"correcting" hotel bibles
Robert O'Brien obrienr@ecst.csuchico.edu
Wed, 8 Oct 1997 18:08:53 -0700 (PDT) (00876380933, Pine.HPP.3.95.971008175538.6770B-100000@steroid.ecst.csuchico.edu)
I don't believe that it is proper to deface bathrooms with religious
graffitti. I don't believe that people should deface property that is not
theirs. Also people should not be exposed to religion if they do not want
to be exposed to such. I do not believe that you are defacing the books by
placing a "non-tract" inside, but to physically alter a Bible that one
does not own by pasting in or writing in commentary that the
publishers/owners would not approve of is wrong. I believe that the Bible
is rife with contradictions, errors, and myths/superstitions, but I am not
so brazen or insensitive to write such in Bibles I encounter. Also, I am
not so foolish as to believe that the Bible or other holy books are devoid
of spiritual value because of the contradictions, errors, and
myths/superstitions they may contain.
Robert O'Brien
On Tue, 7 Oct 1997, Charles Casey wrote:
> CASEY (10/7)
> I have recently written my own non-tracs. I limit each topic to a single
> 8.5 x 11
> sheet of paper, using both sides. The reasons for using just one sheet are
> that logistically, I don't want to worry about extra pages getting lost and,
> in a practical sense, I don't wish to tax too heavily the reader's attention
> span. I fold the paper
> into thirds making sure the topic sentence, written in bold type, is on the
> outside.
>
> I stayed in a Marriot a couple of weeks ago and, sure enough, there was the
> ever-present Gideons Bible along side The Book of Mormon. (I wonder which
> one is
> correct.(?)) So I placed two of my own non-tracs in each 'holy book' so
> that there
> at least would be a small chance that someone might get a little bit of
> reason with their superstition. Who knows?
>
> I did not "deface" either book and resent the implication of "juvenile" for
> people
> of reason who try to bring some common sense into the world. As a matter of
> fact,
> whenever I place a non-trac along side a bible trac at work it is my
> non-trac that
> will inevitably be torn into pieces on the floor. Also, in my
> ultra-conservative
> workplace, (I work in a defense facility), where there are lunchtime bible
> studies,
> etc. EVERY stall in the men's restroom, (there are seven stalls), has
> "Christ died
> for our sins" written in big black letters - along with a long list of bible
> references on "Hope of heaven". The last time I checked, defacing company
> property -
> for whatever reason- was a big 'no-no' (sin). I don't think it is the
> freethinkers that xians have to worry about defacing anything.
>
> And if people really knew about all the b.s. in the bible I wonder just how
> many of
> them would continue to read it. Personally, it was realizing the
> absurdities, etc.
> that the bible contained that finally caused me to quit the whole thing!
>
> Chuck Casey
>
>
>
> >> PHIPPS
> >> You know, about two years ago, I began working on a project to create 2
> >> pages of *highly condensed* atrocities, contradictions, and pointers to
> >> the dirty parts of the bible. My plan was to laser print these on
> >> sheets of sticky-backed label stock, and "laminate" the inside cover of
> >> every hotel bible I encountered.
> >>
> >> I had to quit that project for the sake of school, but maybe it would be
> >> a good time to revive it.
> >>
> >> Thanks for the motivation,
> >> john phipps
>
>
> O'BRIEN
> >Defacing Bibles for whatever reason would be immensely juvenile. Your
> >assumption that people would not be familiar with these passages or that
> >they would share your disdain for them is seriously flawed.
> >
> >Robert O'Brien
> >
> >
> >
>
>