Seeing Only what We Want to See, or Not See.

Two years ago, I wrote this post about how we see things as we are and not as they are.

Today, we revisit this issue, thanks to a discussion I had this morning with one of my closest friends.

We See, but do not Notice/Perceive

It all started with the usual early morning pleasantries, and then this forward on WhatsApp.

I request you to read this message before you delete.

After reading this message I made a full research (NIV & NLT) about this information. Really this is a shocking information to me and I like to pass it on to  you.

Please read, research and decide. If God is speaking to you, please forward to your friends and family members.
Kindly use KJV or NKJV.


Quite alarming & devastating - pls read this: "If you own a New International Version (NIV) Bible
Did you know that it was written by Zondervan and
they are OWNED by Harper Collins, who also publishes the The Satanic Bible and The Joy of Gay Sex.

NIV has removed 64,575 words from the bible including Jehovah, Calvary, Holy Ghost and omnipotent to name but a few...
NIV has also removed 45 complete verses. Most of us have the Bible on our phones. Try and find these scriptures under NIV on your phone right now if you don't believe me:

Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14
Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46
Luke 17:36, 23:17 John 5:4
Acts 8:37

You will not believe your eyes.
If you continue reading the NIV after this, then truly you are blinded by Satan, or just don't care.

 [...]

Refuse to be blinded by Satan, and do not act like you just don't care. Let's not forget what the Lord Jesus said in John 10:10 (King James Version‬)

THE SOLUTION

If you must use the NIV, BUY and KEEP AN EARLIER VERSION OF the BIBLE. A Hard Copy cannot be updated. All these changes occur when they ask you to update the app. On your phone or laptop etc. Buy and KEEP EARLIER VERSIONS AND STORE THEM.

There is a crusade geared towards altering the Bible.

For the record, I often ignore such sensational forwards, and I would have done the same with this one but decided to check it out.
I already read some hidden agenda, thanks to this:

I'm sure you know that NIV was published by Zondervan but is now OWNED by Harper Collins, who also publishes the Satanic Bible and The Joy of Gay Sex.

We shall come to the Zondervan/Harper Collins twist in a bit...


Is Matthew 17:21 missing in the NIV Bible?

My Bible is the Devotional Study Bible, NIV Version. On the phone, I use the YouVersion Bible app. Following are my findings about the alleged omission of Matthew 17:21 and Matthew 18:11. You can try locate the others as outlined above.

At the end of Matthew 17:20 is superscript "b"
At the bottom of the page, is the following:

b20 Some manuscripts you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.


That aside, this is is how Matthew 17:21 on the phone Bible app looks like.

ASV version:

 NIV version:

Now notice the small grey box with three dots after "impossible for you" at the end of verse 20.
When I did the same for Matthew 18:11, this is what happens...
Clicking on the grey box with the 3 dots reveals the following at Matthew 18:10:

And when you go to Luke 19:10, you see the verse that in other editions, is Matthew 18:11.

And this is how Matthew 18:10 looks like on the hard cover NIV Bible.

Notice the "a" superscript at the end of verse 10?
Looking at the footnotes at the bottom of the page, we find the "missing" Matthew 18:11 verse included. See below:

All said and done, you be the judge if the NIV Bible no longer has some verses.


The Zondervan Corporation, Harper Collins Situation

Back to the original forwarded message above, we learn that The Zondervan Corporation is owned by Harper Collins. This is true, as reported here and here.

The company was bought by HarperCollins, a division of News Corp, in 1988, and is the company's principal Christian book publishing division. Scott Macdonald was appointed President and CEO in May 2011.

This change of hands together with other acquisitions by Harper Collins was widely discussed in Christian circles, and Zondervan Corporation through spokeswoman Tara Powers did find it necessary to issue a statement that said in part,

"This does not present an ethical dilemma for Zondervan as we will continue to operate with autonomy as we always have...

“While we are obviously aware of the matter at hand, it does not distract or detract from our work at hand and we will continue to pursue our mission and operate as we have for the past 80 years."

My argument in regard to who owns Zondervan Corporation will comprise two important facts:

[1] We have choice

Harper Collins does have its reasons for acquiring these Christian publishers. I do not hold their brief and so wouldn't delve into the why and why not. That is not my business. Both Zondervan and Harper Collins got into negotiations and made choices and business decisions that work for them.

Should I feel that I no longer like my NIV Bible because of Harper Collins and whatever else this company publishes, then I have ever right to exercise choice and stop using their products (e.g. the NIV Bible). Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head

There are so many versions of the Bible readily available, and we are all free to  read whatever version we feel is genuinely unadulterated.

[2] We are all not the same

The fact that I do not like what gays do does not give me any right to stop them from publishing their books. They have an equal right to read whatever rocks their boat, the same way I have every right to read my Bible or any other book that I would like to.

In the course of my discourse with my friend, I pointed out that Adolf Hitler's Mien Kampf is one of the most disturbing and hate-filled books I have ever read. It however remains in circulation despite it's controversial content. The reason is simple: Hitler had every right to publish that book, and whoever opts to read it also has an equal right to do so.

We are different people with varying tastes. It is for this reason that some are Muslims, others are atheists while others are agnostic.
That I don't like what some person else is, believes, says, reads or does should in no way be a reason to consider them foolish, lacking in common sense or lost.

We should all learn to appreciate that it is our differences that unite us. We do not have to like a lot of the things that we do not agree with. But we have a duty to respect and accommodate people, situations, views, things and opinions that differ from our own.


Finally, the last comment on this blog post takes us right back to the forward upon which this post is based.
Take time and read the 17 comments above fati's comment. Then you be the judge.


* * *

There's this song by Nicole C Mullen, about how different we can be and yet still be the same. Here is a live performance video, but the sound is quite bad and so I'll embed the following, titled White, Black, Tan.
The song has a very interesting introduction. Check it out and enjoy!

The Perils of Indifference

Elie Wiesel

First off, the Perils of Indifference is a speech Elie Wiesel gave on 12 April 1999, in Washington, D.C.

Elie Wiesel survived the Holocaust at Auschwitz. For this very reason, he is an undisputed authority on what humanity, or better still - the lack of it, really is. He experienced untold crimes against humanity first-hand at the hands of the Nazis. His account is every bit as moving as the writings of Viktor Frankl, Anne Frank and other Holocaust victims.

That said, his speech excerpts are in no way new to the well read. They however, are invariably relevant.

Intolerance and Flawed Reasoning

The reason I write this post is the riots that occurred in downtown Nairobi on Friday, January 15 2010, protests that have been extensively reported in the media.

The main reason for the protests was to demand the unconditional release of Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal. Some radical Muslims organized the "peaceful protests".

The protests however turned ugly and brought business to a standstill in the Nairobi Business District. Five people lost their lives, many were injured and one policeman was shot by a protester.

The Perils of Indifference


Following are excerpts are Elie Wiesel's The Perils of Indifference speech.

We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms... So much violence; so much indifference.

Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive... for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction.

Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment.

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders.

Read the entire speech, download PDF or Flash copies, or listen to an audio recording at the American Rhetoric web site.

Do we Ever Learn?

When I wrote Beyond Politics in January 2007, I quoted the following words by Thomas Blatt, another Holocaust survivor:

Ignorance leads to hate.
There is a need to tell the truth and document the sad facts for posterity.
Revenge or executing the murderers is not the most important thing.
All this won't bring back the victims.
What matters is to get the testimony, for the testimony is for the generations.

The Way Ahead
It was indeed very sad to see biased and irrational exchanges online regarding these riots. The KTN and NTV facebook pages were riddled with such unfortunate commentary that eventually necessitated the deletion of several posts. Online forums such as Wazua also had several posts moderated or otherwise deleted when topical discussions degenerated into personal attacks and anti-religious sentiments.

God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. We need each other to survive.

I end this post with questions Elie Wiesel asked in his speech. Think about the following:

Does it mean that we have learned from the past? Does it mean that society has changed? Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Have we really learned from our experiences? Are we less insensitive to the plight of victims of ethnic cleansing and other forms of injustices in places near and far?