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WHY NOT?
qyjon
Hill
WHY NOT READ THE BOOK?
Again today 1heard a fellow on the radio bemoan–
ing the fact that we have too much religion in our
school systems. "Under the Constitution we are sup–
posed to separate church and state," he said, "but
there are still sorne backward areas where they allow
Bible reading in schools." He went on to complain
that we should have freedom from this sort of thing;
that religion has brought us nothing but narrow-mind–
edness, persecution and suppression.
"God died back in the '60s. Why should we resur–
rect Him?" he complained. "The history of religion is
one
ot
the suppression of knowledge, the creation of
martyrs and the sanction of innumerable 'holy wars, ·
not to mention book burnings and a repressive cen–
sorship of progressive writers. Therefore 1 recom–
mend the banning of Bible reading and religious
education in our school systems."
The more 1thought about that, the more upset 1be–
carne.
What have historie religious misdeeds got to do
with the Bible? None of those "holy wars" was based
on the Bible. Very little of even that which is called
"Christian" today is based on the Bible. Much of it is
a hodgepodge of paganism "baptized" into a "Chris–
tian" guise. and no substance for it is found any–
where in the pages of the Bible. Why blame the Bible
for the misfortunes of history?
Again 1thought, why go back and repeat the same
mistakes as those who supposedly used the Bible as
an excuse to be repressive, narrow-minded and bigo–
ted? Why use the same methods we ostensibly abhor
of banning and censorship to separate church and
state? That's just jumping from one ditch into the
other! lt is my opinion that this poor fellow is subject
to the same hypocrisy which he no doubt claims is
the bane of religion. lt is also my opinion that he has
probably never read the Book-otherwise he would
never confuse religion with the Bible!
Zealots in every cause seem to be similar. They
only listen to and read what supports their cause.
Fear, insecurity and bigotry prompt this attitude. 1
don't like any of them.
1read the Book a long time ago. l've always been
free to read about communism, fascism, evolution,
philosophy, history, to read fiction or fact-nothing in
the Book ever even hinted that 1was prohibited from
searching or reading elsewhere for the truth . Nothing
in the Bible says: "Don't read any other books." 1
don' t need repression of the Bible to make me free.
And the more 1 read the Bible, the more 1 realize
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1978
how little it has to do with today's religions.
God is for freedom of choice, and 1am too. 1want
to be free to read whatever 1want. 1don' t want my
child going to any school which forbids the reading of
any
book-especially the Bible. Magazines, newspa–
pers and many radio and TV programs are full of ma–
terial based on the concept of evolution. Even though
1have proven to my own satisfaction that it is a talse
concept , my family is free to read, listen to or view
any and all of them.
Fear of open opposition is the surest measure of in–
security in one's basic belief. lt rots character. lt as–
sumes one is not capable
ot
reasoning and self–
determination.
lt was never our Founding Fathers' intention to ban
the Bible, or any religion-only to be sure that no one
religion be the " state religion."
The forbidden fruit is always tempting, and it is in–
teresting beyond measure to me that in today's world
the Bible
has become the "forbidden fruit. "
Sorne time ago 1 wrote a booklet titled
Read
the Book.
Thousands have taken me up on the
suggestion. Here's a letter 1 received from one
taker:
"Dear Mr. Hill,
How are you? Years ago 1read your booklet
Read
the Book.
lt was very interesting. In it you requested
us to intorm you when we began to read the Book
and also to inform you when we tinished. Well, be ad–
vised that this evening 1tinished the Book that 1began
reading years ago. The reason it took so long to read
was that my spiritual lite has gone up and down over
the years. When my spiritual lite was down, 1usually
stopped reading the Bible, praying and attending ser–
vices. But l've repented and 1am on the upswing now.
With God's help 1hope to keep growing and even–
tually enter God's Kingdom.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Joseph E. M."
Now, that's rewarding! Nowhere does Joseph men–
tion any ban, selt- or Bible-imposed, on reading any
other material. Reading the Bible has had a positive
effect on his lite. He is free.
1think we ought to rebel against the bigoted opin–
ion that we should
NOT
read the Book and, instead, be
sureto read it!
Why not read the Book? (To help you in getting
started, why not request my free booklet by that title:
Read the Book?)
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