"Bible is book of bad morals" & the profitable attack on Christians

Jose Saramago, 1998 winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, slammed the Bible, describing it as a "manual of bad morals" and the people of the world would be better without it.

Saramago attacked "a cruel, jealous and unbearable God (who) exists only in our heads" and said he did not think his book would cause problems for the Catholic Church "because Catholics do not read the Bible.

He's been a member of the Portuguese Communist Party since 1969 and wrote "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ" in which Saramago represents Christ as severely fallible, God is extremely selfish and Christ, living with Mary Magdalene, considers backing out of the crucifixion.

This work is very similar to Nikos Kazantzakis's work "The Last Temptation of Christ" in both theme and tone.

From one of the press releases: Saramago's new work of fiction, "Cain," takes a critical and sometimes lighthearted look at the life of Adam and Eve's son. Saramago said at the book's launch late Sunday that the Bible is "a catalog of cruelty and of what's worst in human nature."

Saramago continued to say that this work won't offend the Catholics because they don't read the Bible.

"It might offend Jews, but that doesn't really matter to me."

Why even discuss the opinions of a pessimistic atheist?

Well, it's one thing to attack Christians, it's entirely another to make a profit doing it. This is a Nobel Prize winner whose career is founded on railing against Christianity.

Christian leaders have been stereotyped as hypocrites and corrupted money hungry con artists. It seems to me that attacking Christians has become nearly as profitable and Saramago is a proof of this.

From the best seller list: American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, The God Delusion, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, Losing Moses on the Freeway and Letters to a Christian Nation

These novels portray Christians as "murderously intolerant", "yearning for apocalyptic violence" and "fevered by religious radicalism."

Eminent historians like Gary Wills are now describing members of the Christian faith as radicals who have more in common with al Qaeda terrorists than our European allies.

In the Wills 2004 NY Times article: "Where else do we find fundamentalist zeal, a rage at secularity, religious intolerance, fear of and hatred for modernity?"

The fight to end slavery, the protests against child labor, the early literacy campaigns, the army of anti-poverty groups, the Civil Rights movement – all owe their lifeblood to a Christian conviction.

Meanwhile, recent terrorist attacks in Pakistan were targeting women at the University to protest women's right to an education.

Yes there are fundamental Christians, but the Islamic extremists, willing to kill other Muslims, is far more common and much more dangerous.

Saramago's comments are just a recent example of the secular society that will support attacks on Christianity, instigate attack against Christian practices, try to tear down their credibility and condescend Christianity for profit.

It's pretty sad when the religious practices we have to fight most to protect are those at the root of our history.

It's pretty sad when Christians are called hypocrites because of their shortcomings by socialists who will use this tactic to make a buck - only in America.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jz7ZtcEKZzrizGRpwp7t77X41qrg

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hoHVVn4X5RgpjIDIZBuFK0OLAwywD9BE8OVO0