"We have used the Bible as if it were a mere special constable's handbook, an opium dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while they are overloaded"
- Charles Kingsley
About this Quote
This quote by Charles Kingsley is a criticism of how the Bible has actually been utilized in the past. He is recommending that the Bible has been used as a tool to manage people, instead of as a source of spiritual assistance. He likens it to a "special constable's handbook," which is a recommendation to the police handbooks used to enforce laws. He also compares it to an "opium dosage," which is a recommendation to the drug used to sedate people. Kingsley is suggesting that the Bible has been utilized to keep individuals docile and certified, even when they are being maltreated or strained with work. He is recommending that the Bible must be used to motivate and boost people, rather than to manage them.
"When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said "Let us pray." We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land"
"Every nut who kills people has a Bible lying around. If you're looking for violent rape imagery, the Bible's right there in your hotel room. If you just want to look up ways to screw people up, there it is, and you're justified because God told you to"
"Unless we form the habit of going to the Bible in bright moments as well as in trouble, we cannot fully respond to its consolations because we lack equilibrium between light and darkness"
"A book is sent out into the world, and there is no way of fully anticipating the responses it will elicit. Consider the responses called forth by the Bible, Homer, Shakespeare - let alone contemporary poetry or a modern novel"
