck of the woods. They plan to burn books on Halloween. Including bibles. The only bibles they aren’t burning are the KJV bibles. Now I love books. I read lots of books. And one thing I cannot stand is book burning. And the fact that they choose Halloween (the same day that they tout as Satan’s day) to do this “burning of Satan’s books” just shows their redneck ignorance. Here, let me show you some of who they are saying writes for Satan:
Billy Graham (whom has lived in WNC for a very long time. He has a school or something here)
Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham and whom is taking over the televangelical empire his daddy built. I don’t agree with it but shit, freedom of speech people!)
Oral Roberts
Jimmy Swagart (I guess that prostitute made him sell his soul to the devil?)
Mother Teresa (yea, the old woman who made a life out of poverty to help the dying. Satan has his hand in charity I suppose)
William Young (Author of The Shack, one of my favorite FICTIONAL interpretations of the abrahamic god).
And MANY MANY more! I am not a particular fan of most of these people, but I am a big supporter on freedom of speech. You want to speak out against them, go for it. Burning their books? NO! Don’t effing read them if you don’t like them!
I have to say that their site (linked above) gave me the biggest fit of giggles. In one paragraph they explain that they aren’t burning Wycliffe, Tyndale, Geneva because they are translations into another language based on the KJV. In the same paragraph they inform you that they will be serving fried chicken, BBQ and all the fixings. Well, I guess they could cook it over the lovely bonfire they are going to have.
But really what throws me off is there level of contradiction. Ok so maybe I am a wee bit biased since I don’t share the Christian beleifs (and I will argue that alot of Christians don’t share the same beleifs as them either). But I am seriously trying to look at this as objectively as I can. On their site they have this quote “A true scholar is one who beleives the Bible (KJV) whether he understands it or not”. Hm ok. But the dictionary defines scholar as ” a learned or erudite person, especially one who has profound knowledge of a particular subject”. So how can one be a “true scholar” “whether he understands it or not” and at the same time have ”profound knowledge in a particular subject”?
And it doesn’t stop there! The next quote is that “true scholars don’t beleive the Bible (KJV) to be The Word Of God”. Now most all Christians I know DO beleive it is The Word Of God (I feel like saying “dun dun dun” every time I type that). And if they truly don’t think it is….ok. But the problem is, they go on to explain how book burning is ok because earlier churches did and they are saving everyone from Satan. And how do they back this up?? With biblical quotes! So if the Bible isn’t God’s Word (dun dun dun, aww come on…you knew it was coming!) why are they backing this up with biblical quotes to show that they are being godly? Am I making any sense??? I mean my head hurts just trying to figure out what the hell they are trying to say that they beleive in!
*sigh* So anyhow, here in our lovely state book burning is illegal. I heard from my father in law that the fire marshall has already warned them that if they go through with it they will be fined. I hear upwards of $25,000 is the max. Wonder if they will follow through? I guess they got to, they gots bbq and fried chicken. YOU NEVER TAKE AWAY A REDNECK’S BBQ AND FRIED CHICKEN!
Hmm, a few years ago, I think it was in Waynesville they burned Harry Potter books, and I didn’t hear about any fine for it, and they went through with it. Are you sure there’s a fine for it? Unless there’s a burn ban in place because of drought, I don’t think there’s anything to prevent them from burning the books. Unfortunately. I’d love to see them slapped with a huge fine. Idiots, the lot of them.
Oh, and don’t bother trying to wrap your head around why they believe what they do. It takes a certain amount of crazy to believe such things. Sane, rational people with critical thinking skills will never understand. LOL
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!
Sorry this makes me mad everytime I hear about it again. Book burning bothers me too first off. And second, as a Christian, burning Bibles (even translations that I seriously dislike… Like the KJV for instance lol) is even worse. You just don’t do that! I have heard of doing so after one falls apart as a way of giving it respect (instead of throwing it in a trash heap) but this is obviously nowhere close to the same thing!
Deep breath… Calm down Kris… Seriously though, I shouldn’t be surprised.. .that type of thinking is typical among those groups.
I saw this when you tweeted it yesterday. It got me so mad! Why do some people need to be so closed-minded? And it’s not like they’re even burning books that other churches would think were bad. (Although I’m sure people would love to throw a few Harry Potter books on the fire)
I can’t wrap my head around what they’re trying to say either. I’m just going to stop trying, because it still won’t make sense to anyone who actually thinks before they do someting.
At least it’s illegal! As much as I hate the idea of any books being burned I hope they do it and get a huge fine.
I’m with the rest no way to really understand what their point is in all of this but I guess it’s good press.
ugh
I hadn’t heard about book burnings in Waynesville! I saw in our paper yesterday that they were warned not to go through with it or face fines. It didn’t mention any amounts for the fines. The hubs thought that because of prior book burnings that might be why it’s against the law and perhaps a new law. And too, if the fire marshall will support the burning….then it’s not like he is going to rush out and fine anyone. I don’t know how Waynesville is, but if it’s the “good old boy” system like it is in Buncombe County then it wouldn’t surprise me that backs were turned.
People who are afraid and/or hateful of simple ideas, of words printed on a page are fucking scary. SCARY. So maybe the whole Halloween date makes sense? Because those folks are scarier than anything else I can think of.
LOL!
Well one good thing is that for people to be able to burn the books someone has got to buy them! I looked on their site and it says the book burning is still on. Even if they do get fined they will probably claim religious intolerance ( may not be the word I am looking for) and how if they were any other religious group nothing would be said or done about it or something like that.
I agree. I hope they do get fined. They need to know that if they wish to go against the law that they have to pay the price.
I don’t think a law against book burning would pass a Constitutional test, much as it resonates emotionally.
It’s sad and stupid, but it is consistent with the basic ideas of scriptural monotheism.
It may be that it’s not so much a law against book burning but you need permits to have a large bonfire that they are allegedly going to have. I haven’t had the time as of yet to really research if there is a law against book burning or not. It wouldn’t surprise me, we have laws that state adultery is illegal and punishable by jail time. We also have a law that all horses downtown must be tethered to a hitching post. We don’t have hitching posts downtown. So it’s possible I will find a law that states burning bibles (and not books) is illegal. I do understand your point, Constitutionally speaking it shouldn’t be against the law. It’s just sickening to me that people would go to that length.