Have you thrown away your Bible?

[Guest Gypsy]

i had one of those really pretty pink women's bibles that had small articles by well known christian women every couple pages. the thing i liked about it was the flowers and vines that were drawn around the articles. i bought it so i could color those in. anyhow... it was too pretty to throw away so i gave it to my oldest daughter.

 

gave a couple to goodwill. kept my oldest one that i used all through school and college for sentimental reasons. it is actually coming in handy now.

 

i have the complete hardbound 5 book volumes of j.vernon mcgee's 'through the bible' series. sentimental reasons again. my mom bought a set for each of her kids and my grandparents used to go on vacations with the mcgee's.

 

other my other stuff has been pitched.

 

(hey, imageownershipproblem, i'm a homeschooler too. i didn't do it for christian reasons either.)

[DoubleDee]

I have kept my bible for reference, however it is missing a few pages

[Caretaker]

I disposed of my Quran.......

Did you really have one?

[Thurisaz]

For the record, I haven't.  I haven't touched my Bibles in three years, but occasionally I find myself looking through my old conservative apologetics books for laughs. Books like The Case for Christ and books about how wrong it is to be gay (and some Christian books supporting homosexuality). 

 

I was wondering if I should pitch it all, but I can't bring myself to pitch them.  Especially my Bibles.  You know, I spend so much money on them!  LOL

 

Strange but true, after my deconversion some two years ago I now have more bibles in my place than ever before. My goo' ol' German luther babble, the JW babble (for dissection of their particular myths, you know...), and if you count digital versions, the KJV and Vulgate.

Not that I use them much, except for verifying a quote every so often.

[-Demona-]

Yes, I still have my bible. I also have my copies of the Left Behind books. I don't read the Left Behind books anymore, but on occasion I have been referring to my bible for quotes I can throw back at fundies. The bible's also a keepsake, as it was given to me when I first started Sunday School in the Methodist church.

[NimbusBirdMgp]

... I'm renting a trailer at the place I work. So I'm expected to have it clean. But I've had trouble with that and my Science magazines and hobbie crafts of things would clutter up the place. I'm told by my boss and mother to throw that away. It irriates me that they can't mind their own busness about what I like to keep.

 

... And again, since I wasn't getting incentive help from a God I thought to give me insight as to eating, excersie and sleep. And Climate working against me. The whole Christian stuff had finally had years of making sure about things. So I was mad as hell, on being forced to clean up my trailer especailly 1985 with the idea of throwing away what was important to me.

 

... Christianity crap then was priority for the trash!!! I was tired of the hurrashment of other people in my life. And no Divine shit going on either.

[bluewizard]

I have my bible cause I have to go to church(otherwise i wouldn't), i also want to buy the talmud and the koran for a good read.

[Totallyatpeace]

I carry around the book The Case for Faith because I am still working on my critique of it and chances are when it's done, I will have to type up the entire book almost with my comments and criticisms injected in the actual text.

 

Matthew

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Matthew~

 

Do you own The Case for Creation?

[Totallyatpeace]

QUOTE(Totallyatpeace @ Jun 8 2005, 01:04 PM)

I disposed of my Quran.......

 

Did you really have one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Remember in the other thread when I said I walked away from my faith at one point?

 

Guess where I went?

[Cerise]

Of course I keep them! There's some awesome poetry in those pages.

[imageownershipproblem]

I disposed of my Quran.......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I kept mine. It's not really a Qu'ran, just a very pretty little book of short quotes from the Qu'ran, arranged similarly to "Promises for a Jesus Freak" so that when you're upset about some issue in your life you can quickly look up a thoughtbyte or two of relevant inspiring or comforting words to carry with you and think about as you go about your day to day life.

 

Really not that much different than a daily horoscope in the paper or a quick Tarot reading, but it makes you feel less lonely even when you know it's silly.

 

In all honesty, I only looked up one thoughtbyte once. My Mom got me the Qu'ran when she was in Ireland because she was afraid to buy one from a US bookstore. She was, quite rightly, concerned about my creeping bigotry towards Muslims following 9/11 before I had a clue what was going on.

 

I only reacted at a reptilian level. The Qu'ran gave me the heebie-jeebies so I locked my mind up tight and didn't want to think about it.

 

After I disposed of my devotional calendar, Jesus Freak books, Bible Software, and literally all of my habitual sources of "quote of the day", I picked up my Qu'ran and randomly flipped through the pages.

 

What I found was every bit as right-on and comforting as my bibles had always been. Nothing scary or menacing there. No worries about exchanging xtian fundamentalism for Islamic fundamentalism just from reading a quote-of-the-day.

 

It's just a book. For all of you who can feel the same about your bibles, I just want to say that I think you should pat yourself on the back. My own emotional reaction reminds me of a Nazi book burning sometimes and I don't like what I see in the mirror, but after what I did to my kids....well....the symbolism is important; I'll forgive mysel, but only if I don't stand to gain financially by foisting my demons off on somebody else.

 

"Kay.

[Ouroboros]

So you haven't yet explored the concept of making shit up as you go?

 

 

Like the rest of us!

[Guest bdp]

I got rid of all the commentaries, the 'self-help' stuff by Swindoll and the like, and the devotional material and novels ('This Present Darkness'), sent 'em to the thrift store. The bibles present me with some problems. The one I used the most, the one I highlighted passages in, was given to me by the girl who converted me and it had been given to her by her mother so it has all of her highlights in it and also a dedication in the front from her mom. I can't just throw that out, I don't particularly want to keep it, not only being an ex-C now but also because she let me down and hurt me very deeply last year - I feel she should have it back but that opens the whole 'I'm not a Xtian anymore' can-of-worms and nobody knows that yet. She could easily get in touch with my brother and then I would have it flying at me from all sides (I would guess she would get in touch with our old church up here as well). I think I will hang on the the pocket bible that my sister gave me when I went on Celebrant tour, but if anyone has suggestions about my old friend's bible I would appreciate them.

 

bdp

[Alice]

I have never ever been able to throw out a book (throw one across the room - yes, but not throw one away) wouldn't want to start now - seems like a strange idea to me. Whilst there's still a bit of wall space to accommodate another bookcase my library stays intact.

[Ouroboros]

I tried to throw it away, but it just flew out the window and then came back again, like a boomerang, and hit my head. Did God try to tell me something?

 

[LloydDobler]

I'm never throwing mine out, it's a useful reference book, it has tons of my personal notes in it, it's a constant reminder of who I once was and it wasn't all bad anyway.

 

I still have my NIV PC bible loaded on my computer. Even faster than the internet for word and phrase searches.

 

I'm also keeping my book of mormon, my new world translation (Jehovah's Witnesses bible) and all my watchtowers and anti evolution documentation. It's just information at this point.

[Guest JP1283]

Tonight I tried to throw my copy of "The Purpose Driven Life" away...I can't do it! Somehow I feel guilty. Every time I pick it up (which is rarely) I read the part about "it is no accident that you are holding this book right now" and then I just end up just putting it back on the shelf. I'll probably keep my Bible too. My friends gave it to me as a going away present when I moved from Reno to LA, along with a daily meditation/prayer book. Someday I'll get rid of everything.

[shy1680]

I havent and probably wont toss my bible out. Its kind of special to me, my favorite roommate gave it to me. And Im still reading it, I want to make sure Im well prepared for the next "you have it all wrong, you need the word of God" debate. But when it comes to my Jehovah's Witnesses bible and books, now those Im ready to send to the recycling bin.

[Vixentrox]

I tossed my old marked up one and some of my bible study type books. Should have kept them though. I still have one or two unmarked up bibles and a couple of Xtian theology books around that I kept.

[nirrti]

I tore up my KJV bible in a fit of rage against god while I was still a Christian. Just tore all the pages out and ripped them to shreds. I still have this other bible that used to be advertised on TV called "The Book." I only keep it as reference just in case I'm researching something. I'm planning to do some free-lance writing and a writer can never have too many books.

 

I also have some Christian books including some my mother gave me.

One called "If Men Are Like Buses, Why Can't I Catch One?" was about finding a "good Christian" husband. It advised how women should "let the man lead" and have him take all the initiative in the relationship and warned to stay away from men who aren't Christians but say they're "spiritual".

 

Another one "Walking Through the Fire" included the author's account about a little boy he counseled who was molesting his younger sister. He claimed because the boy's mother was sexually immoral while she was pregnant, demons of "laciviousness" got into him and caused his behavior. His solution, instead of intense psychological therapy was to give the boy an exorcism.

 

I guess I keep them for the same reason my ex-boyfriend keeps a mouse skeleton he found inside his shop's wall.... because they're so repulsive they're facinating.

[Guest bdp]

hell burn it, cause if you throw it out, you'll just be digging in the trash for it in a few hours.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

man does that bring back memories of my Xtian days and my fight against 'porno addiction'...

 

bdp

[Kalidasa]

Yes. I threw away the Bible I got from a family friend (who, incidentally, is no longer as such) on my eleventh birthday, but it was falling to pieces by the time I tossed it that it wasn't worth keeping. Only one I ever owned, and good riddance to it. If I ever want to read one (not that I'm saying I ever will, outside of research purposes), I'll grab one off of the family bookshelf.

[Eponymic]

I'm never throwing mine out, it's a useful reference book, it has tons of my personal notes in it, it's a constant reminder of who I once was and it wasn't all bad anyway.

 

I still have my NIV PC bible loaded on my computer. Even faster than the internet for word and phrase searches.

 

I'm also keeping my book of mormon, my new world translation (Jehovah's Witnesses bible) and all my watchtowers and anti evolution documentation.  It's just information at this point.

 

I very much agree with you here Lloyd, it's all about using it as a reference & firepower. As most of us know already, the best resource for becoming a non-believer is really reading the Bible.

[fallenleaf]

lol, a long while back I told everyone here about how my mom and I did a bible inventory and found something like 40-50 of the bastards hiding around the house which weren't even being used... like ever. We kept at least one of every translation (several KJV versions) and took the rest out and dropped them off at the Goodwill.

 

There's nothing like a front seat full of bibles, driving away from your house for the last time.

 

Seriously, I still own like eight. My mom owns like 12-20... so there is a lot in the house. Throw in the reference books and other religious books, and we have a practical Christian bookstore.

[Amethyst]

I have kept mine for sentimental reasons because it was a confirmation gift. Now I wonder if I should look for a charity or something and donate it to them. I can't bear to see a book destroyed, even if it is religious in nature.