Amid Missouri Library Defund, Critics Move To Ban Christian Bible

First, a quick update on politicized library shenanigans . . .

"The Missouri House of Representatives voted for a state operating budget with a $0 line for public libraries. While the budget still needs to work its way through the Senate and the governor’s office, state funding for public libraries is very much on the chopping block in Missouri."

Similarly . . . 

The Bible might soon be on the chopping block of banned books given its graphic and often scary content  . . . Here's a peek at justification for banning The Good Book . . .

The New Testament is full of violence and suffering, violence which is condoned by Jesus himself. Even in the Gospels, Jesus demands that eyes be plucked out and hands cut off as a result of sin, and threatens the earth with bloody violence. The Book of Revelation, written in the first or second century CE, is widely read as early Christianity’s rejection of the sinful, violent Roman Empire and the hopeful expectation of justice for true believers. This understanding of the Apocalypse overlooks the rampant violence omnipresent in the text, which depicts sexual violence as a punishment ordained by God. As John Marshall says, “Sexualized violence against women is one of John’s primary modes of depicting God’s judgment.”

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Missouri Reps Just Voted to Completely Defund the State's Public Libraries

The new budget sets funds for libraries to $0. Library groups say the move is retaliation for suing the state over its recent book ban law.

Sexual Violence and Rape Culture in the New Testament

All too often when people think about violence in the Bible, they focus on the Old Testament and ignore the New. People tend to imagine that the Prince of Peace rejects violence, and situate Jesus and the God of the New Testament in opposition to the Old Testament God; this kind of oppositional reading is problematic in many ways, not the least in its historic contribution to anti-Semitism, but also ignores what the text itself says.

You decide . . .