Indoctrination Chronicles #15: Don't Read That Bible

A Missouri schoolteacher won't let a student read the Bible during free time.

These days the First Amendment is under just as much attack from Leftists as the Second is, unfortunately.

For What It's Worth...

...the top ten most and least Bible-minded US cities:

The most Bible-minded cities:

10. Knoxville, TN
9. Jackson, MS
8. Little Rock, AR
7. Greenville/Spartanburg,/SC/Asheville, NC
6. Charlotte, NC
5. Shreveport, LA
4. Springfield, MO
3. Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA
2. Birmingham, AL
1. Chattanooga, TN

And the least Bible-minded cities:

10. Portland, ME
9. Burlington, VT
8. Phoenix, AZ
7. Hartford/New Haven, CT
6. Buffalo, NY
5. Cedar Rapids, IA
4. San Francisco, CA
3. Boston, MA
2. Albany, NY
1. Providence, RI/ New Bedford, MA

You can click over to the link to read about how the study was done and what conclusions are drawn from it. In broad terms, the most Bible-minded cities tended to be small cities in the red states, and the least Bible-minded cities tended to be in large blue cities. Go figure.

Meanwhile, In Cartersville, GA...

...a couple come to blows over the Bible:

A man and a woman were arrested for battery following a fight over the Bible and the Ten Commandments, Georgia police said.

The fight occurred at 1 a.m. Saturday morning in a hotel room in Cartersville.

When the police officer entered the motel room, he saw blood on the carpet and a bloody towel in the sink, the police report states.

Carolyn Unfricht, one of the detainees, told the officer that the conversation had become tense, and that she used a Bible to hit Daniel Camarda across the face, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

If I had to bet I'd say it was probably a King James Bible placed by the Gideons.

He Smote Them Hip and Thigh

"Pope Francis says he once worked as a bouncer."

Judges 15:8: And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.

No word on whether His Holiness used the jawbone of an ass.

I Don't Remember That From Matthew 25

[34] “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. [35] ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; [36] naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’

You notice there is nothing in that passage about coming to the prison with meth:

"Mom Accused Of Smuggling Meth in Bible Visiting Daughter in Jail."

Must be one of those newer translations.

They Killed the Fatted Calf...

...he killed them.

SEATTLE - Authorities are searching the Northwest for a man accused of killing his Seattle-area grandparents, who had just picked him up after his release from a Washington state prison, hosted a party in his honor and offered him a room in their home for the night.

Michael "Chad" Boysen, 26, is considered extremely dangerous and has tried to obtain guns, police said Monday.

He was released from prison Friday after serving several years for robbery. His grandparents _ an 82-year-old man and 80-year-old woman _ picked him up from prison and hosted a family "welcome home party" for him that night, King County Sheriff John Urquhart said.

The grandparents were killed later Friday or early Saturday at their Renton home. Authorities believe Boysen also stole their car.

The return of the prodigal grandson.

Meanwhile, On Twitter...

...I was confronted with this tweet this morning:



Near as I can figure out it's about boomerang farts.

Probably Not a Bad Idea For The Netherlands

A Dutchman has built a full-scale replica of Noah's Ark.

Pic:

Article doesn't say whether this new ark is made out of "gopher wood."

She Has Done What She Could

An 80-year-old Spanish woman ruined a fresco of Jesus in a church in a misguided attempt to restore it.

Here's the fresco before her work:



And after:



And, of course, a hue and cry has gone up at the destruction of such a priceless work of art. And so it should.

But...

What would Jesus of Nazareth say?

A similar occurrence happened in his life:

Mark 14:3-9
King James Version (KJV)

3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6 And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

The old woman is probably frightened and ashamed, and doesn't need condemnation. She needs compassion and empathy, as well as your prayers.

An Interesting Theory

While relating the story of the discovery of a Shakespeare-era theatre in London, Walter Russell Meade propounds his theory that Shakespeare has fallen out of favour because the King James Version of the Bible isn't being taught to children in Sunday School, thus leading to unfamiliarity with the English language from Shakespeare's era.

And between the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare, how many famous phrases and quotes came into the English language!

It should be noted that the late Christopher Hitchens, the intellectual atheist whose knowledge of literature seemed truly encylopedic, went out of his way to teach his children the King James Bible, not out of any religious impulse but because of its literary merit.

"There! Wot did I say? No good'll come o' that, I said."*

And sure enough, no good did come of it.

Shareca Latoya Jones, 28, has been charged with trafficking cocaine, distribution of a controlled substance, providing contraband to an inmate, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute a schedule IV controlled substance, unlawful carrying of a handgun and possession with intent to distribute a schedule I controlled substance, the release states.

The investigation began when a package mailed to the Lieber Correction Institution in Ridgeville was returned to a business in Lancaster earlier this month, according to the release. Inside, the package contained razor knives, a cell phone, about 30 ecstasy pills and about 28.8 grams of cocaine concealed inside a Bible.

"Why, hillo! Look here, now; this ain't lucky! You've gone and cut this out of a Bible. What fool's cut a Bible?" *


*Bonus points for identifying the literary reference.

Noah's Ark Found?

Story.

Unfortunately, as the following image shows, the archaeological team is having a hard time proving that the "ark" is from the Biblical time period (click to embiggen):