Sometimes Bryan Fischer of the hate group the American Family Association just makes it too easy to call him out.
Do you follow Fischer on Twitter? We do, so you don’t have to. If you did, you’d know that every day he seems to spend hours finding news stories to link to that he uses to make wild generalizations about things — but mostly people — he hates.
And yet for all the generalizations and disregard for the facts, Fischer’s recent tweet about Banned Books Week was surprising in that he didn’t even attempt to sprinkle it with a shred of truth (not that he cares).
Here’s the tweet in question:
This is part of Fischer and the far right’s ongoing claim that the most persecuted group in America are Christians. And proof, according to Fischer, is that the only book banned in public schools is the Bible. Except, it isn’t.
Even more ironic is that Fischer calls out the ACLU in his tweet, because the Texas affiliate of the ACLU has for the past 15 years issued entire reports on books banned in the state’s schools.
How short would those reports be if Fischer were correct?
Banned Books Report Table of Contents
1. Introduction …. 1
2. List of Banned Books: The Bible …. 2
3. Conclusion …. 3
4. Acknowledgements, Special Thanks to Bryan Fischer …. 4
Fact is there are plenty of books that are not the Bible that have been banned from public schools in Texas or elsewhere. If you sift through the ACLU of Texas’ Banned Books Reports available on its website, you’ll find the Bible was challenged — not banned — only once, in 2002. That’s far less than the amount of times challenges or bans have been leveled against the Harry Potter books, novels by young adult author Lauren Myracle and the constantly banned children’s book “And Tango Makes Three.”
And adding even more to the irony in Fischer’s tweet is that when all these other books that are not the Bible are challenged or banned in schools, it’s often because of people like Fischer.
Whenever someone comes to me waving their religion, I know to get a good grip on my wallet and my panties. Doesn’t the Bible tell them not to lie?
At least as ironic as this twit’s reality-free tweet is the fact that someone tried to get the book “Fahrenheit 451” banned in his daughter’s school system (http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=4625303) — during Banned Book Week, no less!
~David D.G.
The banning of the Bible in schools has just made it to the absolutely true catagory for the politically catatonic.
What a pinhead! Let’s ban him from the school system!
I’ve read it… ritual animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, canibalism, genocide, mass murder, crimes against humanity,baby killing, rape, incest, polygamy, adultery, homosexual acts, sodomy, prejudice, capital punishment, torture, religious persecution, intolerance, WMD’s, chemical warfare, nation-building, invasion of peaceful nations, theft, guile… nothing Hitler and Jr. did hasn’t been done in the name of God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, or Jesus.
Texan born & bred
Huh, my son was taught from the Bible as literature for a few weeks during sophomore-year English class in Austin ISD. Not only was it not banned; it was REQUIRED READING. And an entirely appropriate use of the Bible in schools, I might add.
I love you, anonymous! Your taste in literature is rather sordid. However, I’ve heard that the language of the
Bible is so beautiful that it is a must know for the educated person. Thomas Jefferson tried shortening it.
But I don’t know whether he left out the seamy parts.
Jefferson left out the “miraculous” parts, like virgin births. He kept the parts like “love the neighbor.”
Don’t forget that there is a whole book of unadulterated porn (The Song of Songs*) included in the anthology known as The Bible.
*the claims that it actually meant thongs is of course ridiculous 😉
Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin were all friends of Joseph Priestley, the English scientist and co-founder of Unitarianism in England. Priestley also influenced their thinking about religon; he said the authors of the New Testament “corrupted” Christianity. What he meant was the message of Jesus was sufficient to stand on its own without the immaculate conception, ressurrection, and miracles attributed to Jesus.
Jefferson, Adams and Franklin were 3 of the 7 “core founding fathers”, those who made indispensable contributions to the creation of our nation, from declaring independence and kicking the Brits to the curb through establishing and implementing our system of government. None of the 3 were Christians – Jefferson and Franklin were Deists, Adams was a Unitarian. David Barton disputes the fact that Adams was a Unitarian and insists he was a Christian. But Adams himself said in 1816 “I am a Unitarian.” Hmm. I’m going to have to go with Adams on this one.
From what I can gather James Madison was an agnostic, although he never came out and said as much. Which would mean the majority of our core founding fathers, the founders of this allegedly Christian nation, were not in fact Christians.