[Peace-discuss] Laurence Vance and "The Warmongers Bible"

[E.Wayne Johnson]

Anti-war Christian and Bible scholar Laurence Vance has a new article at lewrockwell.com

excerpts:

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. 

Imperial Christians who equate patriotism with militarism and nationalism now have a book to guide them: The American Patriot's Bible...The American Patriot's Bible is not a new translation of the Bible. It uses the New King James Version 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...

...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 George WMD Bush in the same paragraph with the Apostle Paul...

...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.

"If you love America and the Scriptures, you will treasure this Bible," says the introduction to The American Patriot's Bible. 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 and the Scriptures know better than to equate patriotism with any of these things. 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance209.html

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