Ken Ham is Bad at Hebrew

Posted on July 22, 2014 by omgwtfbible

Via Getty Images

In a glaringly stupid blog post, intellectual lightweight and Answers in Genesis non-mastermind Ken Ham calls out NASA for spending money on space exploration:

I’m shocked at the countless hundreds of millions of dollars that have been spent over the years in the desperate and fruitless search for extraterrestrial life. Even Bill Nye “the Science Guy,” in our recent debate, happily gloated about tax dollars being spent toward this effort. And now, secular scientists are at it again.

His reasoning? The Bible clearly says the Earth is special and God made it that way:

Secularists cannot allow earth to be special or unique—that’s a biblical idea (Isaiah 45:18). If life evolved here, it simply must have evolved elsewhere they believe. The Bible, in sharp contrast to the secular worldview, teaches that earth was specially created, that it is unique and the focus of God’s attention (Isaiah 66:1 and Psalm 115:16).

Unfortunately for Ken, the Bible doesn’t say that. The Hebrew in Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 66:1, and Psalm 115:16 does not explicitly say that God made our planet uniquely special. In all three of those verses, the Hebrew word used is ארץ, which simply means “ground.” Setting aside the fact that this stuff was written before modern astronomy, “ground” doesn’t necessarily mean “only Earth.” Even if עולם, which often means “world,” was used, he’d still be wrong, since that word can also mean “universe.”

The thing that frustrates me most about religion is when its loudest advocates often don’t have any idea what they’re talking about.

Sponsor An Episode!

Posted on July 17, 2014 by omgwtfbible

There’s a new perk up at the OMGWTFBIBLE Indiegogo! Now, if you donate $250 or more, you can be the official sponsor for an entire Exodus episode! That means you get a mug, a T-shirt, and you get an episode dedicated to you. Your name will be plastered all over it, you’ll get to chat with me for 30 minutes over Skype (or phone) beforehand, and you’ll get the official script used on stage. But hurry! There are only 11 of this perk available!

Shalom, OMGWTFBIBLE!

Posted on July 8, 2014 by omgwtfbible

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a lot of crazy sex stuff in Genesis. I recently spoke with Andria Kaplan of Shalom Life for her #LoveJewce column about the weirdest, most provocative stuff. It’s all in the article there, so please check it out! For my part, I had this to say about rewriting the Bible:

“As Jews, our tradition of weekly Torah reading makes us all a part of the world’s longest-running book club,” Tuchman tells me in an exclusive interview. “I believe that reading it together and sharing our experience of the text and how it relates to our lives is central to our faith and can bring us closer together. With OMGWTFBIBLE, I’m hoping that I’m making that a little bit more fun.”

A least a little.

Jews Censor the Bible

Posted on July 1, 2014 by omgwtfbible

A censored version of the book of Genesis.

I think the Hasidim are starting to catch on to how crazy the Torah is. According to FailedMessiah, the Skvere community of Hasidim in New Square, New York has created a somewhat pared-down version of the Five Books of Moses to use at their Bais Tziporah girls school.

This version has removed some of the more racy stuff from the story. Y’know, like the dual narratives of the creation of the world, the story of Eden, all that Cain and Abel stuff, and the flood. FailedMessiah suggests that it’s because these stories are about *GASP* people who aren’t “Jewish.”

Also kept out are the stories of Yehudah, Tamar, Er, and Onan (Episode 18) and of Yoseph and Potiphar’s woman (also Episode 18!). Shockingly, the story of Dinah is left in (Episode 16), presumably to warn young Jewish women of the dangers of loving uncircumcised men.

If you can read Hebrew, you can tell what’s missing here (the whole Potiphar thing).

People sometimes tell me my podcast is inappropriate. It’s not my show that’s inappropriate, it’s the Bible.

Episode 22

Posted on June 27, 2014 by omgwtfbible

Behold! The extra-long Genesis Finale Episode 22 of OMGWTFBIBLE with a whole pile of guests is now available!

This episode was recorded at Beauty Bar in New York City.

There are so many ways to listen to Episode 22!

You can listen using the SoundCloud thingie above or by downloading here. Explore our SoundCloud and listen to past episodes here.

You can also: subscribe in iTunes, subscribe via RSS, or listen via Stitcher!

Help Me Translate the Bible

Posted on June 26, 2014 by omgwtfbible

First of all, the finale is up at Jewcy here. A bigger post, and an episode page will show up on this site tomorrow, around the time you’ll be able to download episode 22 in iTunes.

Second of all, I’ve launched an Indiegogo campaign to help ensure this podcast keeps going and gets better and better. Please, watch the video above and head on over here to contribute. Every little bit helps!

Genesis Ends Tonight!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by omgwtfbible

In just a few hours, Book One of OMGWTFBIBLE will be ending live tonight at Beauty Bar in Manhattan. There will be a ton of guests at this show! It will be crazy! There will be exciting surprises! Food! Hebrew! If you live anywhere near New York, don’t miss it!

OMGWTFBIBLE Episode 22 Live
Beauty Bar
231 E. 14th Street
June 23, 8PM
$FREE$
21+

There will be food.

What’s Your Favorite Verse?

Posted on June 16, 2014 by omgwtfbible

Valerie Tarico has an interesting article at Salon in which she asks prominent atheists and anti-theists for their favorite Bible verse. Why? Well, as Tarico so compelling describes the Bible:

[Our] ancestors struggled with important questions that we still struggle with today: What is real? What is good? What is the meaning in our lives? How can we embrace love, joy, peace and wonder? How should we live in community with each other? The texts that were gathered into the Bible offer fragmentary glimpses of how that struggle evolved over the course of hundreds of years.

The writers were Iron Age tribesmen, members of a cruel and misogynistic society. They got a lot of things wrong. But they also got some very basic and beautiful things right. As is the case with many texts, both ancient and modern, those who have the fortitude to sift through the rubble can find real gems.

There are bunch of good ones in the article, but these are my favorite Old Testament quotes:

Social justice and community activism are central themes of the Bible. It is imperative that we not forget those who are in need and are voiceless. We live amongst those who are in need, it is in our best interest to ensure that their needs are met. Two of my favorite verses are Jeremiah 22:3 “This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Proverbs 29:7 “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”

—Kim Veal, Black FreeThinkers& People of Color Beyond Faith

Though it is quite unspectacular, the biblical passage that has long shaped my approach to life is Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath.” I hate needless friction and conflict with others. I much prefer to get along with people, not to antagonize them with caustic comments or stinging responses. Otherwise, you’re just “putting out the fire with gasoline.” I always look to say the reconciling, tactful word. I have to be honest. I don’t butter people up. I sure don’t mind being scathing in my responses to bad apologetics arguments. But I try not to make it personal. I’d prefer to keep things respectful and friendly. And this stance stems from that passage of scripture.

—Robert M. Price, The Bible Geek webcast

There are many Bible verses that extol peace, justice, honesty, mercy, wisdom, altruism, and other basic human virtues, and in fact, I’ve written a whole article about verses I find excellent. Here is one that stands out: “And six years thou shalt sow thy land… But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive yard.” —Exodus 23:10-11 (KJV) The idea of empathy contained in the verse is even sufficiently broad to encompass wild animals – an important sign that its writer was thinking in terms of all-encompassing principles rather than simple reciprocity. It takes an enlightened spirit to have compassion even on birds and beasts.

—Adam Lee, Daylight Atheism

That last one really stand out to me. I’ve been translating Exodus recently and was blown away by how much chapter 23 seems to be about social justice. If I had to choose my favorite verse (so far), it’d be Exodus 23:1-2 (NIV).

“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.”

What’s your favorite verse? Let me know in the comments!

Nun Sings Flashdance, Wins Big Contest

Posted on June 9, 2014 by omgwtfbible

Isn’t it crazy that only 20 years ago, if a singing nun won “The Voice of Italy” or whatever singing competition TV show we had back then, you wouldn’t hear about it until days later? Back in good ol’ 1994, you wouldn’t be able to immediately watch video of that nun singing “What A Feeling” from Flashdance? I mean, maybe you’d see it eventually, but it’d be on a weird video site called “Uncle Bobby’s Crazy Things” and it’d be a grainy realvideo file that you downloaded in a zip along with Arnold Schwarzenneger’s Japanese TV commercials and the unaired episodes of David Lynch’s sitcom. Also, this nun would’ve been 5 years old back then. It’s pretty wonderful that we live in world with ready access to so many insane things.

Here are some brief notes on this video.

If our civilization is completely wiped out and this video is the only remaining artifact, I think future generations will actually do a pretty good job of piecing together how we lived
Sister Cristina Scuccia’s English is very good. The only song I know in Italian is “Volare” and I’m pretty sure that’s not even what it’s called
I really like #SisterAx. That is very clever.
The nuns dancing in the audience are amazing. I am fascinated by the way they’re dancing. It’s almost as though they’re experiencing a never-felt joy that’s trying to burst through bones and joints that haven’t moved this loosely in ages
The Times is already worried winning this singing contest will lead Sister Cristina to abandon Jesus: “The bigger question mark in a country where some polls suggest that a majority of Italian women aspire to television fame is whether success will go to the head of the 25-year-old nun, possibly leading her astray from her calling.”
Also, what kind of polls are these? Television fame? Why are Italian woman aiming so low? Why not movies?

Also, here’s another video:

Episode 22 Live!

Posted on June 6, 2014 by omgwtfbible

OMGWTFBIBLE is live on June 23!

There is no guest this month. This month, there are multitudes. Every guest who’s read Genesis so far will be back to read just a little bit more. It will be pretty wild and technically tricky.