After an arduous and painstaking five-year gestation period, his just published (10/09) magnum opus, “The Book of Genesis Illustrated,” enables him to add Biblical satirist to his repertoire of alter-egos.
As if the contents alone of this exhaustive, full-throttled lampoon of every single chapter and verse of the first of the 66 books that comprise the most sacred text at the heart of Western civilization weren't enough to stir up a storm of controversy, the provocative caveat prominently emblazoned on the front cover, of the all in caps:
ADULT SUPERVISION RECOMMENDED FOR MINORS
undoubtedly will generate even more outcry from fundamentalists and other apologists.
Those are the same folks who take quite literally the Bible's own claim to divine inspiration as an unassailable guide for moral conduct: II Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
In reality, the cartoonist merely is continuing the uniquely American tradition of objectors who fearlessly question the appropriateness for the minds of young and impressionable readers of the Holy Writ, the many versions of which every year, even in our 21st century, continuously, consistently and astoundingly outsell copies of any other book in print.
America's own patriot-by-adoption, Thomas Paine (1737-1809), at the age of 7, heard a sermon on redemption, based on the Scriptures, that so revolted him that 40 years later, in “The Age of Reason,” he declared:
“I moreover believe that any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child cannot be a true system.”
America's great agnostic orator, Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899), once wrote in a letter to a friend:
“One of my objections to the Bible is that it contains hundreds of grossly obscene passages not fit to be read by any decent man; thousands of passages, in my judgment, calculated to corrupt the minds of youth.”
Mark Twain (1835-1910), America’s foremost humorist, a great admirer of Ingersoll, with his trademark tongue-in-cheek commentary, answered the charge by a woman in the Children's Department of the Brooklyn Public Library, that “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” were corrupting the morals of children.
“I am greatly troubled,” he said, “by what you say. I wrote ‘Tom Sawyer’ and ‘Huckleberry Finn’ for
adults exclusively. It always distresses me when I find that boys and girls have been allowed access to them. The mind that becomes soiled in youth never can again be washed
clean. I know this by my own experience. To this day, I cherish an unappeasable bitterness against the unfaithful guardians of my young life, who not only permitted but compelled me to read an unexpurgated Bible through before I was 15 years old.
“None can do that and ever draw a clean, sweet breath again this side of the grave.
“Ask that young lady. She will tell you so. Most honestly do I wish I could say a softening word or two in defense of Huck’s character, since you wish it.
“But really, in my opinion,
it is not better than those of Solomon, David, Satan and the rest of the sacred brotherhood.
“If there is an unexpurgated [Bible] in the Children's Department, won’t you please help that young woman remove Huck and Tom from that questionable companionship?”
As an unbeliever, R. Crumb so well visually underscores the unsuitability of the Good Book (a real misnomer) for immature children that I wholeheartedly recommend his stunning, masterful and audacious art work collection for your certain delectation as you embark on an X-rated, ribald romp through the nitty-gritty of an astonishing amount of Biblical hanky-panky.
“Ben Edward Akerley is the author of “The X-Rated Bible: An Irreverent Survey of Sex in the Scriptures,” and a frequent contributor to thefrontpageonline.com whereall of his articles and book reviews are archived under Ben Akerley. His e-mail: benakerley@aol.com
