GQ adds the bible to its list of books ‘not worth reading’ and Christians are in an uproar

If you want to get Fox News and other right-wing media and religious figures in a frenzy, say something mean about the bible. That’s exactly what GQ Magazine did last week when they published an article titled, 21 Books You Don’t Have to Read.

“The Holy Bible is rated very highly by all the people who supposedly live by it but who in actuality have not read it,” novelist Jesse Ball wrote in the article. “Those who have read it know there are some good parts, but overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever produced.”

The piece argues that many of the “Great Books” we’ve been taught to revere are not the exalted works of literary art and inspiration they’re made out to be.

“We’ve been told all our lives that we can only call ourselves well-read once we’ve read the Great Books. We tried,” GQ’s editors wrote in the article’s introduction. “We realized that not all the Great Books have aged well. Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring.”

Not surprisingly, Christianity’s social media soldiers were in an uproar. Posting to Twitter, evangelical minister Franklin Graham declared in a tweet that GQ “couldn’t be more wrong.”

“Guess they can’t explain why the Bible is the bestselling & most widely distributed book in the world. Maybe the editors should read it again,” Graham tweeted along with a link to a Breitbart article covering the story.

In a segment for FOX & friends, religion contributor Father Jonathan Morris said the magazine’s choice was “foolish and a shame.”

“Even if you don’t believe this is an inspired word of God, in the last 50 years 3.9 billion have read the book,” he said.

That sentiment was echoed in *various* ways across Twitter.

https://twitter.com/DjLots3/status/988153064199729152

It should be noted that many of people in the tweets cited above regularly disparage the holy books of other religions. But to paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, it’s hard to see your own hypocrisy when you think the universe was designed with you in mind.

Featured image via Flickr 

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.

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