Lacking Direction

I feel that I am walking in the shadow of death and I am fearing evil. I really was hoping to be inspired by The Bible. You hear people all the time I was down and out and I found God so on and so forth. Well, for some reason I always felt that The Bible would carry a little bit of that in it. That in some way The Bible carried some codified message that upon reading would open your eyes make life clear and bring, I guess I thought The Bible would be Epiphatic in nature. Thus far I have found Sunday funnies more Epiphatic than The Bible. I must admit that I am only in the book of Numbers. That said I should probably hold off on any lasting judgement of The Bible until I have finished it, or at least until I have climbed from the depths of the old testament.

The Old Testament thus far was not with out good stories however. Adam and Eve always a crowd pleaser, Noah and the Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah, Joseph and his Brothers. And the interesting thing is it precisely why these are the stories that are taught in bible school, and in mainstream Christianity, because they are interesting. The rest I feel like, are we serious? These laws through them out their old absurd contradictory, meddling, racist bigot news. Some are however pertinent but we don't need to Bible to tell us that. Don't have sex with your sister. Got it, thanks Bible good looking out. Don't commit murder, um... we are working on that one. Point being the judicial system has put God out of the smiting business. All this for me at least boils down to, "Why?"

They call it the Good Book in my opinion it should be called "The Shitty book: with some good parts." Yet the damn thing remains so freaking important because it has infiltrated every aspect of western society. What Northrop Frye wrote in Words with Power hit it right on the head, "Nobody would attempt to study Islamic culture without starting with the Koran...why should not a study of Western culture working outwards from the Bible be equally rewarding?" It is for that reason alone that I Roberto Amado-Cattaneo III continue to read The Bible despite an overwhelming internal struggle.

Quick story then I will terminate this communique. Back in June of 2006 I traveled with a group of volunteers to Africa through group called "Urgent Africa" in conjunction with another called "Slum Doctor". Both where not in any way shape or form in allegiance with any religious denomination. Our primary purpose was to deliver medicines and basic first aid to AIDS orphans and widows in a small village called Majiwa, Kenya which is located north of Lake Victoria close to the Ugandan border.Non the less drive from Nairobi we stopped in a small town called Homa Bay outside the larger city of Kisumu. There is were my disdain for The Bible was born.  I witnessed on multiple occasions sermons given by Evangelicals, Catholics, Mormon, etc... in which prophylactics were condemned, and God not science will save them. Heart breaking things to hear, all backed by quotations from The Bible. Not to say that this is all The Bible has to give, but my experience has by no means done The Bible any favors. As I read I try to keep an open mind both a literary sense and in a more "spiritual sense".