Atheist activists aren’t the only ones looking to nix the Bible and references to God from President Barack Obama’s inauguration. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell also took aim at the holy book today, dismissing its purportedly heinous contents and urging the president not to include it in his Jan. 21 inaugural ceremony.
After discussing Pastor Louie Giglio’s recent decision to remove himself from Obama’s choice of benediction speakers, O’Donnell launched into a tirade against the Bible and its presence at the historical event. In addition to defending the gay rights movement against Giglio’s nearly-20-year-old sermon, the MSNBC host dismissed the Bible as an antiquated book that virtually nobody can agree with in its entirety.
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell (H/T: MSNBC)
“No one accepts all of the teachings of the Bible — no one,” O’Donnell proclaimed. “There are no literal followers of the word of God as presented in the Bible left on earth. If there were any, they would have to be burning people at the stake all day, every day.”
The host noted his belief that the Bible mandates that prostitutes be burned at the stake and that those who commit adultery and fail to keep the Sabbath also deserve death.
“The Bible has more death penalties in it than Texas law,” he added, urging Obama to simply put his hand on one of his daughter’s shoulders, rather than on a Bible, when he takes the oath (Obama is actually planning to place his hand on two Bibles — one that was owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and another by Lincoln).
On the subject of slavery, O’Donnell framed the Bible as a book that condoned the horror that Michelle Obama, as a descendent of slaves, would have been forced to endure:
“This time, as it was last time for the first time in history, the book will be held by a First Lady who is a descendent of slaves. But the holy book she will be holding does not contain one word of God condemning slavery. Not one word. But that same book, which spends hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages condemning all sorts of things and couldn’t find one sentence to condemn slavery, does indeed find the space to repeatedly condemn gay people, as the now banished Louie Giglio said it does. And as the First Lady is holding that book for the President, sitting someone near them will be a pastor who the Inauguration Committee will make sure is much more adept at hiding what that book actually says than Louie Giglio was.”
Watch O’Donnell’s commentary, below:
(H/T: Mediaite)
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Comments (410)
fccblaze
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:00pmI feel sorry for this man, for the folly of his arrogance and pride will strike terror to his heart in the day of judgement when every knee shall bow (including Mr. O’Donnell’s) and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that God’s word was given to us through the Bible.
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:58pm““This time, as it was last time for the first time in history, the book will be held by a First Lady who is a descendent of slaves. But the holy book she will be holding does not contain one word of God condemning slavery. Not one word. But that same book, which spends hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages condemning all sorts of things and couldn’t find one sentence to condemn slavery, does indeed find the space to repeatedly condemn gay people, as the now banished Louie Giglio said it does. And as the First Lady is holding that book for the President, sitting someone near them will be a pastor who the Inauguration Committee will make sure is much more adept at hiding what that book actually says than Louie Giglio was.”
Oh, it doesn’t just NOT condemn it–it goes into GREAT detail about how to “properly” go about acquiring slaves (from foreigners), how much you can beat your slaves (only so much that they don’t die within a few days), how to sell your daughter (which was oddly specific but it’s in there–then again, women writ large were generally considered chattels in that time in that culture), and how to convert a Jewish indentured servant into a slave (give him a wife that he keeps, then drive a nail into a doorpost through his ear). So yeah, the bible’s more than just “silent” on slavery–it all but comes out and gives an EXPLICIT endorsement of the institution.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:34pmWhine whine whine. Poor fella. I know you’re worried about that lake of fire, and I don’t blame you.
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:24pmNo, there’s about as much reason to be afraid of your threats of eternal torture as there is of the Muslims’ threat of hell for failure to submit to Allah and the tenets of Islam, or the Buddhists’ and Hindus’ threats of negative karma and reincarnation as lower species for wickedness, or the thousands of other unpleasant afterlives tied to immoral conduct (usually–though in the case of you especially repugnant religion, whether you go to heaven or hell has nothing to do with whether or not you were a noble or vile person on the whole, but rather whether you were blindly and slavishly devoted to a particular being on faith) the various religion, living and dead, have asserted exist throughout human history. There is as much reason to believe any one as to believe each one–and precisely no more reason to believe any in particular, than to believe the Iliad or the Aeneid is a factual historical account in all its details.
But, even if you HAPPEN to have hit the lottery and somehow managed to end up being the ONLY religion whose extraordinary claims actually turned out to be TRUE (and there’s no need that ANY religion’s claims are, in fact, true–you can’t ALL be right, but you CAN all be wrong), if the bible is anything close to an ACCURATE depiction of your religions metaphysics, then I prefer the lake of fire to prostrating myself to a vile and brutal master.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:33pmWell, tell me which claims you think are wrong and why and we’ll discuss them.
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 10:09pmEvery supernatural claim.
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binge_thinker
Jan. 13, 2013 at 11:25pmMilitant Atheists who take time out of their day to express their rampant incredulity about religion to others make a lot of poorly constructed arguments while some of their arguments are simply outright lies.
Calling them out on such things isn’t to change their mind (it’s amazing how quickly most of them devolve into illogical ranting or engage in the “Atheist dance”, which we’ve already seen hints of) but to allow anyone reading along to observe the exchange, that way if the reader runs into such argument in the future, they might have a better perspective on the topic.
Only if we could throw our hands in the air and believe as they do in blind luck and that random chance pieces of DNA bonded goo evolved into a living, breathing, thinking, inventive and highly social creature capable of even questioning his beginning and his creator all from the big bang.
But, the big bang was an infinitely small point of energy which was setting in empty space no, wait, space is a product of the universe so there was no empty space…… hmmm. Well anyway, at a certain point in time the point of energy exploded , well actually time is also a product of the universe so it couldn’t have happened at a point in time.
OK, skip that. You’ll just have to take my word for it, a countless number of impossible accidental coincidences occurred and a perfectly working universe was formed with no intelligence whatsoever to cause it.
Oh yeah, that’s how it happened for s
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mcsledge
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:55pmGodless wonder!
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makingsense
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:55pmLarry has come unhinged! As crazy as he is, I hope he has no ‘assault weapons’!
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:52pm“The host noted his belief that the Bible mandates that prostitutes be burned at the stake and that those who commit adultery and fail to keep the Sabbath also deserve death.”
Well it DOES state that the penalty for violating the Sabbath is capital punishment (MOST of its prescribed punishments for “sin” are the death penalty). If I’m not mistaken, there’s even an EXAMPLE in the bible of a person being stoned for violating the Sabbath, but I could be wrong. As for the prostitution thing–not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case, as it wouldn’t be at all out of line with what else is in the bible.
Penalty for disobedient children–take them outside of town and stone them to death.
Man and another man have sex–death.
Woman has sex with an animal–death for both.
Man rapes a woman–actually, believe it or not, he gets a wife out of the deal as she has to marry him, but only if she’s a virgin; otherwise, it’s probably death.
Being a “prophet” of other “deities”–death.
Apostasy–death. In fact, it even goes so far as to COMMAND that you actively hold what is in effect Inquisitions (do exactly what the Spanish did) to root out, and kill, apostates living among you.
Now I know you are probably going to say “oh, but that’s the Old Testament” and (1) No, it’s not JUST the Old Testament that’s filled with horrific brutality, and (2) That’s not the point–the point is your “good moral book” is filled with atrocity after atrocity.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:40pmAnd your point is?
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:31pmMy point is that the article presents these claims O’Donnell makes as “his beliefs,” and while that is technically true, there’s also no “mere belief” ABOUT the matter–the bible is available to pretty much anyone in America who wants to look at it, and it’s just patent verifiable FACT that the bible does contain exactly the kinds of atrocious moral edicts and actions (often, though not exclusively, at the hand of the ostensible “god” of Christianity no less) that O’Donnell talks about and takes issue with. Why anyone would want to defend it, and could in good conscience defend it or claim it is somehow a “noble” or “morally inspiring” book is ludicrous. And the fact that the Blaze thinks it can simply flat out DENY being in the bible that which is EASILY verified as, in actuality, BEING in the bible is (1) more than a little galling, and (2) frankly, shows the author doesn’t think too highly of the literacy, intelligence, perceptiveness, or all of the above of their audience.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:50pmWell, who can deny that these things are in the Bible. It’s your understanding that is flawed, not the Bible.
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Witness1974
Jan. 12, 2013 at 1:33amArchy–you are confusing the minor characters of the Bible (history) who are all flawed and sinful, with the Major character of the Bible who is holy, pure, righteous, and just. Did you take time to read and think about why he chose to wipe the earth clean with the flood? From Adam on men have always accused God of unrighteousness and blamed Him for their own sin. You are no different that millions before you. You can’t do away with the Holy One by trying to shrink Him down to your size and applying your standards to Him. Who do you think you are? You are a finite and flawed piece of dust presuming to judge the infinite and perfect God of the universe, which by the way cannot contain Him. He is not subject to His creation and He is certainly not subject to you. You’ve got it all backwards. He is the King and Creator; you are a subject, willing or not; you are a mere creature with no right to even stand in His presence. I know because I and everyone I know are just like you in comparison to God–vastly ignorant pea brains. This much I can tell you though, what Bible you’ve read, you have misread. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned and you like the rest of us need the help of the Holy Spirit to grasp them. If you humble yourself and ask God for understanding and wisdom, He will give it.
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whitealaskan
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:49pmNot one of you people even acknowledged the points he made. One of you mentioned the New teatament, but having the new testament doesn’t change that at one time Gods chosen people lived laws not so much different than sharia. Soloman and David had hundreds of wives and concubines. Prostitutes were stoned. Aldulterers were stoned. Women were all around treated like junk. People were killed for believing in different religons. Some really really raunchy stuff. And you CANNOT deny it because its there and its easy to find and read. So instead of debating and commenting on his points you weep and wail and gnash your teeth and tell him he’s the son of Satan and he’s damned when everything he said concerning the Bible as a whole is true. You all hate on the Muslims because of the stupid crap they do but if you believe in the God of the bible he condones all of the same things and your fine with it because it doesn’t apply to you any more.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:43pmSo? What’s your point?
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:47pmI just reread your post and I should have said that everything he said about the Bible is not true and you are just as ignorant as he if you believe that it is.
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whitealaskan
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:59pm@theotherberean
My point is you are no better than some sheik who preaches shariah law to his followers.
Leviticus 21:9 prostitutes burned
Adultery (Leviticus 20:10-12, man and woman) put to death
Exodus 31:15 put to death for breaking the sabbath
I Corinthians 11 talk about how women should have their heads covered when praying.
So all of the things that this article says he claimed about the bible seem to be true to me. since you seem like the rapture/burn in hell type then im pretty sure you dont require your women to cover their head when they pray to god since hes supposed to be a personal god to you. so again my point is you are no different than a muslim extremist who condoned violence and oppression against women and non believers. you believe in a god that doesnt have a problem with allowing pain and suffering to befall his children with little or no provocation. thats not a belief system that i want any part of.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:09pmYour assessment of the Bible and God’s motives, only demonstrates your ignorance of Both.
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whitealaskan
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:20pmWhat the h are you talking about? Its right in front of your face. Your no different than a kindergartner saying “I know you are but what am I?” over and over again. You provide no substance to your claims. 2+2=4, A is A. allahu ackbar my muslim friend. Your infected with the same disease as the left, the muslims, and the rest of the race.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:37pmWell, I could say the same thing about you. Just because these things are in the Bible doesn’t mean it is reprehensible. At your ignorance level (less than kindergarten) you have no business even discussing the Bible
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whiskeyrebel
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:47pmLiberals only have the balls to criticize those they know are too compassionate to hit back. They would never do this about the qu’ran because they are vaginas that would never start a fight with someone they know will behead them.
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Ohello
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:47pmThe BIBLE the original autograph is inerrant and the canon and its translations (at least the ones that have not been intentionally adulterated) are better than 99.5% consistent.
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grimmster
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:47pmIs’nt larry rosies twin brother?…..
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Witness1974
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:46pmSow iniquity, reap affliction. Throw nature out the front door and it will find its way back through a window. Sin makes for misery. This nation is already miserable and has a lot more coming its way. America is drenched in innocent blood and not only winks at sin, but encourages it. What have we reaped so far: broken families; dead babies instead of the great people that might have otherwise become great blessings to the world; rampant disease; sexual objectification of women, men, and even children; sexual predators roaming the streets; a failed justice system. In short, we have turned our backs on the Word of God and now we are morally bankrupt. Sin is generally its own punishment, but God may soon add more judgment on top of it. The only way this nation can be saved is to, like Nineveh, turn back toward God and away from our wickedness. We all have a lot of repenting to do. Pray for O’Donnell because right now he is smug but their is a spiritual principle that says, “Pride goeth before a fall, and a haughty spirit before destruction.”
2Ch_7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
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fccblaze
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:45pmThe Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Different translations within and across languages differ. The only way to distinguish the truth of a translation is through the Holy Ghost. The German translation is one of the better ones, although even there are differences between the Einheitsübersetzung and the Luther Übersetzung, the latter of which is broken down into the original Martin Luther translation and the same translation in more current German. Any and all translations of the Bible are only semantic approximations of the Word of God as it flowed from the pens of ancient prophets. Then, there are corrupt translators that have changed the Word of God down through the centuries, so that what we have today is a shadow of what existed many centuries ago. This is exemplified by those who are now putting out a translation of the Bible to satisfy the homosexual community, and so it goes. Those who claim that the Bible is the pure Word of God are missing the historicity of its origin and transmission down through the centuries and are bordering on idolatry (i.e. worshiping a book rather than God Himself).
There are two covenants (testaments) in the Bible. The latter one, the New Testament, is the higher law given to man through the Son of God, even Jesus Christ. This is the one that we should seek to follow and it replaces the old covenant given to Moses. All the prophets, including Moses, prophesied of the coming of the Son of God.
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whitealaskan
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:37pmwow that post was very mormon
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:53pmFCC, everything you said is pretty much Joseph Smith snake oil.
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:37pm“Atheist activists aren’t the only ones looking to nix the Bible and references to God from President Barack Obama’s inauguration. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell also took aim at the holy book today, dismissing its purportedly heinous contents and urging the president not to include it in his Jan. 21 inaugural ceremony.”
(1) There’s no “purportedly” about it, it is unequivocally filled with countless heinous images and depicted acts, some at (the bible’s) God’s command and some by God himself–READ it. From the time God supposedly tired to kill every living thing on Earth except one family, and pairs of other non-swimming or floating animals.
(2) The bible SHOULDN’T be used in ANY government ceremony. We are, or are SUPPOSED to be and SHOULD be at least, a secular state. This is not “the Christian States of America,” we don’t have a state religion of non-denominational Christianity, or any particular sect of Christianity (nor Judaism, Islam, or any religion affiliated with the Abrahamic tradition, or any religion at all for that matter), the Constitution SPECIFICALLY states that religious preference is not to be a qualification or disqualification for public office, and we don’t, or at least we SHOULDN’T, make laws because the bible calls something immoral. In short, what place a bible has in any public ceremony escapes me.
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 6:56pmArch, you are the prefect example of why people were given two ears but only one mouth. Pretty much everything you’ve said in all of your comments, demonstrates your complete ignorance of the Bible.
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The Third Archon
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:33pmLOL, that’s a RIOTOUS assertion. XD
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theotherberean
Jan. 11, 2013 at 7:52pmNot as riotous as yours.
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binge_thinker
Jan. 13, 2013 at 11:33pmDo not be deceived by archy and his attempts to marginalize what he clearly doesn’t understand.
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/evil.html
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JohnJoseph
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:36pmThe Word of God tells you exactly what O’Donnell is – a “perverter” and “corrupter” of the Word of God. O’Donnell doesn’t understand the simple Bible truth of “rightly dividing the Word of Truth”. Notice how he (along with Obama) take the laws and regulations given to the Jews and Israel only and try to make them apply to the church. If O’Donnell doesn’t “repent” and get “saved” then throughout eternity he will be burning in hell and remembering how he not only mocked the Bible but holding the Word of Truth in his hands.
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Ohello
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:34pmThe Bible the original autograph is inerrant and the canons (the unadulterated ones) are better than 99.5 % consistent.
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Metallicat
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:32pmThis is the guy,who gets lost along the way,and throws the roadmap out the car window,and blames it for his being lost.
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Metallicat
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:30pmThis is the guy who gets mad when he is lost,and throws the roadmap out the car window.
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afishfarted
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:30pmJust makes a person wonder when God will act. “I will not be mocked”. If anyone remembers, several years ago, the Church of England announced that they no longer consider homosexuality a sin that would keep the **** out of heaven. The day after, the church building–which has stood for over 500 years unscathed–was struck by lightening and severly damaged one of the steeples.
Now that our govt (after years of sanctioning the murder of babies in the womb) is condoning gay marriage in the national Cathedral, ~~~well, again I say I wonder when Go will act
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peteto1
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:30pmI’m certain that all 12 of Larry’s daily viewers agree with him…….
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momrules
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:29pmThe God haters are beginning to step further out of the shadows now. The movement to diminish, demonize and dismiss the Bible and the Word of God and the movement to abase and isolate Christians is growing as the evil in America spreads. Those that hate the word of God are growing even more brave because their time is now.
Always remember that the Democrats threw God and Jerusalem off their platform and then boo’ed God three times. Why is anyone surprised that they are attacking God outright on Obama’s own cable network?
God has been very patient with His creation, man, but even His great patience will end soon.
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spirited
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:29pmHe must have missed The Blaze article about Michelle Robinson’s family Bible
and
>Moody Bible Institute affiliation.
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peteto1
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:29pmI’m certain that all 12 of Larry’s daily viewers agree with him……
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peteto1
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:28pmI’m certain that all 12 of his daily viewers agree with Larry……
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Sharon Rose
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:27pmHe follows the Saul Alinsky bible!
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IMCHRISTIAN
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:27pmGood going MSNBC as you sure can pick them. Be prepared, Lawrence as life is short and eternity is forever.
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ellietoo
Jan. 11, 2013 at 5:26pmThe devil does not take kindly to having one of his own insulted. O’Donnell is employed by the left and the devil and does them a service by mocking the bible. He has his day but will pay for it throughout eternity if he does not repent and call out to Jesus.
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