From: ae642@yfn.ysu.edu (Kelley Miller) Date: 8 Apr 1995 18:31:13 GMT In the spirit of the Christian Tracts I find almost everywhere, I present the following: _____________________________________________________________________________ The text below is especially designed for anti-fundamentalist activists who may wish to distribute paper copies. The ASCII text will print on two pages with any word processor. Two sided copies can be purchased in quantity for about 6 cents each. The statement that "millions have been deceived ..." (see Scientific Misunderstandings) has been questioned. This is very likely true, but is based on informal sampling. The fabrication in question has spread word of mouth and in church bulletins for about 20 years. Publicizing this deception is a potent weapon against those who have dishonored Christianity in America. Suggestions for reformatting: Margins: L/R .7", T/B .6", justification full. Remove hard returns. Font size: title 18 pt, text 12 pt. Return plus 1" down after subtitles. Hard page before SLAVERY. "Fundamentalism Exposed" is copyright free. You may edit, revise, use or distribute in any way. Corrections or comments are welcomed. Formatted hard copy mailed free on request. --------------------------------------------------- barnowl@rain.org (Daniel VanArsdale) 0 0 v The love I felt for you still remains. ( ) --Kate Wolf ww ---------------------------------------------------- FUNDAMENTALISM EXPOSED 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 it 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). "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels" (Rev 14:10). 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 by "slow burning" because of a disagreement about the Trinity doctrine. Is this more excusable than the crimes of Charles Manson? 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 kidnaping 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, female unchastity, 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), this 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). Some anti-Semitic publications feature Bible verses (Mt 26:3-4; Jn 8:44; Rev 2:9). The Bible is also used to justify Israeli occupation of Arab lands and the oppression of the indigenous people. Israeli human rights violations in the West Bank include extrajudicial executions, the imprisonment of thousands without trial, and the expropriation of traditional land and water rights for exclusive use by armed settlers. Yet Jewish and Christian fundamentalists support this military rule as a fulfillment of prophecy, and some look forward to its extension to the Nile and Euphrates rivers (Gen 15:18). The tragedy is compounded by Islamic fundamentalists who use the promise of heaven to motivate acts of terrorist revenge. -- *.....your Friendly American Heretic /\/\ Internet is the last bastion * * ae642@yfn.ysu.edu/Kelley L. Miller / /__\ of true free speech. Let us * *---------------------------------------/____\ endevour to keep it so. * ******************* Know god, no peace...No god, know peace ******************