Conservative Bible Project Cuts Out Liberal Passages- WTF?

[xxhplinkxx]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/0 ... 10037.html

Lo and behold, the Bible has gotten too liberal, according to a group of conservatives. And it needs a little editing.

That's the inspiration behind the Conservative Bible Project, which seeks to take the text back to its supposed right-wing roots.

Yes, even scripture is not orthodox enough for the modern conservative. Not that it's the fault of the author(s), exactly. The group cites a few reasons why the Bible is too progressive: "Lack of precision in the original language ... lack of precision in modern language" and "translation bias in converting the original language to the modern one."

So how can the Bible be conservatized? The group has proposed a Wikipedia-like group editing project. Some of the ideas would only bring the translation closer to the original. But others would fundamentally change the text.

1. Framework against Liberal Bias: providing a strong framework that enables a thought-for-thought translation without corruption by liberal bias
2. Not Emasculated: avoiding unisex, "gender inclusive" language, and other modern emasculation of Christianity
3. Not Dumbed Down: not dumbing down the reading level, or diluting the intellectual force and logic of Christianity; the NIV is written at only the 7th grade level[3]
4. Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop;[4] defective translations use the word "comrade" three times as often as "volunteer"; similarly, updating words which have a change in meaning, such as "word", "peace", and "miracle".
5. Combat Harmful Addiction: combating addiction by using modern terms for it, such as "gamble" rather than "cast lots";[5] using modern political terms, such as "register" rather than "enroll" for the census
6. Accept the Logic of Hell: applying logic with its full force and effect, as in not denying or downplaying the very real existence of Hell or the Devil.
7. Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning
8. Exclude Later-Inserted Liberal Passages: excluding the later-inserted liberal passages that are not authentic, such as the adulteress story
9. Credit Open-Mindedness of Disciples: crediting open-mindedness, often found in youngsters like the eyewitnesses Mark and John, the authors of two of the Gospels
10. Prefer Conciseness over Liberal Wordiness: preferring conciseness to the liberal style of high word-to-substance ratio; avoid compound negatives and unnecessary ambiguities; prefer concise, consistent use of the word "Lord" rather than "Jehovah" or "Yahweh" or "Lord God."

Among the words to be eliminated: "government." A conservative columnist at Beliefnet described the effort as "just crazy ... like what you'd get if you crossed the Jesus Seminar with the College Republican chapter at a rural institution of Bible learnin'."

[Disney Duster]

By liberal to they sometimes mean "loose" or "ambiguous?" As in, he talked to people liberally or something.

Anyway, like I have realized, people will come up with their own translations and interpretations of the Bible, and it has been changed over history.

I want to read the original Bible in it's original language but I doubt I could do that. I want to get as close to the original as possible, as close to the word of God as possible.

And for me, the most important to do that is just figuring what God wants me to do in my mind and heart and soul.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

I want to read the original Bible in it's original language but I doubt I could do that. I want to get as close to the original as possible, as close to the word of God as possible.

Maybe you could ask God to read the original to you as a bedtime story?



J/k of course.

But I do find that if they're changing the bible (again?) how do they know they won't screw it up and make it even further from how it's supposed to be? Why does this group get to decide what changes should be made to the bible?

Eh, I could go on for a while with the Why's but I think it best to shake my head and go back to whatever it is I was going to do.

[Disney Duster]

Cherny, that joke was rather mean to me I thought, but anyway...

There are many different editions and versions of the Bible, there is no one Bible, they may think theirs is the true one but every religion believes differently about the Bible and even only believe in certain books in it.

I think they are looking at the original language for this, though, and I guess there's some leeway on what words from another language best fit the words of the language your translating...?

[Siren]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. They keep adapting the Bible. Its no wonder why there are so many holy wars and religious debates when they keep changing it. Its ridiculous.

The way I see it...about the people re-writing the Bible...If you aren't happy with the way the Bible is written then maybe you aren't a Christian.

[pap64]

The way I see it, its just people eliminating the parts that contradict them so they can achieve an even forceful view on religion. It sickens me. Like, let me call the doctor...

[Disney's Divinity]

Ah, yes. I can see this on every bookshelf in America--The Holy Bible: God Abhors You Edition. With inserts: "Hell is really for real!" “Liberalize at your own risk” and “I Kissed A Girl and Then I Went To Hell!”

[Flanger-Hanger]

Only one four letter word is good enough to describe this situation:

FAIL

Though history has had it's fair share of re-writes to said book, this is possible the dumbest yet. I can't wait to see how well it sells on amazon.com (likely well enough as people will jump on whatever bandwagon "God" tells them too).

[SpringHeelJack]

So... God told them to alter the Bible to make it more conservative? Wouldn't this pretty much disprove that the Bible is an unchanging consistent, if any two-bit yokel can alter it as they see fit?

[Flanger-Hanger]

Wouldn't this pretty much disprove that the Bible is an unchanging consistent, if any two-bit yokel can alter it as they see fit?

Does this mean the Bible is now (more so) like Wikipedia? If so, can I mention how God on the 8th day said we were to get a 10-Disc special edition of the Black Cauldron soon?

[Disneykid]

That just sickens me. There's a quote by, I think, Constantine that goes (and I'm paraphrasing here; feel free to correct me): "If you keep the parts of the Bible you like and remove the parts you don't, you aren't believing in the Bible; you're believing in yourself."

[ajmrowland]

This action can only be described by three words:

[Goliath]

They're going to throw out all the references to "feeding the poor" and "taking care for the sick" and all that other "liberal" junk that was preached by that marxist commie Jesus!



Conservatives plan to re-write the Bible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPKycFtsW74

[Lazario]

Conservatives plan to re-write the Bible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPKycFtsW74

Good find. (Though, I was really disappointed by their video on Alanis Morissette's "My Humps" parody - all that guy could come up with is: "she's got humps" and "she's a really good singer," and it took him 3 minutes to say that)

I especially like: "they want to redefine some words (...) here's my favorite one- they wanna redefine the word 'peace.' Probably so that it means 'war'."

[disneyboy20022]

And I thought downloading the Bible off the internet was crazy..Bibles were not meant to be on Iphones...



Since when did the Bible become like a script to a Lord of the Rings books...the Bible is the Bible....why on earth do we need a re-write.....well I hope the original authors who wrote the bible approves of this

[Siren]

What's wrong with the Bible being digital? How is that a problem? Its the liberal thing to do...conserve trees

Okay, seriously. How does it hurt to have the Bible digital? First, it makes it more convenient for those who do follow it. The Bible will be in an easy to get size. Right there in your purse or wallet. You can get to the passage you want right away. You don't want to worry about it being torn, bent or degraded over time. Of course, I'd assume people would still have a paper Bible, but a digital one would be convenient.

[SpringHeelJack]

I don't see a problem with the Bible being digital... for those who believe or take comfort in it, why shouldn't they be able to carry a copy of it with them without having to lug around an ungainly tome with them? I probably would.

[disneyboy20022]

Oh I didn't mean I don't have anything against the bible being digitally downloaded....its a great way for the message of the bible to get to people......I just thought the people who already own the bible in my mind wouldn't need it digitally downloaded.....and i understand it saves trees....but you can find a bible at a lost of salvation army and goodwill thrift stores....idk maybe it's just my preference of actually holding something in my hands other than having it on a computer or an ipod....

thats just my opinion....doesn't have to be anyone elses...

[Escapay]

idk maybe it's just my preference of actually holding something in my hands other than having it on a computer or an ipod

Last time I checked, people can hold ipods.

I certainly wouldn't mind a digital Bible to have on my Kindle. Of course, I need to get the Kindle first...

albert

[Siren]

And who said the digital version will replace the book version? I doubt people are throwing away their Bibles. Bibles are still on the top seller list, as they always have been.

I seriously doubt the Bible is going to go out of print or suffer in any way from it going digital. I'm surprised it wasn't the first digital book actually.