It seems that a majority of those trying to restrict “harmful” library books to protect children are Christian. They should put their sacred book at the top of their “banned books” list. Here are some of the parts of the Christian Bible that make it unfit for children, and even adults.
Many parts of the Bible do not value life or the family. In the Old Testament, God orders Jews to kill, rape, and torture entire nations to take over their territories. For example, the Israelites killed all the Midianite men and captured all the women, children, animals, and goods and then burned all the cities. The Hebrew leaders then ordered all the captive male children and all the women who were not virgins to be killed. All the virgin girls were kept as sex slaves (Numbers 30). This kind of behavior happened over and over again as Israelites stole land from many groups of people on orders from God.
God also destroyed all life on earth (except perhaps fish and other ocean creatures) just a few generations after declaring his creation good, according to Genesis. When God drowned everything, he saved only Noah and his wife, his three sons, and his sons’ wives. God declared Noah righteous and blameless in spite of Noah getting drunk, falling asleep naked and then cursing his son and declaring him a slave just for seeing him naked. (Genesis 20:21-27) God admitted to being sorry for creating humans (Genesis 6:6) but evidently could think of no other way to correct his mistake than to kill all but eight humans and all animals except those taken onto the Ark. God also seems not to have known any of this would happen and to have been powerless to prevent it. So much for God being all knowing, all powerful and never changing his mind.
God also is said to have hardened Pharaoh’s heart to justify killing all the firstborn children in Egypt and to arrange for king Herod to kill all the male children who were two years old or younger in the region of Bethlehem after ordering Joseph, Mary and Jesus to hide. This is not a deity who values life.
Some Christians claim the Hebrew Bible does not count because the New Testament replaced it. However, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5)
According to the Bible, God does not value families and children. First of all, God punished Eve and all subsequent women by making childbirth painful and distressing (Genesis 3). Women who give birth are said to be unclean for 33 days for birth of a male child and 66 days for birth of a female child. (Leviticus 12). Females are clearly of lesser value. Not a good message for girls. Mary had to be “purified” after the birth of Jesus (Luke 2). Women who are menstruating are unclean seven days and everything upon which a menstruating woman lies or sits is unclean until evening. (Leviticus 15) Sex is forbidden while a woman is menstruating (Leviticus 18). Sex is considered dirty and even sinful throughout the Bible. How do we value having children if we don’t value sex?
Jesus demanded that his followers abandon their families (Luke 14 and Matthew 19). When a disciple asked him to leave to bury his father, Jesus told him no. Jesus/God praised eunuchs (castrated men) (Isaiah 56 and Matthew 19) and warned women not to become pregnant when he’s about to return (Luke 21). Jesus is quoted as saying “I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.” (Matthew 10) Another time, his mother and brothers stood outside where Jesus was speaking and asked to see him. He refused, and said his disciples were his mother and bothers (Matthew 12 and Luke 8).
Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, says men should not touch a woman, should remain virgins if possible, and should marry only as a last resort to avoid sex outside of marriage. Paul ordered women to be subservient to their husbands and not to speak in church or to teach. God ordered men not to go near a woman when preparing to meet with him (Exodus 19).
The Proverbs of Solomon teach that “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (13) and “Do not withhold discipline from a child: if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. If you beat him with a rod you will save his life from Sheol.” (23) These terrible Bible texts have been used for centuries to justify beating children. We now understand that such “discipline” is child abuse that causes great harm.
Child sacrifice was common in biblical times. The Bible describes God ordering Abraham to kill his firstborn son. Just as Abraham is about to slit his son’s throat and burn him, God stopped him because Abraham had proven his loyalty to God (Genesis 22). Blind loyalty is more important than the life of a child. However, God did not stop Jephthah from killing his daughter as a promise to God. Jephthah promised to kill the first thing that came out of his house to greet him when he came home from battle if God would help him win the battle. God helped Jephthah slaughter a great many people, and his daughter, and only child, was the first to joyfully greet him when he came home victorious. Rather than lovingly accept her exuberant welcome, he let her wander in the mountains for two months “to bewail [her] virginity,” then he killed her and burned her as an “offering” to the Lord. Once again, a vow to God was more important than a child’s life.
In every instance where God has ordered the slaughter of whole groups of people, that slaughter has included, children, babies, and pregnant women. The only people he ever let live, were virgin females for the pleasure of men. He even killed 42 children for a trivial reason. They had teased a prophet for having a bald head, so God sent two bears to tear them apart. There are many other instances in which children are tortured, enslaved, abandoned, or killed (even eaten by their parents) to pay for the sins of their fathers. These are not stories that children should revere or even read until old enough to understand folklore, legends, and fables.
According to the Bible, most people will go to hell (Matthew 7:13-14), and that is ordained by god from the beginning of the world. There is nothing anyone can do about it.
The people who the Bible considers exemplary heroes are not. Abraham pimps his wife twice to secure his own safety and earn great riches. Lot got drunk and committed incest with his two virgin daughters. Noah cursed his son for seeing him naked and made him a slave to his brothers. David hated lame and blind people, tortured captives, disabled horses by hamstringing them, slept with a married woman (Bathsheba), got her pregnant, and arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. The Lord punished David for his sinful behavior by giving David’s wives to his neighbor and by killing his and Bathsheba’s son. Samson tortured 300 foxes by tying their tails together and setting them on fire.
In spite of some inspiring and uplifting passages, the Bible is full of despicable and terrifying stories and principles. Many people refer to the Bible as “The Good Book.” It is quite clearly not a thoroughly good book. Maybe we need to stop classifying books as “good” or “bad.” Although it is fiction, it is too often presented to children as hideously factual. Some books at least need to be explained to children who are too young to understand them.
BSCRITIC 