Fundamentalists do not read the bible. Sure, they read it constantly and frequently attend bible studies. But they clearly are not actually reading it as a work, I suspect most read it piece meal and apply each chunk, out of context, to their own lives. I have not yet attended a fundamentalist “bible study” but I have a strong suspicion that study is mostly indoctrination. They read a short passage then discuss it, with discussion led by someone who knows the correct interpretation of the passage at hand.

A commenter at pandagon brought up Martin Luther and the reformation, specifically how Luther rejected this hierarchical view of religion (at least until his followers stopped listening to him). The interesting thing to me about biblical literalism is that it real is a very new phenomenon. Religious objection to science is not, but the idea that the bible is the literal truth was rejected by Augustine himself, the philosophical father of both the Catholic and Protestant churches. Luther and Calvin were both heavily influenced by his writing. I am on the bus right now, away from internet so I can’t do more research on the origin of biblical literalism, but I suspect it is post-great awakening. I would guess 20th century, but I need to look into it.

The bible says a lot of things, some of which contradict each other. It was this contradiction that caused Augustine himself to doubt. He later realized (according to Confessions) that only the ill informed try to read the bible as a literal, rather than spiritual truth.

How should we respond to today’s tragedy at Virginia Tech? One response that seems to make sense to me: pass legislation for much stricter gun control in Virginia and nationwide.
From the NYT story:

Virginia imposes few restrictions on the purchase of handguns and no requirement for any kind of licensing or training. The state does limit handgun purchases to one per month to discourage bulk buying and resale, state officials said. Once a person had passed the required background check, state law requires that law enforcement officers issue a concealed carry permit to anyone who applies. However, no regulations and no background checks are required for purchase of weapons at a Virginia gun show.
“Virginia’s gun laws are some of the weakest state laws in the country,” said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “And where there have been attempts to make some changes, a backdoor always opens to get around the changes, like the easy access at gun shows.” He demanded a thorough investigation into the provenance of the weapon or weapons used in Monday’s rampage.

A more extreme response is to draw links between this violence and that occurring in Iraq. Recall that the previously most deadly mass shooting in America took place during the Vietnam War (the Charles Whitman murders at Texas A&M).

I won’t dwell here on the possible connections one could draw between domestic and foreign violence (e.g., with Michael Moore’s movie, “Bowling for Columbine,” when he notes the ominous presence of missile manufacturers in Columbine). But I do hope that this tragedy will lead people to reflect on the fact that more than this many people have been killed in Iraq almost everyday for several years now. Just last Saturday, it has been estimated that 289 Iraqis were killed or wounded. Will this tragedy on our own soil lead us to expand our circle of compassion? It certainly will not on its own, but rather depends on how we frame it. By ‘we’ I mean the media. I will be interested to see how many, if any, media outlets frame the story in relation to the violence in Iraq, as opposed to repeating Bush’s quasi-religious framing of a violation of the “sanctuary of learning.”

Another good post on the-story-that-should-have-stayed-local.

Via atrios.

Jill has a nice post about it.

I hate public rape cases. They bring out the absolute worst in people. The DA in the Duke case looks to have really done a terrible job on all levels. But that doesn’t mean there are women out there constantly looking to falsely accuse people of rape. Or that women who are strippers, prostitutes or just not perfect virgins can’t be raped.