On 2004-04-13 08:47:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Actually Spots, the majority of homes have several Bibles. This doesn't mean anyone in the house ever reads them, but for the majority, they are there.
I'd also suggest, if you question the validity, you read it first and do a little actual research.
You are assuming wrongly.
The validity of the Bible is astonishing; look up scripture; and it wouldn't mean anything to them if they did."
Goddamn, Anon!..oops, sorry. Say anything with enough authority and hope that somebody will believe you. FYI, the majority of the 250 Million people in the USA don't have Christian bibles, but, yeah, few who do have them read them. I HAVE read it, and view it as a really inspired book, somewhat like the Constitution, putting old values on new situations and often working very well. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
This whole ALA thread(s) are bogging down in The Bible. It is a book, to most. It is a good book, to many. It is not an evil book, to most. It has good ideas, most of which are also encapsulated in The Koran, Buddha's speaking, Confuscious' teachings, Star Wars' Force, ad hominem.
None of the above folks mentioned imprisoning young people away from their parents and society-at-large in order to force acquiescence into the parents' thinking (except monestaries or convents, which are entered voluntarily). Moving toward independence of a young adult {i.e., teen}, means pendulum swings between extremes. Most "good" parents hope that their previous 15 years or so of parenting will encourage their children to follow what the parents believe to be the right course. If the parent panics (and is basically a very poor parent), one can always turn to the for-profit industry recently arrived which can separate an adult parent from Zillions of dollars (or a child's college fund, willed by his more-intelligent relative) and produce a "perfect Stepford offspring". My Significant Other, to whom I have been married 40 years, just said, "If you're a good Christian, you shouldn't need to worry about if your child understands your values, because it should be something you have 'lived' all your life and your child should appreciate that in the long run".
The Bible is shit if you don't live it. Love your children. Show them by example. Love them. Don't send them away for others who can read as well as you can, but who put into practice methods that Jesus never never never thought of.
