Truth is the goal. The goal is the way. The way is truth.
Did the earth and its fruit trees exist before the sun and all
the
stars?
Did God command, "slay both man and woman, infant and suckling," to
get revenge? The Bible says so. "Fundamentalism" is the belief that
every
word of the Bible is literally true and the word of God. The Apostles'
and Nicene Creeds, summaries of early Christian faith, do not require
such
a belief. The Catholic Church teaches that parts of the Old Testament
are
"imperfect and obsolete." But today fundamentalism dominates religious
broadcasting. Dishonest pseudoscientific movies and CBS television
specials
have promoted Old Testament literalism, including the Noah's Ark story.
These have gone unchallenged in broadcast media. Thus fundamentalism is
growing in America, along with its political agenda. This includes a
plan
to get tax money (vouchers) for the religious indoctrination of
children.
The following verses from the King James Version of the Bible show that
fundamentalism is a false doctrine. And history reveals that book
worship
has promoted the oppression, torture, and murder of millions of
innocent
people. Please help expose this dangerous error by distributing this
uncopyrighted
leaflet.
CONTRADICTIONS
"And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone;
I will make him an help meet. And out of the ground the Lord God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air" (Gen 2:18-19). But
in Gen 1:20-27 the fowls are created before man, and from "the waters."
Others: Gen 6:20 versus 7:3; 37:28 vs 37:36; Ex 6:3 vs Gen 22:14; 2 Kgs
9:27 vs 2 Chr 22:9; Mt 1:16 vs Lk 3:23; Acts 1:18 vs Mt 27:7,5: 2 Sam
24
vs 1 Chr 21. There are also numerous "copying errors," for example: 2
Sam
10:18 vs 1 Chr 19:18; 1 Kgs 4:26 vs 2 Chr 9:25; Ezra 2:5 vs Neh 7:10.
SUBORDINATION OF WOMEN
"And he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 3:16). "The head of every man is
Christ; and the head of the woman is the man. Man . . . is the image
and
glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. Neither was the
man
created for the woman; but the woman for the man" (1 Cor 11:3-9). "And
Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression.
Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing" (1 Tim 2:11-15).
Paul
uses the story of the creation of Eve from Adam's rib (Gen 2:21-23),
and
her deception by the serpent (Gen 3:1-16), to reassert the spiritual
and
social subordination of women. See also 1 Cor 14:34-37; Lev 12:1-5;
15:19-30;
Num 31:31-40; Ps 51:5; Deut 21:10-14; 22:13-21 (death for failing an
unreliable
test of virginity).
CHILD KILLING
"So Joshua . . . utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God
of Israel commanded" (Josh 10:40). The Old Testament claims that God
commanded
the
killing of infants and children to accomplish genocide, group
vengeance,
and punishment. Imagine if someone killed your child and justified it
by
saying God told him to do it. See Josh 6:17-21; Deut 2:30- 34;
20:16-17;
Isa 14:21; 1 Sam 15:1-3; Num 31:1-2 and 17; Ex 12:29; Gen 7:23; Josh
7:24-25;
2 Kgs 2:23-24.
TORTURE NOT PROHIBITED
"She shall be burnt with fire" (Lev 21:9). There is no record of
torture
being practiced under Mosaic law. But the Bible nowhere specifically
condemns
it, and commands execution by burning. Subsequently both Catholic and
Protestant
leaders authorized grisly judicial tortures and executions. Hundreds of
thousands of "witches" were tortured until they confessed to such
crimes
as causing storms or flying through the air to meet the devil. Bible
believers
argued that a few hours of torment here on earth mattered little since
God had revealed that the unbeliever would suffer eternally in the
flames
of hell.
John Calvin, influential Protestant leader who taught the authority of Scripture, ordered the execution of Spanish physician and philosopher Miguel Serveto (Servetus) by "slow burning." He suffered horribly for two hours before dying. His crime: a disagreement with Calvin over the Trinity doctrine. Are Calvin's execution orders more excusable than those of Charles Manson? No, Manson's victims suffered less. This and thousands of similar atrocities by Bible worshipers would probably never have happened if in the Ten Commandments, or anywhere in the Bible, torture was explicitly prohibited. Instead we read that "holy angels" accept these means: "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels" (Rev 14:10). See Ex 22:18; Lev 20:14; Num 11:1; Mt 13:38-42; 18:8; Rev 9:3-6.
SLAVERY
"And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you,
to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever"
(Lev 25:46). The Old Testament claims God authorized the hereditary
enslavement
of "heathens," and prescribed methods of branding them. The New
Testament
commands obedience to masters. The Bible was used to justify the
murderous
kidnapping and enslavement of millions of Africans. What if the
second
commandment had prohibited slavery, instead of graven images? See Ex
21:6;
20-21; Num 31:32-40; Ps 2:8-9; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 Pet 2:18.
RACISM
"Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be." Fundamentalists
perpetuate an unscientific belief in racial origins from the sons of
Noah.
The "sons of Ham" must suffer the consequences of a curse (Gen
9:18-27).
Traditionally this means Africans, and their enslavement was touted as
a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. And others are punished for their
ancestry
(Deut 5:9; 23:2-3; 1 Sam 15:2-3; Ex 20:5). Dehumanizing accusations of
incestuous origins, incest, bestiality, and child sacrifice are
attributed
to God (Gen 19:30-38; Lev 18:24; 20:23). The accused are then targets
for
genocide or enslavement (Deut 20:16-17; Isa 25:10; Jer 49:2; 2 Sam
12:31;
1 Kgs 9:20-21).
UNJUST DEATH PENALTIES
"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" (Ex 22:18). "If a man also
lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed
an abomination: they shall surely be put to death" (Lev 20:13). God
also
commands death for heresy, ceremonial offenses, cursing one's parents,
adultery, sex before marriage (females only), and blasphemy. See Ex
22:20;
31:15; Lev 20:9, 10; 21:9; 24:16; Num 1:51; Deut 13:6-9; 21:18-21;
22:20-21.
Fundamentalists agree the ceremonial law is superseded, but are not
clear
about the other penalties (Mt 5:18; Gal 5:1; 2 Tim 3:16). Most are
harsh
advocates of the death penalty. Paranoid belief in widespread satanic
activity
may also trigger judicial persecution.
QUESTIONABLE PROPHECIES
"And the stars of heaven shall fall" (Mk 13:25). "They shall take up
serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them"
(Mk
16:18). Believers have died testing this prophecy. Mark 16:9-20 is not
in the earliest manuscripts. Rather than admit this forgery and save
lives,
fundamentalist leaders cling to their idolatrous worship of the King
James
Version of the Bible. See also Jer 36:30 vs 2 Kgs 24:6; Ps 104:5 vs Heb
1:10-11; 2 Sam 7:13-17; Isa 13:16; 52:1; Amos 5:2; Zech 14:17; Mt
16:28;
Rev 1:1.
SCIENTIFIC MISUNDERSTANDINGS
"So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go
down about a whole day" (Josh 10:13). This, and 2 Kgs 20:11, suggest
ignorance
of the earth's rotation. There is no material evidence for its halting
or reversal. Yet millions have been deceived by a fabricated report
that
NASA scientists confirmed such events. See also Isa 24:1; Mt 4:8; Gen
1:10
and 16-17; Rev 6:13; Gen 30;37-39; Lev 11:20-23; Isa 30:6; 2 Chr 9:23.
PERSECUTION BASED ON RELIGION
"Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on
our children" (Mt 27:23-26). Though contradicted by the other gospels
(Mk
15:14-15; Lk 23:23), Matthew's curse fueled centuries of cruelty
against
Jews. For the future, Saint John sees grotesque divine torture for all
but 144,000 of "the children of Israel" (Rev 7:2-4; 9:3-11).
The Bible is also being used to justify Israeli occupation of the
West
Bank and Gaza, and the subsidizing of armed settlers who claim that God
gave this land to Jews only. A remarkable number of Christian
fundamentalists
have been persuaded that this expansion of Israeli control is a
fulfillment
of Biblical prophesy and necessary for the imminent return of Christ!
And
they believe that when Christ returns, as one of the faithful they will
personally and permanently escape death by being levitated into the sky
to meet Jesus. Israeli human rights abuses (death squads, destruction
of
homes and orchards, confiscation of land and water) against the
indigenous
Palestinians evoke no meaningful compassion from this brand of
"Christian."
For example, columnist Cal Thomas claims that the high Palestinian
death
toll from the current conflict (four times that of the Israeli total)
results from people being used as shields. In a 7/24/03 television
broadcast,
Hal Lindsay (author of the falsely prophetic 1970 best seller "The Late
Great Planet Earth") warned that God would punish America if it
advocated
an independent Palestinian state as part of the "road map to peace"
supported
by President Bush. Televangelists Jerry Falwell, Gloria Copeland and
others
claim that it is God's will (Gen 15:18) that Israel occupy all the
territory
from the Nile to the Euphrates rivers. The millions of unwilling
subjects
(in Cairo, Damascus, Basra, etc.) will be blessed as "strangers in the
gates" (Billy Brim). Few Israelis support such fantasies, but since
Israel
has hundreds of nuclear weapons and thousands of fanatic
fundamentalists,
the mix is very dangerous. This may be especially true if Christian
fundamentalists
succeed in getting more control of U.S. foreign policy in the region.
The
tragedy and threat to world peace is compounded by Islamic
fundamentalists
who have used the promise of heaven to motivate terrorist acts against
innocent civilians. Fundamentalism in all its forms (Christian, Jewish,
Islamic and even Hindu) continues to nurture error, irrational division
and violence.