Should we ban the Bible?

[PartyPooper]

I read that there was a campaign by right wingers in West Virginia...that Democats wanted to "ban the Bible".

As a Christian, I say maybe we should...especially if those religious folks keep quoting the Old Testament.

I want to keep religion and spirituality out of government and politics.

Maybe we should have to ban the Bible and religion, once and for all.

And, I'm sick and tired of preachers telling their congregations how to vote. I say, "pull their tax free status, too!"

What do you think?

[Dookus]

1. No

we shouldn't ever ban ANY book.

But we SHOULD tax churches.

[azoth]

2. OOh I'll give THAT an "amen!" Can I get a "hallelujah?" ;)

[Nicole]

11. I like that plan

on both counts.

[fujiyama]

14. Taxing churches sound good

End that damn tax expemption status on any religious institution, especially those that practically campaign for the right - like Southern Baptists.

[izzie]

22. I was watching some nutty group trying to get rid of Specter(SP)

Sen Pa. All we need to do is sit and watch the fundamentalist eat them self. Well with a little help from us but they are really some thing if you can see it on c-span. All these religious fundamentalist in all religious seem to kill them selfs off from the inside. This is a great start. First they are going to do like they always do. Get only the right fundamentalist in their group which as we know gets more narrow all the time.These people will set up what part of the Bible can be used and mark my word soon if they have not done it already.

[Neoma]

3. no,maybe warn people that church's are a scam

or maybe just the ones in the south

[Behind the Aegis]

4. No, but...

Anyone quoting the Bible must prove he/she has actually read the book and is not saying what the preacher told him/her! If they fail to quote correctly and know other parts of the Bible, they get their right to quote scripture taken away! :)

I agree with the tax them! TAX THEM ALL!

[drhilarius]

5. As an atheist, I say no...

The right to practice one's religion is inviolable. The right to access literature, like the bible, freely is a 1st amendment right. But I do agree that a separation between church and state should be rigorously enforced, because not only does religion corrupt government, but government corrupts religion.

[laheina]

10. I'll say Amen to that :)

[Guaranteed]

27. YES...the latter is the key...

Not the former....

[FM Arouet666]

6. Agree with the tax issue

I suspect that we lost this election because fundamentalist christian preachers and catholic priests lobbied for the Bush vote. If donating to this web page is not tax deductible, then how can we justify providing tax exempt status to politically active religious groups.

[jdots]

7. ban the bomb and make them read some other books

i have nothing against the bible,but the way they interpret the bomb is really stupid.

[Swamp Rat]

8. No need to.

The age of literacy is over.

[EnfantTerrible]

9. No. Not ever...

Never ever ban any books.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

12. No we should not.

I'm going to assume your just being silly, and not actually thinking of banning the Bible. That's why I'm not upset.

[realisticphish]

13. no

no book should EVER be banned, be it by random shepherds 2000 years ago, or by ann the man. and banning a pattern of thought is so ridiculusly undemocratic, AND unconstitutional, that i must come to the conlusion that you were not being truly serious, in which case i probably look like an idiot


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[elperromagico]

15. No. At the very least, it's interesting literature.

Let's not get into the business of banning books. Seems pretty brown-shirted.

And remember, by banning something, you give it greater power. Who had read "The Satanic Verses" before the Ayatollah's fatwa?

[bloodyjack]

19. My dad did, actually

Turns out he didn't think much of it.

Even though he's never had a very favorable opinion of Rushdie or his work, he didn't think content of The Satanic Verses was tantamount to apostasy, either.

[kvining]

16. No

We should not ban the Bible. But we should start going directly after the wacked out religious beliefs of these nuts.

[miss_kitty]

17. my best friend, with whom I agree on a lot of stuff just said that to me

If they're going to tell people how to vote, time to pay tax. Church is for the word of God, not for the word of The Man.

So I agree.

[aroach]

18. Good luck on that

I am against censorship but if we have to start burning books that would be a good place to start.

[realisticphish]

20. have to?

why in the HELL would we have to start burning books? and certainly why start with a book the lectures on feeding the poor, and helping your neighbor, even if you dont believe the other religious content

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[donheld]

21. welcome to DU

:hi:

[Breeze54]

23. NO! Ban the BIBLE THUMPERS!

We should all get together say, in 2006, and Vote the Bible Thumpers OUT OF OFFICE and then lets do it again in 2008!!
Providing that we are still allowed to vote in 2008!
:evilgrin:

[wickerwoman]

24. The problem is that not enough people read it.

They go on vague notions and Reader's Digest type summaries they were handed in Sunday School.

If everyone who called themselves a Christian actually read the Bible (and understood it)instead of cherry picking what the minister points out,we wouldn't be seeing the problems we see today.

[Breeze54]

25. God's Anointed One Was Elected- Be Afraid !

What you are about to read is an actual email Jeff Rense received...

Mr. Rense,

Hello! I believe what we have here as far as the 2004 elections is a close tie between the devil and God. Not Kerry and Bush. And God prevailed obviously and placed the most morale person in office during the "end times".

Abortion and Christanity are reasons for my voting for Bush along with the gay marriage ban! I have been rejoicing since Bush's (the good Lord aboves Win!) victory. He is a family and moral man and believes in the sanctity of marriage, honesty, anti-choice/pro life. He is going back to the beliefs of our founding fathers of the U.S.A.
etc. etc.

(Name removed)
____
If your mouth is not hanging open, it should be. Reading this, whether you are a Christian or non-Christian, should turn your blood cold as ice.
What you have just read demonstrates how powerfully these people in Washington, in cooperation with media, tele-evangelists, right wing pundits and authors, and even local ministers, have through outrageous polarization created mindless, belief-driven drones who clearly have lost all ability to discern true good from true evil.
http://www.rense.com/general59/godse.htm
:puke:

[Guaranteed]

26. You're not allowed to keep religion out of government by banning the

Bible.

I thought this was a joke post at first.

Seriously, though- the reason for the separation between church and state is to protect religion from the government (or lack of religion from the government), not the other way around.

The key to keeping the separation between the two is to make sure that the state is not endorsing, in ANY way, any religion, or religion at all over non-religion. Or non-religion over religion. The government is supposed to remain entirely neutral, in every respect- and the right wing should be fought in this respect to the bitter end.

This is part of the very foundation of the United States of America. It's what makes our country what it is. And it hurts me just as much to hear people on our side saying things like "Ban Jesus in public" or whatever as much as it hurts to see the theocons pushing their shit on us in schools.

Just two sides of the same coin. They must be kept entirely separate.