His first sentence is 99+% correct. All of the various religions that have existed and do now thrive in the world have been “concocted myth”–except one. If Kevorkian has studied some of these myths, he should have been able to tell the difference between mythical stories and truth. There would be numerous contrasts in both style and content. His powers of discernment are immediately suspect.
The Bible begins with a very matter-of-fact accounting of what happened each day of the Creation week. No myths parallel the real beginning in either form or substance. What is Kevorkian’s theory of man’s origin? Does he subscribe to the “scientific” handbook, which reads approximately thus: “A long, long time ago in a universe far away there was a big bang, which somehow resulted in suns burning in numerous galaxies and tons and tons of aimless, chaotic matter, which over billions of years came to life and evolved”?
Talk about a concoction which strains credulity! Of course, all this speculation may be unfair to “the bad physician”; maybe he has some other theory. By virtue of his powers of life and death, and with his certainty that every religion is a concocted myth, perhaps a divine revelation of his own is forthcoming.
The Bible, however, was given by the inspiration of God. It was recorded, not by one man, but by forty different men, not over the course of one lifetime, but during a period of sixteen hundred years. Furthermore, more people have lived by it and died in its hope than anything Dr. Jack will ever devise. When he “assists” patients, all that he can offer them is freedom from physical pain. He certainly cannot promise them eternal life or guarantee they will be free from the fires of eternal torment. The only thing he can promise them is that with his help they will exit this life with no more chances to learn and obey the truth.
If he thinks the Holy Scriptures are a concocted myth and that Christianity is bogus, let him explain his basis for such a conclusion. If these are merely his opinions, let him say so; if he has some objective evidence that we all can study, let him present it. There have been many who have boasted that the Bible was antiquated and would shortly come to nothing: Voltaire, Ingersoll, and now Kevorkian. All of his predecessors are dead–even Sagan and Asimov; the Word of God, however, is still thriving. People are still memorizing Scriptures; many still have a hunger and thirst for righteousness. People are still repenting of their sins and being baptized for their forgiveness. Many still enjoy Christian living.
Book-Burning
Jack, you have really committed a major faux pas with this religious book-burning suggestion. Some of your most ardent admirers will draw back in horror when they discover this idea. Most of those who support you are moral liberals; what will they think when they see that you have advocated a conservative concept?
Why, for years liberals have insulted moral conservatives by calling them book-burners, likening them to Hitler flunkies. It did not matter to them that no conservatives had ever actually said such a thing; they were capable of judging our hearts. They knew that even though we said we had a genuine concern over young people becoming exposed to pornography of various types, foul and blasphemous language, and perverted actions, deep down we were just suppressing our real Nazi mentality. They knew that right-wing fanatics just wanted to control the world and tell everyone else what to think (consider The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood if this line of reasoning seems too absurd).
So all the liberals banded together to make sure that practically nothing got censored (Oh, what a despicable word!). Who knows how much society has profited from their actions as a result? No doubt, they rested easier, knowing that young people could go to the public library and read about male sexual fantasies in graphic and obscene language (which they can now view on the Internet). It makes one proud to be an American.
But now, Jack, Jack, what have you done? Do you expect all of your liberal buddies to stand with you on this idea of burning all religious books? Consistency will demand that they be outraged over this suggestion. You have put them in the position of having to denounce you. Of course, they could take a page out of the feminists’ playbook, who are willing to let liberal womanizing politicians off the hook while they continue to try to nail conservatives (even without any evidence). Who knows? Maybe they will agree with you on this one, since it is just religious books you want to burn and nothing sacred, such as Playboy or Penthouse.
Cleaning Up Society
So, if all religious books were banned, society would be cleaned up? Here is a novel idea. Perhaps Kevorkian is right. Who needs all those books making suggestions on how to be better wives and husbands? Who needs all those Christian counselors and authors with their stupid monogamy fixations? If a man or woman wants to have an affair, why should they be made to feel guilty about it? Look how much better off society already is with some families experiencing multiple marriages due to such “freedoms.” Yeah, Jack, all those religious books telling people how to love their children? Bah! Who needs them?
No doubt, society would also be much improved in the absence of all those religious books on ethics. If taken seriously, they just tend to stifle creativity. Life is so much more exciting in an environment which lacks trust of any kind.
How perceptive of you, Jack, to notice that religious books are the source of so many problems. Say, do you suppose that those two boys in Arkansas had just finished reading “the sermon on the mount”? And that boy in Pennsylvania–maybe he had been studying Jesus” resurrection. The Menendez brothers had probably been reading about grace and love for years; what else could cause such inexplicable behavior?
The Religion-Free, Secular Society
Jack, I don’t know how you’re going to be able to accomplish this goal. The Supreme Court has been doing its very best for years to make America totally secular, yet even this august body has not quite succeeded. True, Bible study and prayer have been thrown out of schools, and certainly that’s been a great improvement. Teachers trained and tested by government standards will often parrot what they have learned. So evolution and other godless doctrines will likely be taught there. Many young people have given up religion while in school. After all, parents are busy people; they can’t always know what their young people are being taught, who their friends are, or where they are at all times.
But having the majority of society religion-free is not really enough, is it, Jack? Much more remains to be done. For one thing, there are all these private schools and home schoolers. Who said parents had any rights concerning their own children? Children should be the responsibility of the state, right? Some legislation will need to be introduced to prohibit anyone from growing up outside the “system.” George Orwell and Aldous Huxley suggested some techniques that might work; we could try their ideas.
For Whose Sake?
This tongue-in-cheek look at Kevorkian’s speech must conclude at this point because whereas his rantings are so obviously absurd that they fall by their own weight, his last three words are blasphemous and obviously calculated to insult and enrage Christians. Having denounced religion, Kevorkian cannot be doing anything but using the name of the Lord in an intentionally profane way. But he need have no fear of Christians; if he had any sense whatsoever, he would fear Him whose name he profaned–the One who will be his judge on the last day (John 5:27). Failing that (sense), however, he will probably continue to rail against religion. All that we can do is tell him that he has succeeded in making himself odious to us and suggest a course of action from a Ray Charles song: “Hit the Road, Jack.”