The Bible Beater
Moderator: LadyTevar
The Bible Beater
This fanfic is based on something that really happened. The people are real and the events are real. The only liberties I've taken are to change names. Please enjoy it in the spirit in which it was offered.
JADAFETWA
The Bible Beater
It was nine fifteen in the morning of October 2, and a thin mist hung over the near-silent campus of Kent State University. I sat at my computer, reading the newest posts on Stardestroyer.net, my favorite website. I checked my watch and sighed. I'd set my alarm wrong and still had fifteen minutes before I had to leave for Theater class. Jeff, one of my three roommates, sat at his own computer beside me. "Damn, the connection's slow this morning," I remarked. Jeff nodded. I had just finished reading Ted's latest flame when I looked at the clock and decided to leave.
Flipping off the computer, I grabbed my backpack and my sunglasses. Tossing off a perfunctory wave to Jeff, I silently closed the door. Hopping down the stairs two at a time, (I stay on the dorm's third floor) I muttered to myself about how lucky my other roomies, Mark and Art, were to have their earliest classes at about eleven.
"Ah, my livesaver," I said as I stopped in front of the vending machine. I hadn't been sleeping well, and was slowly becoming dependant on Cherry Coke to get me through Math and Theater. Walking down the sidewalk, I was surprised at how hot and humid it was. "Fuck, today's gonna be nasty." Leaving Munzenayer Hall dorm behind, I made my usual walk around Stewart and between Humphrey and White halls. There, I noticed a pair of older men standing near the usual path the kids walked. They appeared to be handing out something. I shrugged and kept walking. Someone was always handing out pamplets for some organization or other around KSU.
A few minutes later, I'd come to a small, open courtyard, where another white-haired man was handing something to students. The man was well dressed, and wore a lapel reading 'Gideon International.' My curiosity piqued, I headed over. Catching my inquisitive gaze, the man smiled and held out a small green booklet. "Here, son. You want one?" I took the small book, appreciating the feel of its rough surface. That feeling changed, though, when I saw the title: New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs.
A damn Bible-beater, I realized. I'd grown up Roman Catholic, but my faith had been slowly stripped away throughout my life, both from the repeated family and personal crises and contradictions I'd found looking through the Bible. Now, I carried a deep dislike of both religion and God.
"You honestly believe in this...stuff?" I asked venomously, refraining from using a choice word.
"Yes I do, young man. I take it you don't?" I couldn't believe I was really hearing the friendly, open tone in his voice, considering the hate I'd allowed to slip into my own.
"I find much of it to be idiotic and hypocritical."
"Really? Why is that?" He his tone was honest. I smirked. I'd tear this friendly old man apart, the way I'd done with fundies at high school.
I decided to start with something easy. "Do you believe that the Bible should be taken literally?"
He laced his fingers. "Of course not. The Bible is full of figurative speech. Take 'ye are the salt of the Earth.' Do you think the Bible's saying we're made of salt?"
I snorted, but allowed a grudging respect. This guy had dealt with people like me before. Not such an easy target. "What about the six days?"
"Does it really matter? Whether it was a long miracle, or one that lasted a week. What does it matter, whether God waved his hands and everything appeared, or He simply ensured that molecules would be in the right place at the right time?"
"What about when the sun stopped in the sky? Doesn't that defy natural law?"
"The Lord created natural law, young man. He can change it, or cancel it as He wants."
This guy's good, I thought. "God is the supreme being, right? He can create us, destroy us, all as he sees fit?" He nodded. "Is he infallible?"
"Of course not!" This sudden denial caught me off guard. "God's infallibility was something invented by the early Catholic church to justify its actions. Remember that the Bible is an interpretation of men's beliefs, written by men. Son, have you ever seen the movie Dogma?"
THAT surprised me. "Uhh...yeah."
"Well, if God was infallible, would the two banished angels have ever found a loophole that would let them to go back to Heaven?"
"Well, no. But that's hardly-"
"Calm down, I was only trying to make a point."
I ground my teeth. This wasn't going according to plan. "What about the hypocrisy of the Ten Commandments?"
"Come again?"
Ha, now I had him. "God gives us three Commandments about worshipping him, plus one about our parents, before 'Thou shalt not kill.' In other words, praying to God is more important than people's lives!"
"Well, that's an interesting theory, young man. Now here's another. What if God simply wanted to get the details of worship out of the way before moving on to the important laws?" Shock ran through my brain and down my spine. This had NEVER occurred to me.
"But, after the Golden calf...the second set-"
"I thought we'd already determined that God was fallible, son. When someone makes comments about you, don't you want to shoot back?" For a second time, shock ran through me. This time, I found I couldn't reply. I mumbled something about needing to get to class and started to walk off. "Lord protect you, son," the man said, barely loud enough for me to hear it.
As if in a trance, my feet took me towards the hall where I had Theater. The whole time, all I could do was muse over the man's words. I saw other Gideons on the way, but they simply smiled and nodded as I walked past. Somewhere along the way, I overheard another student saying something about "...fucking Billy Grahams all over the fucking campus."
Believe that if you want. I'd been convinced that these men were holy. These men were God's men. Not the Catholic Priest who victimizes, or the self-proclaimed Islamic 'holy man.' Not the crazy rednecks that believed that the Bible was the be-all and end-all with God, period. These men, who were simple, hardworking, everyday friends and relatives. They went through their lives with a connection to God so deep and personal, I could never break it. Not with the most cutting sarcasm and sneering comments, not with a thousand pounds of C-4. These men would never waver in their quiet faith, not even if I could prove for certain that no God existed.
I got to Theater class with seconds to spare and slid into the first seat I saw. That was when I realized that I was still holding the little green Testament. Perhaps I was looking for God myself, or perhaps I was looking for an excuse to reestablish my hatred of religion, but I opened that book and flipped through it. Stopping at a random page, I read the first thing I saw.
Proverbs, 3:30:
Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.
Something in my heart that I thought I'd buried and left for dead reestablished itself. I still don't believe in religion, and I'm still not sure about God, but the poison that had infested my very being, that had led to my deep-seated prejudice against anything Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, or Muhammad, the hate that had surrounded me tighter and tighter every time any religious man failed to live up to his own policy, the cold aloofness that grew whenever I heard about murder in the name of God...simply disappeared. I went through the rest of that murderously hot day with a new spring, standing taller, because I KNEW that that man had prevented my life from spiraling into an unbreakable cycle of festering hate.
Maybe God exists, maybe He doesn't, what does it matter? As long as we treat our fellows with the respect and dignity that both THEY, and YOU deserve.
End
It was nine fifteen in the morning of October 2, and a thin mist hung over the near-silent campus of Kent State University. I sat at my computer, reading the newest posts on Stardestroyer.net, my favorite website. I checked my watch and sighed. I'd set my alarm wrong and still had fifteen minutes before I had to leave for Theater class. Jeff, one of my three roommates, sat at his own computer beside me. "Damn, the connection's slow this morning," I remarked. Jeff nodded. I had just finished reading Ted's latest flame when I looked at the clock and decided to leave.
Flipping off the computer, I grabbed my backpack and my sunglasses. Tossing off a perfunctory wave to Jeff, I silently closed the door. Hopping down the stairs two at a time, (I stay on the dorm's third floor) I muttered to myself about how lucky my other roomies, Mark and Art, were to have their earliest classes at about eleven.
"Ah, my livesaver," I said as I stopped in front of the vending machine. I hadn't been sleeping well, and was slowly becoming dependant on Cherry Coke to get me through Math and Theater. Walking down the sidewalk, I was surprised at how hot and humid it was. "Fuck, today's gonna be nasty." Leaving Munzenayer Hall dorm behind, I made my usual walk around Stewart and between Humphrey and White halls. There, I noticed a pair of older men standing near the usual path the kids walked. They appeared to be handing out something. I shrugged and kept walking. Someone was always handing out pamplets for some organization or other around KSU.
A few minutes later, I'd come to a small, open courtyard, where another white-haired man was handing something to students. The man was well dressed, and wore a lapel reading 'Gideon International.' My curiosity piqued, I headed over. Catching my inquisitive gaze, the man smiled and held out a small green booklet. "Here, son. You want one?" I took the small book, appreciating the feel of its rough surface. That feeling changed, though, when I saw the title: New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs.
A damn Bible-beater, I realized. I'd grown up Roman Catholic, but my faith had been slowly stripped away throughout my life, both from the repeated family and personal crises and contradictions I'd found looking through the Bible. Now, I carried a deep dislike of both religion and God.
"You honestly believe in this...stuff?" I asked venomously, refraining from using a choice word.
"Yes I do, young man. I take it you don't?" I couldn't believe I was really hearing the friendly, open tone in his voice, considering the hate I'd allowed to slip into my own.
"I find much of it to be idiotic and hypocritical."
"Really? Why is that?" He his tone was honest. I smirked. I'd tear this friendly old man apart, the way I'd done with fundies at high school.
I decided to start with something easy. "Do you believe that the Bible should be taken literally?"
He laced his fingers. "Of course not. The Bible is full of figurative speech. Take 'ye are the salt of the Earth.' Do you think the Bible's saying we're made of salt?"
I snorted, but allowed a grudging respect. This guy had dealt with people like me before. Not such an easy target. "What about the six days?"
"Does it really matter? Whether it was a long miracle, or one that lasted a week. What does it matter, whether God waved his hands and everything appeared, or He simply ensured that molecules would be in the right place at the right time?"
"What about when the sun stopped in the sky? Doesn't that defy natural law?"
"The Lord created natural law, young man. He can change it, or cancel it as He wants."
This guy's good, I thought. "God is the supreme being, right? He can create us, destroy us, all as he sees fit?" He nodded. "Is he infallible?"
"Of course not!" This sudden denial caught me off guard. "God's infallibility was something invented by the early Catholic church to justify its actions. Remember that the Bible is an interpretation of men's beliefs, written by men. Son, have you ever seen the movie Dogma?"
THAT surprised me. "Uhh...yeah."
"Well, if God was infallible, would the two banished angels have ever found a loophole that would let them to go back to Heaven?"
"Well, no. But that's hardly-"
"Calm down, I was only trying to make a point."
I ground my teeth. This wasn't going according to plan. "What about the hypocrisy of the Ten Commandments?"
"Come again?"
Ha, now I had him. "God gives us three Commandments about worshipping him, plus one about our parents, before 'Thou shalt not kill.' In other words, praying to God is more important than people's lives!"
"Well, that's an interesting theory, young man. Now here's another. What if God simply wanted to get the details of worship out of the way before moving on to the important laws?" Shock ran through my brain and down my spine. This had NEVER occurred to me.
"But, after the Golden calf...the second set-"
"I thought we'd already determined that God was fallible, son. When someone makes comments about you, don't you want to shoot back?" For a second time, shock ran through me. This time, I found I couldn't reply. I mumbled something about needing to get to class and started to walk off. "Lord protect you, son," the man said, barely loud enough for me to hear it.
As if in a trance, my feet took me towards the hall where I had Theater. The whole time, all I could do was muse over the man's words. I saw other Gideons on the way, but they simply smiled and nodded as I walked past. Somewhere along the way, I overheard another student saying something about "...fucking Billy Grahams all over the fucking campus."
Believe that if you want. I'd been convinced that these men were holy. These men were God's men. Not the Catholic Priest who victimizes, or the self-proclaimed Islamic 'holy man.' Not the crazy rednecks that believed that the Bible was the be-all and end-all with God, period. These men, who were simple, hardworking, everyday friends and relatives. They went through their lives with a connection to God so deep and personal, I could never break it. Not with the most cutting sarcasm and sneering comments, not with a thousand pounds of C-4. These men would never waver in their quiet faith, not even if I could prove for certain that no God existed.
I got to Theater class with seconds to spare and slid into the first seat I saw. That was when I realized that I was still holding the little green Testament. Perhaps I was looking for God myself, or perhaps I was looking for an excuse to reestablish my hatred of religion, but I opened that book and flipped through it. Stopping at a random page, I read the first thing I saw.
Proverbs, 3:30:
Do not strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.
Something in my heart that I thought I'd buried and left for dead reestablished itself. I still don't believe in religion, and I'm still not sure about God, but the poison that had infested my very being, that had led to my deep-seated prejudice against anything Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, or Muhammad, the hate that had surrounded me tighter and tighter every time any religious man failed to live up to his own policy, the cold aloofness that grew whenever I heard about murder in the name of God...simply disappeared. I went through the rest of that murderously hot day with a new spring, standing taller, because I KNEW that that man had prevented my life from spiraling into an unbreakable cycle of festering hate.
Maybe God exists, maybe He doesn't, what does it matter? As long as we treat our fellows with the respect and dignity that both THEY, and YOU deserve.
End
JADAFETWA
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Kelly Antilles
- Sith Acolyte
- Posts: 6417
- Joined: 2002-09-12 10:36am
Oh, Bravo. *applause* That's really good, IG. I am so impressed!
(just a hint; instead of Word, try NoteTab Light. It's a freeware text based program that will convert into html if needed. I find it very helpful when I'm writing. If you want something in italics, use * then go back in and put your bbcode.)
(just a hint; instead of Word, try NoteTab Light. It's a freeware text based program that will convert into html if needed. I find it very helpful when I'm writing. If you want something in italics, use * then go back in and put your bbcode.)
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Stormbringer
- King of Democracy
- Posts: 22678
- Joined: 2002-07-15 11:22pm
*Bean walks by, a long line of men behind him shreking to the sky and clutching pamplets in a fetal position
Sorry what now? Did I ruin the mood of your inspirational story?
Ahh I see, So your saying its Ok for god to send a plauge over the people then murder a third more because someone say something bad about him?
A well trained Thumper nothing more nothing less, A Thumper can be smart or dumb, brillant or idioitc
I see it as a waste of time, there is so much here, HERE on this planet, in This Galaxy, waiting for us to see to discover, to touch, taste, smell, see
One can travel the world for a hundred years and see but a single 1% of all there is to see or do
My inspirational story
Today, acutal three hours ago now(As of 9PM EST on the 2 of October in the Greogrian Calander)
During that time I had my tires rotated and my oil changed, discuss the news of the world with a georgian nun and a Russia doctor, helped an Sergent of WWII who was at Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bluge(Where he was wounded and sent home), decided on the latest camping equipment because he was taking he his son and grandson hunting in the back woods of North Caroilana. I also picked up a few points from him on the car and matientce of older weaponry(He still had his 1911 side Arm in working condition). Later I played Poker with the offduity mechanics and decided to get a belt or two on my car replaced as well, I re-read the first six chapter of the Art of War and got into an aurgment with a Military History major on the best way the War in Nam could have been conducted. I talked with a seventy year old elderly women about the 1963 Standersation of Ironing boards from the older one sided slant to the newer trigangle ended versions one always see, I gave four stock tips, seven words of Wisdom and an old monologe about the benfits of being aware
Today was not an abnormal day for me, This is my life, this is how I live it, experance everything. You never know what your miss by not talking to people
A moment of silence between two strangers is a moment wasted
Remeber that....
Sorry what now? Did I ruin the mood of your inspirational story?
You forgot the classic response to thisWhen someone makes comments about you, don't you want to shoot back?
Ahh I see, So your saying its Ok for god to send a plauge over the people then murder a third more because someone say something bad about him?
A well trained Thumper nothing more nothing less, A Thumper can be smart or dumb, brillant or idioitc
I see it as a waste of time, there is so much here, HERE on this planet, in This Galaxy, waiting for us to see to discover, to touch, taste, smell, see
One can travel the world for a hundred years and see but a single 1% of all there is to see or do
My inspirational story
Today, acutal three hours ago now(As of 9PM EST on the 2 of October in the Greogrian Calander)
During that time I had my tires rotated and my oil changed, discuss the news of the world with a georgian nun and a Russia doctor, helped an Sergent of WWII who was at Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bluge(Where he was wounded and sent home), decided on the latest camping equipment because he was taking he his son and grandson hunting in the back woods of North Caroilana. I also picked up a few points from him on the car and matientce of older weaponry(He still had his 1911 side Arm in working condition). Later I played Poker with the offduity mechanics and decided to get a belt or two on my car replaced as well, I re-read the first six chapter of the Art of War and got into an aurgment with a Military History major on the best way the War in Nam could have been conducted. I talked with a seventy year old elderly women about the 1963 Standersation of Ironing boards from the older one sided slant to the newer trigangle ended versions one always see, I gave four stock tips, seven words of Wisdom and an old monologe about the benfits of being aware
Today was not an abnormal day for me, This is my life, this is how I live it, experance everything. You never know what your miss by not talking to people
A moment of silence between two strangers is a moment wasted
Remeber that....
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
Bean, you've just made youself the biggest IDIOT I've ever seen. You missed the point ENTIRELY. The urge to hit back as a human reaction. God is fallible. ARE YOU SEEING THE POINT YET? The guy was not coming ANYWHERE near the discussion of whether it's ok or not. In fact, the idea that it's not ok is IMPLIED by the revelation that God is FALLIBLE. ARE YOU SEEING THE POINT YET?You forgot the classic response to this
Ahh I see, So your saying its Ok for god to send a plauge over the people then murder a third more because someone say something bad about him?
JADAFETWA
Your forgetting the impilcation here thoughBean, you've just made youself the biggest IDIOT I've ever seen. You missed the point ENTIRELY. The urge to hit back as a human reaction. God is fallible. ARE YOU SEEING THE POINT YET? The guy was not coming ANYWHERE near the discussion of whether it's ok or not. In fact, the idea that it's not ok is IMPLIED by the revelation that God is FALLIBLE. ARE YOU SEEING THE POINT YET?
, Not only is he faillableHe's Evil....
Tell me, What does that say of your Holy man when he asks you to worship an evil super-being?
There are more layers to every subject
You just have to look...
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
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Kelly Antilles
- Sith Acolyte
- Posts: 6417
- Joined: 2002-09-12 10:36am
-
Kelly Antilles
- Sith Acolyte
- Posts: 6417
- Joined: 2002-09-12 10:36am
Why the Mouantians with many trees on them and the Beachs next to the Woods of Course!Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, Bean... there's something other than back woods in NC?
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
-
Kelly Antilles
- Sith Acolyte
- Posts: 6417
- Joined: 2002-09-12 10:36am
I live no-where but rather travel alot, This next five months I'll be in the great state of Indiaina, Then Ill be a few months in one of the Great Lakes states, Hmm then I'll probably go spend time in either Florida or MarylendDo either of you live near Charlotte? I have a cousin there.
"A cult is a religion with no political power." -Tom Wolfe
Pardon me for sounding like a dick, but I'm playing the tiniest violin in the world right now-Dalton
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Sparkticus
- Youngling
- Posts: 81
- Joined: 2002-08-11 02:07pm
- Location: Brisbane, Australia
Gee, and little old me stuck in sunny Australia.
And I'm with Bean in his pathological hatered of keyboards. This is why I never post...
And I'm with Bean in his pathological hatered of keyboards. This is why I never post...
"That's just a vicious rumor started by my socks. It's their revenge for me using them to floss my asscrack." ---Chuck
Stalker in the Shadows - "I like to watch..."
Cult of the Kitten::[Mew] I AM evil, really...
Stalker in the Shadows - "I like to watch..."
Cult of the Kitten::[Mew] I AM evil, really...
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Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi
- What Kind of Username is That?
- Posts: 9254
- Joined: 2002-07-10 08:53pm
- Location: Back in PA
Well, Bean, Christians don't have to acceept the Biblical God as the true God. I don't because I believe he's far better than than a mass-murderer. The acts he's done in the Bible are closer to acts of the Devil. Perhaps the God in the Bible actually was the devil, and the Biblical Devil was God. I'm not defending the Bible in any way, I'm just expressing my beliefs.
BotM: Just another monkey|HAB
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Stormbringer
- King of Democracy
- Posts: 22678
- Joined: 2002-07-15 11:22pm