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Stop Preaching Gove!

Posted: 19/01/2012 23:00

This week it came out that Michael Gove, the education secretary, has a plan to send a copy of the King James Bible to every school in the country - although this has run into a spot of bother as Cameron told Gove that this project must not be funded by taxpayer's money (and rightly so!). Now Gove has hit a slump in a search for an independent sponsor, which suggests that the original plan was to use taxpayer's money, if this is true.

It was also speculated through Whitehall sources that because Gove wouldn't be able to distribute the books until he found a private sponsor; this meant leaving thousands of copies of the Bible printed especially for this in a warehouse somewhere abroad, or maybe he's keeping them on the Queen's yacht (evenly spread I hope, wouldn't want that thing to capsize!)

I don't understand why this is even a necessary venture in what is supposed to be a secular society - particularly when only last week Sir David Attenborough and Professor Richard Dawkins were celebrating their victory that creationist teaching should stay out of the science class in state-funded schools. It seems that Gove's project runs contrary to this, as there was no talk of every school receiving a signed copy of The Origin of Species as well. I agree that the basics of the religion that has dominated western civilisation should be taught in schools, but in R.E, and maybe with printed out passages provided by the teacher, like in every other lesson at school. Intricate studies of the Bible should be a personal endeavor, conducted at home or in the Church (where I'm told they have Bibles in abundance).

Whether anything will come of this only time will tell, but the thing that struck me with this biblical debacle was that Gove plans to write his own personal inscription in each copy of the Bible! Not only did this shock me due to the sheer scale of that task (his wrist will be as numb as a 14 year-old boys after), but what stunned me most is the pretentiousness of signing the holy book... the Bible isn't even signed by God himself!

2012-01-19-God2.jpg


But thinking of it, none of the book's protagonists popped their autographs in (maybe they thought it wouldn't take off). This got me thinking of how the main characters would sign their names; here are my interpretations:

2012-01-19-satan2.jpg

Satan'AKA The Devil AKA Lucifer: Very much the bad guy in this tale. If you thought that Professor Moriarty was bad, you wait till you read about this guy! I imagine his signature very well revised, symbolic and bad to the bone.

2012-01-19-god.jpg

God: Of course, like all our favourite stories, when there's evil there is an impeccable force of good to match it. God is a hero like no other and makes Superman look like Milhouse. I imagine his signature to be similar to Satan's symbolic type but with none of the sinister nuances.

2012-01-19-Jesus.jpg

Jesus Christ: The son of our hero who proves to be a worthy protégé, the difference is that this character is half human, thus making his heroic deeds more relatable to us, the reader. His signature seems a bit untamed, but one can only assume this was signed with the pen in his mouth whilst up on the cross.

2012-01-19-Noah.jpg

Noah: An ally of our hero, this guy rescued two of every animal and secured them on a gargantuan boat he made alone; with his bare hands; in a matter of days, when God killed off everyone and everything else with a flood in an act of mass genocide. It was then up to Noah, his family, and all the animal couples to repopulate the Earth. I imagine Noah's signature to be slightly less egotistic than the others and wet from the flood.


UPDATE: It is well known that God has kept a low profile since the Bible(s), however I have just learnt that he is due to give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry next week to testify against News International for making a false icon of Rupert Murdoch.

 

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This week it came out that Michael Gove, the education secretary, has a plan to send a copy of the King James Bible to every school in the country - although this has run into a spot of bother as Came...
This week it came out that Michael Gove, the education secretary, has a plan to send a copy of the King James Bible to every school in the country - although this has run into a spot of bother as Came...
 
 
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12:40 AM on 01/22/2012
What about asking those nice people who put a Bible in hotel rooms?
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SecularAdvocate
Media Watcher
03:12 PM on 01/21/2012
Every child should get a copy of "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.

In ten year's time we'd be a much better country for it.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mokgee
Sabu.Satsang, Samsara, Solitude...
01:20 PM on 01/21/2012
Self confessed Atheists in war, have been known to pick up prayer books to begin praying. It all depends on who you are and where, one will never know how one will react until those dire situations arise. When someone like MG, the education secretary, make some positive moves to clean up the education system, and how it needs it badly. Out come the knockers and know alls to put him down, There is absolutely nothing wrong with RE, or RI, as it used to be described when we were kids within schools, it gives the kids some idea how life works, and certainly makes them think. Far better than all the debauchery, and liberal thinking which is around nowadays, there is nowhere where decency exists for the kids in todays climate. Standards, boundries, and discipline have all been erased from society, then the old moaners break out saying, what is wrong with kids today. It is because the know alls believed they could do a better job, those results are all around us...
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SecularAdvocate
Media Watcher
03:17 PM on 01/21/2012
Actually young people are better behaved, work harder, get better exam results and are less violent today than they have ever been.

And atheists are right. There is no god, and religion poisons everything.

Your confusion stems from believing all the lies you've been told all your life.

You will never recover from it.

But a child being educated today will not become like you.

That's a victory for modern education.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
mokgee
Sabu.Satsang, Samsara, Solitude...
07:08 PM on 01/21/2012
Indeed Secular Advocate, A modern day child, and which planet did you derive from...
12:45 AM on 01/22/2012
Actually, I always enjoyed listening to Bible stories as a kid, in RI classes and Sunday School. I cannot say they made me particularly religious, but I still remember them all vividly for some reason, perhaps because they continue to have relevance in modern life.
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George McAulay
Delighted to meet you
07:14 AM on 01/21/2012
Religion has always been a tool of the rich elite to control the masses. At least now they have no power to kill non believers.
10:08 PM on 01/20/2012
The problem is that Britain is a secular society, but a theocratic state. The head of of state is required by law to be an Anglican Christian. We have religious representatives sitting in our legislative assembly - a feature shared with only one other country, the Islamic Republic of Iran!

The recent survey of British Social Attitudes showed that half the population has no religion, and that only 44% describe themselves as Christian. The government has responded by cancelling future surveys, allegedly on the grounds of cost.

Christianity is a Religion of Rule but no longer a religion of mass belief. Poland under Gomulka and Jaruzelski was described as a "Communist" country because this was the ideology of the ruling class. It was certainly not the faith of the majority Polish people.

We have a similar situation in today's Britain. It is highly dangerous for any nation when its misruling class loses contact with the mass of the people.
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Dombeyandson
12:42 AM on 01/22/2012
Religion is nothing of the sought. Religion is man's efforts to edify himself before God by the practices he choses to perform in order to get the greatest recognition of his piety. Faith on the other hand is God's effort to find man. Religion is a way of life to gain such recognition. If you practise such antics long enough and religiously it is you who will feel better about yourself but you still won't get any closer to God
06:04 PM on 01/22/2012
The point I was trying to make is that Britain is afflicted with a ruling elite that is trying to impose an increasingly religious agenda on an increasingly sceptical population. This displays an alarming lack of understanding of the outlook of ordinary people.

People in positions of authority are pefectly free to have whatever religious faith they choose; but they have no right to impose it on those who do not share it, especially at the taxpayers expense.
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Ppenguinator
Life's too imprtant to be taken seriously.
09:32 PM on 01/20/2012
I think it would be much better to send the schools copies of 'Harry Potter' instead. At least they'd be read.
05:38 PM on 01/20/2012
I am a born again athiest and strongly protest to Gove sending any religious book to any school - especially if I as a tax payer have to pay for it. In my opinion religion and personel beliefs should be kept at home and within religious churches, temples and buildings dedicated to that religion. I dont have any problem with anyone believing in what they want, but I disaggree with any form of indoctrination - especially by someone in Government - they should remain impartial. Values and good citizenship can be taught in schools without the use of religion.
10:17 PM on 01/20/2012
I thoroughly agree with your comment.

May I make a small point; while Christians, Muslims, Jews, Bhuddists, etc. always dignify their absurd beliefs with capitals, we Freethinkers seem to accept the inferior staus of lower case letters. I am not a born again atheist. I AM a born again Atheist.
lastpost
see biography
11:39 AM on 01/20/2012
"this project must not be funded by taxpayer's money"
Maybe st. Michael could ask big g to air-drop the required number on site, like proverbial manna.

"I don't understand why this is even a necessary venture."
Could it be that he wants to share such pearls of wisdom as: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust (and electrolytic marine erosion) doth corrupt, etcetera.

"Gove plans to write his own personal inscription in each copy of the Bible"
I came. I saw. I co-opted?

"Satan'AKA The Devil"
Might benefit from a few pointers provided by politicians. Lesson 1: The finer points of fine print.

"Noah:"
Odd that that in a land plagued by theme parks. No one has yet constructed a full sized working replica, to confirm that it can be done.

"due to give evidence at the Leveson Inquiry next week to testify against News International for making a false icon of Rupert Murdoch."
Viva la difference. Between knowing you’re god and merely mistakenly believing you are.
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10:15 AM on 01/20/2012
How about sending the collected works of Stephen Jay Gould instead.
05:55 AM on 01/20/2012
Keep up the good work. After all, atheist and secular Americans are going to need places to fee to eventually.
05:58 AM on 01/20/2012
"flee"; HuffPost needs edit/delete.
04:47 PM on 01/21/2012
go to 'preview' before sending. there you can edit,

But sometimes I forget tool, and hit the send button before previewing my text.
12:43 AM on 01/20/2012
Well done. I thought we Americans were the only ones having trouble with these boorish Bible-thumpers. Apparently they also have infiltrated Britain's government and are making life difficult for everyone there as well. We joke about these zealots, but they actually are very dangerous to democracy and should be reined in whenever possible. Anyone who votes for one of these "reformers" or their party should have his or her head examined.
11:45 AM on 01/20/2012
Good article. Great cartoon; and the God and Satan signatures are brilliant. Just for the record, this 'proposal' has very little to do with Christians in Britain. The 'King James' Bible is a classic of the English language, and should be celebrated. But the books of the Bible were originally written in living, contemporary languages, and they are best read in contemporary translations. Wasting money on scattering an archaic version to gather dust in schools is about as clever as building a new Royal Yacht with money that could be used to bring hope to families threatened by job closures and benefit cuts.

And does Michael Gove (or Sir Michael as he is doubtless hoping to be) realise he is putting his signature to a document that calls for justice for the oppressed, welcome to aliens, condemnation of the selfish rich, the humbling of the proud, and personal commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ? (Never sign a document before you read it, Michael!!).
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Thismortalcoil
Science is the poetry of reality
09:02 PM on 01/20/2012
If Gove is genuinely interested in literature there are plenty of more ground-breaking works he could offer that schools might have in short supply - after all the Gideons hand Bibles out free to everyone anyway.

I think you're absolutely right in your suggestion that he's just trying to gain a knighthood!
05:51 PM on 01/20/2012
Here here!