The Bible?

Like many Christians in America, I tuned in to watch the History Channel's epic mini-series, The Bible. After a few minutes into the first episode, I realized how naive I was in thinking that it would be even mildly intelligent. I mean, Noah was Scottish, for pete's sake!

They made a small effort to make the characters...ahem...browner...but really, the main ones were white with Jesus looking like the usual seventh member of the Allman Brothers Band. Worse, the devil was black and looked like...well...

Can we ever get to the point in this country where being a Christian means taking an honest look at the historical times of the Bible and chucking all the western myths that go along with it? I'd like to see some scholarly and intelligent depictions as well ass analyses of the stories of the Bible rather than the those like this series from the History Channel which are made for someone with the maturity of a second grader.

Praying For His Death

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal made me think about Voltaire again. In an email to supporters, O'Neal wrote

At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!

and then recommended Psalm 109:8 which reads

Let his days be few; and let another take his office

This verse is followed by this, in Psalm 109:9

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. 

As Volatire astutely noted, religious intolerance always leads to fanaticism and savage, inhuman action.