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<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>Anti-war Christian and Bible
scholar Laurence Vance has a new article at lewrockwell.com</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">excerpts:</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"><FONT size=3>Two tools of government propaganda
used to get young men to kill, maim, and destroy for the state are nationalism
and religion. Put both together and you have a deadly combination.</FONT>
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Imperial Christians who equate
patriotism with militarism and nationalism now have a book to guide them: <I><A
href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1418541532?ie=UTF8&tag=lewrockwell&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=1418541532">The
American Patriot’s Bible</A></I>...<EM>The American Patriot’s Bible</EM> is not
a new translation of the Bible. It uses the <I>New King James Version</I> that
was published by Thomas Nelson in 1982, but "joining with the sacred text are
stories of American heroes, quotations from many of America’s greatest thinkers,
and beautiful illustrations that present the rich heritage and tremendous future
of our nation." This is done via special introductions to each book of the
Bible, twelve full-color, four-page sections inserted randomly throughout the
Bible, and 254 brief articles on certain virtues and various patriotic and
historical themes that appear near specific Bible verses in boxes within the
text, on half pages, and sometimes on full pages. None of the articles actually
comment on the biblical text. Certain words in the text are merely used as a
springboard to launch into the subject of the article, which usually has
nationalistic, militaristic, or political overtones...</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">...In the introduction to 2
Thessalonians in the New Testament, we read about how the Apostle Paul "always
moved quickly to deal with heresy before it could damage the churches." We are
told that he used the authority of his apostleship and did not seek anyone’s
permission. This is applied to George W. Bush saying that "America will never
seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country." Then we are told
that after the 9/11 attacks Bush "immediately announced a Global War on
Terrorism, which commenced with the invasion of Afghanistan and the overthrow of
the Taliban regime and Al-Quada." It is nothing short of sacrilege to mention
</FONT><A href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance44.html"><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman">George WMD Bush</FONT></A><FONT size=3
face="Times New Roman"> in the same paragraph with the Apostle
Paul...</FONT></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3 face="Times New Roman">...The small articles in boxes near
specific biblical verses contain quotes from famous people about God, the Bible,
religion in society, or some virtue, tell us where in the Bible a particular
president placed his hand when he took the presidential oath of office, and
reference certain events and documents in American history. Seeing the first
one, which appears on page 44, made me nauseous – it is a quote on freedom from
the evil warmonger and torture master Dick Cheney. Even worse is the sight of a
quote from Colin Powell on U.S. foreign military interventions that goes with
John 3:16. It is implied to the reader that just as "God so loved the world that
he gave" so the United States sends its "fine men and women into great peril to
fight for freedom beyond our borders," asking nothing in return but enough land
to bury our dead soldiers.</FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>"If you love America and the Scriptures, you will treasure this Bible,"
says the introduction to <I>The American Patriot’s Bible</I>. I think it would
be more accurate to say that if you love American exceptionalism, American
nationalism, American imperialism, and American militarism, you will treasure
this Bible. Many Christians who love America <I>and</I> the Scriptures know
better than to equate patriotism with any of these things. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance209.html">http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance209.html</A></FONT></DIV>
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