Fundie mom whites out offensive parts in her kid's Bible

[VodouDoll]

newlifeonahomestead.com/2011/10/whiting-out-her-bible-not-for-young-eyes/

The Bible is not an appropriate book for Christian children to read, you guys!

Every night, my oldest and I sit on her bed and read some Scripture before she goes to sleep. We’ve decided to read the Bible from front to back. But very soon into our reading I realized that there are a lot of words in the Old Testament that I do NOT want her asking about. And it’s hard to skip over these words when she’s following along (although I try)!

The other night I hurried through one particular passage, hoping she wouldn’t ask more about it, but of course the question came, “Mommy… what’s a prostitute?â€

PROSTITUTE! In a Veggie Tales Bible!

I don’t know about you, but I’m so not cool with that.

My answer? “Um… a prostitute is someone who kisses a guy she isn’t married to.â€

Charming, no? In the comments she elaborates that, as a Christian parent, it's her job to guard her daughter's heart and mind from the words in the Bible.

[tropaka]

I think this was talked about before, but yeah, charming....it was in a veggie tales kids' bible (guess they believe in leaving in all the naughty parts) which I found surprising...but she would have been better off buying the abridged children's bible than whiting stuff out - kid's going to be even more curious....

[lilah]

Reminds me when that school board in Missouri ruled the school libraries couldn't stock books that were contrary to the bible, ignoring all the rape, incest, violence and other not really PG-13 situations in the bible.

[Too Many Fundies]

So... If she believes the Bible is the divine word of God handed down to man, then what is she doing using white out to desecrate it? Even if it is a Veggie Tales Bible, I can't imagine it is so bad that it warrants being messed with. It doesn't personally matter to me what she does with her property, but I wouldn't take white out to any book.

[Jessica]

She doesn't like it because it says "sex". This is for an 8-year-old by the way. Aren't kids usually asking about the birds and the bees by like...3 or 4? I was SO sheltered as a kid and it really made my wedding night uneventful, if ya get my drift. Anyway I think it's wrong to keep kids sheltered from sex. Obviously I'm not going to let a small child watch sex scenes in movies or read trashy romance novels, but by 8 I think kids should know the basics of what sex is (even if it's just "when a man and woman make a baby together" and not much more).

[Too Many Fundies]

She needs to get a grip. She shelters her child from the "world" and then thinks she needs to shelter her from the bible too? There's nothing wrong (IMHO) with using it as a learning tool, but then again I'm not a fundie.

[Kitten]

So...she thinks using a word like harlot is better than prostitute. Just how, exactly, would her answer have changed when her daughter asked "What is a harlot?" And "seed" for "semen," and "lay with" for "sexual relations" - so her daughter can be like every other confused fundie kid in the world, terrified that if she swallows a seed, or if she lies down anywhere in the vicinity of a boy, she'll have a baby?

She says her daughter doesn;t need to have "graphic images" in her mind at age 8. So DON'T GIVE THEM TO HER. "Sexual relations' is just a phrase - it can be described in ways appropriate to an 8-yr-old, without getting graphic or adding unnecessary details. Ditto for any other phrase or word she finds "inappropriate."

Although I suggest she hide the dictionary, or lay in a bigger supply of White-Out.

Sheesh... :roll:

[BexRani]

I wouldn't want my eight year old to know what a prostitute is, but I would not go as far as to white-out words from the Bible. This mom is crazy to do so.

[StarrieEyedKat]

Every night, my oldest and I sit on her bed and read some Scripture before she goes to sleep. We’ve decided to read the Bible from front to back. But very soon into our reading I realized that there are a lot of words in the Old Testament that I do NOT want her asking about. And it’s hard to skip over these words when she’s following along (although I try)!

The other night I hurried through one particular passage, hoping she wouldn’t ask more about it, but of course the question came, “Mommy… what’s a prostitute?â€

PROSTITUTE! In a Veggie Tales Bible!

I don’t know about you, but I’m so not cool with that.

My answer? “Um… a prostitute is someone who kisses a guy she isn’t married to.â€

She's going to have bigger problems on her hands when her daughter starts calling people prostitutes because she sees them kissing someone they're not married to.

[BexRani]

"*** UPDATE: After reading your thoughts and a lot of good advice, I realize that whiting out Scripture definitely sends the wrong message. It never occurred to me that even if she doesn’t think anything of it now, Jada might recall seeing white out in her Bible when she’s older, and I would never want her to think that it’s okay to pick and choose what we like from God’s holy word.

I ended up tossing the defaced Bible before she saw it, and finding the Golden Children’s Bible that was recommended by one commenter. It has been a HUGE blessing to our devotions, and I no longer have to worry about coming across content that I feel is too mature for my child at this time.

I appreciate everyone who answered my call for advice with a gentle spirit and wise words. Thank you!!"

Mom realized error of her ways. KJV would have been better... But at least

[let-them-eat-cake]

She's going to have bigger problems on her hands when her daughter starts calling people prostitutes because she sees them kissing someone they're not married to.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[celestial]

If she's so opposed to modern words like "prostitute," why doesn't she just read the KJV with her daughter like all the other good little fundies?

[WanderingStar]

Well at least on the bright side, she's clearly not hypocritical about shielding her child from violent or sex-laden material. Not that I'd ever agree with her shielding her child from the actual content of the Bible, of course. One day, your little ones will grow up and discover that sex and violence exists...the Bible is probably one of the most gentle ways to be introduced to it!

[alsio]

All this shielding of your kids strikes me as very lazy parenting, she doesn´t want to be bothered by coming up with explanations suitable to be understood by her daughter,

so she shields her.

Eight years old is plenty old enough for an explanation what sexual relations are, you don´t have to go in specifics.

Not explaining something (or outright lies like she delivered ) just leads to children making up strange and often frightening ideas.

[sea_gale]

What if that little girl has a yeast infection or UTI, or, God forbid, is sexually assaulted?. Will she know the words to describe what's wrong?

[JesusFightClub]

She came to her senses, but why did she not realise this would happen in the first place? The Bible is FULL of dodgy bits! Wouldn't you have to miss out the entire OT?

[Kitty]

She came to her senses, but why did she not realise this would happen in the first place? The Bible is FULL of dodgy bits! Wouldn't you have to miss out the entire OT?

Not the *entire* OT, but a big chunk of it. Even in the boring "Thou shalt not" parts that seem to take up most of Exodus and Leviticus advocate killing criminals... oh right, the death penalty doesn't count as violence, silly me.

But seriously, did this woman really not know about the dodgy parts of the Bible? Which is a HUGE portion of the OT? Good God. So much for having more Biblical knowledge than anyone else... I've suspected for a long time that fundies only pay attention to a select few verses hand-picked and pulled out of their context just so they can be speshul. This only confirms it.

[annalena]

So, 95% of all women in the western world are prostitutes?

Count me in!

What about male "prostitutes", also?

[Deleted03]

So...she thinks using a word like harlot is better than prostitute. Just how, exactly, would her answer have changed when her daughter asked "What is a harlot?" And "seed" for "semen," and "lay with" for "sexual relations" - so her daughter can be like every other confused fundie kid in the world, terrified that if she swallows a seed, or if she lies down anywhere in the vicinity of a boy, she'll have a baby?

She says her daughter doesn;t need to have "graphic images" in her mind at age 8. So DON'T GIVE THEM TO HER. "Sexual relations' is just a phrase - it can be described in ways appropriate to an 8-yr-old, without getting graphic or adding unnecessary details. Ditto for any other phrase or word she finds "inappropriate."

Although I suggest she hide the dictionary, or lay in a bigger supply of White-Out.

Sheesh... :roll:

that was my reaction too... how are those words better? only because they don't mean much to you but they could mean the same to the daughter - she's learning those concepts. But I think a lot of people gave her grief in the comments, specially because her daughter is 8!

[dianapavelovna]

She's going to have bigger problems on her hands when her daughter starts calling people prostitutes because she sees them kissing someone they're not married to.

Right?? Holy shit! Did she not realize she gave her daughter a definition of the word that gives her license to use it incorrectly...a lot??

[Trynn]

When I read the bible as a child, it never even occurred to me to ask what a prostitute was.

And the woman with an issue of blood that Jesus healed in the gospels? I thought she had open sores all over her body. It was 3 years after I got my period before it even semi dawned on me that it might be menstrual blood.

So some kids just aren't as curious.

While I disagree with what this woman is doing, I am at least glad she listened to the advice of others and stopped whiting out the bible. To me, defacing a bible because of the content is just flat out wrong.

[bananacat]

Oh, she's gonna have a fun time when she gets to Song of Songs. She'll have to white out the whole book.

[dawbs]

She's going to have bigger problems on her hands when her daughter starts calling people prostitutes because she sees them kissing someone they're not married to.

I"m picturing a kid coming home from church/church camp/school/whatever saying "Mommy, if I"m a prostitute now, how to I fix that?"

or even "MOMMY, uncle jimmy tried to give me a kiss and make me a prostitute!"

[debrand]

This was a reply from Jennifer:

I see what you’re saying, and do agree that a Veggie tales Bible could have used a different translation, so as to use words that a little less brash. I also agree about sheltering our children. 8 yr olds don’t need to know about “sex.†“Lay with,†etc is much better.

We desire to give our children knowledge at intervals. At 8 yrs old, “A prostitute is an unmarried woman who gets paid to do things she shouldn’t be doing.†At 14 yrs old, “A prostitue is an unmarried woman who gets paid to commit fornication.â€

Many blessings to you as you shelter your daughter

But "lay with" means to have sex. I don't get how changing the word protects the child. She will only be more confused. Can you imagine if this child is asked to share a bed with anyone?

A smart eight year old is going to ask what sort of things the woman is being paid to do.

[HowRude]

I think its wrong to white out the bible, I mean you can't add or subtract from the word of God it is what it is. And I think its a fine book to read to kids she just sucks at explaining. She could have said a prostitute is a woman who does bad things and kept it at that.