The Best Book to Read?

Many, many years ago, when I was 6 years old, I attended a public primary school. It wasn't a religious school but we kids were required to attend weekly "religious instruction" classes. Even as a 6 year old kid, I found these classes unpleasant and boring. The teacher would say things like, "God made everything in the world - He made that table and that chair and this classroom ...". I knew very well that a carpenter made tables and chairs and, when the teacher overheard me telling one of my classmates my theory of table creation, she quickly tried to set me straight by gently asking me, "Well, if you're so smart, who do you think made the wood? And who made the carpenter?". I had no answer to such deep questions.
We were told how God somehow allowed his son to die for our sins, but it was never explained why He did such a thing to His beloved boy. And it always worried me that people spoke of somebody called "God", but nobody had ever seen him. I just had the feeling that there was something untruthful and dodgy about religious instruction.

On top of all that, those classes were irritating to me. Apart from having to recite John 3:16 every week, the most irritating thing about those classes was a particular song that we were all required to sing. To this day, I still cringe when I think about it. Here are the words I remember:

The best book to read is the bible
Oh the best book to read is the bible
If you read it every day
It will help you on your way
Oh the best book to read is the bi...ble

This is pure indoctrination and, thankfully, religious instruction is no longer taught to little kids in public primary schools in Australia. I was raised in a non-religious family and I didn't for a moment believe that the bible was the best book to read; I much preferred to read The Cat in the Hat where at least the words rhymed and it reminded me of my pet cat. As I got older, I started to ponder some serious questions, such as: "who really created the carpenter?"; "what was God doing before he created the universe?"; "In Noah's Ark, what did the anteaters eat?"

I haven't got answers to those questions (and neither have you), but one question that can be answered is: "Is the bible the best book to read?". Does the bible really deserve the "good book" label? Is it really a moral guide that will "help you on your way"? Here are a few reasons why I have doubts (note, I use quotes from the New International Version of the bible).

The bible routinely condones slavery:

Leviticus 25:44: "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves". Great! The bible says it's okay for me to capture some New Zealanders and enslave them.

Exodus 21:20-21: "If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property."

Exodus 21:7: "If a man sell his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as men servants do." Yes, the bible has no problem with parents selling their daughters into slavery.

Hey, if you're a married man and want some variety in your life, maybe a second or third wife would do the trick. What does the bible say about polygamy?

Judges 8:30: "He had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives."

1 Samuel 1:1-2: "... (Elkanah) had two wives; one was called Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah."
Looks like there are no problems with polygamy, as far as the bible is concerned. How about corporal punishment?

Proverbs 26:3: "A whip for the horse, a halter for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools."

Proverbs 22:15: "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him."
So, there you have it: a sure cure for foolishness is to beat the hell out of children.
Even the Almighty is not averse to handing out a beating.
Psalms 89:31-2: "If they break my decrees, and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging."

If you happen to be a homosexual, don't expect much support from the bible:

Leviticus 18:22: "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." Other versions of the bible use the word "abomination" instead of "detestable"

Okay, that's the Old Testament. However, the New Testament is supposed to be full of love, forgiveness, not to mention Jesus' admirable philosophy of turning of the other cheek. So the New Testament is the one to look to for moral guidance, right? Yes, but proceed with caution; and if you're a kid, get some parental guidance. For example:
In Matthew 15, Jesus displays a shocking racist side to his personality when he refuses to help a non-Jewish woman and says, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs" thus comparing gentile women to dogs. Jesus is normally portrayed as a gentle, mild young man who spreads the philosophy of love and forgiveness; do you feel the love in the air?

How about the following quote from Matthew 23:33: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell". Quite the acid tongue, Mr. Christ.

Environmentalists would probably not be too happy with mild-mannered Jesus either. In Mark 11:12-21, Jesus uses his divine powers to put a curse on a fig tree ("May no-one ever eat fruit from you again."), which causes the tree to whither and die. Jesus was certainly no tree-hugging greenie.
Nor is he an animal lover, as seen in Luke 8:27-33 where he exorcises demons from a "possessed" man. The demons beg Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss. "A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned."

The bible gives a lot of sound advice regarding morality and ethics, but be careful how you read it. Depending on which parts of it you read, the bible can be seen as allowing mistreatment of children, animals, trees, non-Jews and homosexuals. In Matthew 4:6, the devil himself quotes scripture to back up his own arguments.

Moreover, the whole idea of atonement, which is the centrepiece of the New Testament, is questionable. Jesus - the son of God (or was he God incarnated?) was brutally executed on the cross in atonement for the original sin and for mankind's future sins. In other words, justice was done by sacrificing the life of an innocent person for the sins of the guilty. That's a nice lesson to impart on our children ...
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