Satan Wrote the Bible

Is the Bible bad?

How could anyone say that after it has been called “The Good Book” for so many years? There is much to be said for it but there is also much to be said against it. It is certainly to be respected for the tremendous influence it has had on Western civilization directly and on all of our species in some way. While most would argue the influence has been positive, I, as a contrarian, must argue otherwise. The easy part of this argument is the wars, holy wars of the crusades and the holy wars going on today in the Middle East, the Balkans and the United States.

Holy war in the US? What else would you call the debate over abortion and other issues that fundamentalists champion with such hatred and the Catholics with slightly less hatred? Vitriolic hatred express by some to the extent that others, weaker minded, foot soldiers, have committed murder and other acts of violence. Those expressing the hatred are doing it in the name of their religious beliefs, they are quoting the Bible. That is an outcome of the Bible. To say that it is misguided men (mostly men) who are doing it and that it does not reflect on the Bible is nonsense. Misguided, of course, but none the less reflecting on the Bible.

Generally people think of the outcomes of the Bible and the religions it has spawned as doing good by creating sins and punishments for sin. Certainly burning in hell for eternity should be a deterrent to crime. I asked 50 people who had registered as “experts” in their faith on a web site if they thought people who believed in God were more or less likely to commit crime and more or less likely to commit crime if they had had a religious upbringing. Those of Jewish, Protestant, Islamic faiths were unanimous in their response that people who believed in God and people who had been raised in a religion were less likely to commit a crime. Of the Catholics responding they were unanimous in their opinion that religious upbringing would be a deterrent but a couple of them backed off on whether a belief in God was a deterrent to crime. Perhaps they were thinking of the Mafia who are always portrayed as being devout Catholics.

My research uncovered quite different facts. I was unable to find any studies that delve into the religious upbringing of criminals. However, I did uncover the information for a few notorious criminals. The father of John George Haigh (The Acid Bath Murderer) was described as “intensely religious”. The NY Mad Bomber and Hitler were Roman Catholic. Joseph Kallinger was adopted by sadistic Catholic parents. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer “came from a religious family.” I found none who came from an irreligious family or who were irreligious. Edward W. Mitchell in his paper The aetiology of serial murder: towards an integrated model writes, “An analysis of the role of religion in the life of the serial murderer and its relationship to internal justification of his crimes would be of considerable interest.” Wouldn’t you think that someone of religion who believed that religion was, at the very least, a deterrent to crime would have done the research by now? Perhaps they have and decided not to publish it.

Two studies of criminals done in the early 1900s found very few irreligious among them. One study of 28,351 prisoners found 57 who said they had no religion. When a sample of 12 of the 57 was interviewed more closely it turned out only 1/3 was truly irreligious. That comes to less than .03% or 99.97% were found to be religious. “Of 700 criminals examined by Ferri one alone was an atheist, one was indifferent, and seven were devout and even found religion an excuse for their crime.” “Among 200 Italian murderers Ferri did not find one who was irreligious.” The Criminal by Havelock Ellis (1910). My research is superficial, to be sure. One of the reasons research along this line has not been done is because most research into the criminal mind is to try to understand it so crime can be prevented. No one is likely to come along and try to make a case for overthrowing religion to eliminate crime, not even me. But to say that we live in a more civilized world because of religion cannot be supported. In other words, an outcome of the Bible is not less crime.

A book reviewer of the Bible would have to say that the language was stilted and obscure. The beatitudes are certainly an incredible bore. There are many, many inconsistencies. Amazing that so many base their lives on this book. Even more amazing since so few of them have even read it. Another interesting bit of research would be to find out how many devout followers understand the Bible very well, not from what they have been taught but from actually reading it.

So why is it so popular, the best selling book of all time? The answer is that there are some basic truths that we recognize as such and these truths are told in stories that are easily understood and memorable. Unfortunately these stories are taken by some to be historically accurate and absolute rather than parables, myths and teaching aids. The book has also been used to exploit those who “needed help interpreting it.” The exploiters have no intention letting go their hold on their flock. It is to their advantage to keep it obscure so they can maintain a position as God’s interpreter. If the myths were identified as myths (read Joseph Campbell) and the truths exposed in their simplest form, many in the flock could take up staffs, live with greater independence and be more helpful to others.