This can’t possibly be a surprise to anyone, right? The far right has spent decades using religion as a political weapon to divide Americans. But now the folks behind the Conservative Bible Project want to censor and rewrite the Bible to align scripture more closely with their fringe ideology.
We’re not making this up.
“Liberal bias has become the single biggest distortion in modern Bible translations,” says Conservapedia, which is hosting the project. (The folks at Conservapedia call their Web site “The Trustworthy Encyclopedia.” Orwellian, yes?)
The project’s organizers say there currently “is no fully conservative translation of the Bible” that satisfies a list of 10 guidelines. Among those guidelines:
Framework against Liberal Bias: providing a strong framework that enables a thought-for-thought translation without corruption by liberal bias
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
Utilize Powerful Conservative Terms: using powerful new conservative terms as they develop; 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.”
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.
Express Free Market Parables; explaining the numerous economic parables with their full free-market meaning
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.”
How can anyone take these people seriously?
We also wonder how much work David Barton will contribute to this project. After all, Barton already argues that the Bible forbids the progressive income tax and labor laws.
