Drunk Lot & His Daughters

BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY

Genesis 19:30 (NIV)

2/23/2025

“Christian nationalism is just fascism cloaked in religious garb” – Grace Pecker

Christian picked the Bible passage this week that should not be in public schools. Except for last week, Grace picks passages about war. I think she does this to annoy Christian because he was a Navy SEAL. She used to do protests and stuff. I’m starting to think Christian likes picking passages about sex and stuff, but last week, Grace picked one grosser than all the rest. They both say sex in books gets parents angrier than violence in books. Grace says not a lot of parents care about violence in schools, so long as they can keep as many guns as they want. Christian says that sometimes he and Grace like to argue for fun, but they haven’t been arguing about the Bible, except with me. At least Christian and Grace don’t argue about me anymore. The Bible passage Christian picked is from the book of Genesis, with all the neat stories about how everything began.

It goes: “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children — as is the custom all over the earth. Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.” (Genesis 19:30)

I did not say anything for a long while, but mostly because I did not want my pancakes or coffee to get cold. I have juice, too, but that has plenty of ice, so it is supposed to be cold.

Finally, I had to ask, “Does that mean…um…they want to make babies with their own father?”

“That’s what it means,” Christian said. “Should kids be reading about that in school?”

“Probably not,” I said.

“Good, we’re done,” Grace said.

“I thought I might have been born because Mom and Grandpa—”

“We know, Cole,” Grace said. “But Grandpa was Dad’s father, not Mom’s father, and it wasn’t true. It wasn’t possible. Dad was your biological father. You know that.”

“I know,” I said. “I wrote about that in my April journal. It was scary.”

“So…they don’t do it with Lot, do they?” I said. “Maybe God sends a bull or something to stop them. That’s what he did with Abraham and Issac.”

“According to the Bible, they do do it,” Christian said. “Both sisters.”

“Do they have birth-defect babies?” I asked.

“I’m not sure why that phrasing is not politically correct,” Grace said, “but there has to be a better way of phrasing that.”

“I’m not supposed to use the R word,” I said.

“Nope,” Christian said. “Lot’s daughters apparently had healthy children—Moab and Ben.”

“And God curses them like Canaan got cursed?”

“Nope,” Christian says. “But the Ammonites and Moabites—ancestors of Moab and Ben, according to biblical tradition—warred with Israel. Their kingdoms were east of the Jordan River.”

“So…what’s the lesson?”

“That’s a good question,” Christian said.

“So…it was okay what the daughters did with Lot?” 

“Maybe you should have gone with the story of Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt,” Grace said.

“Your turn to pick a passage is next week, Grace,” Christian said.

“Fair enough,” Grace said.

“I know the one about the pillar of salt,” I said. “Lot’s wife. What was her name again?”

“She didn’t merit a name,” Grace grumbled.

“She looked back on the city as it was destroyed,” I said. “God warned her not to do that.”

“No, he didn’t,” Grace said.

“Sure,” I said. “He warned Lot.”

“Okay?” Grace said.

“And Lot warned his wife.”

“Did he?” Grace asked.

“Um.”

“Show me where Lot warns his wife not to look back,” Grace said.

“Um,” I said as I paged backward and forward. “He must have. See, they took Lot and his family out of the city.”

“Maybe she was warned,” Grace said, “maybe not. She doesn’t even get a name, so does her life even really matter…other than as an object lesson?”

“She probably was told,” I said. “See, she was with Lot the whole time.”

“She’s told to flee from her home,” Grace said, “and she looks back. For that great sin, her punishment is death. I’d probably look back if all I ever knew was being destroyed.”

“But then you’d turn into a pillar of salt,” I said. “Did that make Lot sad?”

“Does it say that?”

“Um…he should be,” I said. “It would make me sad.”

“There are very few instances of mutual love and respect depicted between husband and wife in the Bible,” Christian sighed. “Marriages were transactional. Women were property. Did I get that about right, Grace?”

“That sigh tells me I just hijacked your lesson,” Grace said.

“That doesn’t sound like a fun marriage,” I said.

“Not for the wife,” Grace said. “But, Christian, I am glad you picked this story. Cole, in real life, when incest happens, who’s usually the perpetrator?”

“That’s the one who did the bad thing?” I asked.

“Correct.”

“We talked about this,” I said. “Mom didn’t want me to learn about this stuff, but you told me I needed to know. Usually, it’s a stepfather, or a pastor, or a coach, or some trusted man in a child’s life. That’s almost all the cases. They groom them. That doesn’t mean like brushing a dog.”

“That’s right,” Grace told me. “I had you read about real-world cases.”

“Sometimes, female teachers take advantage of male students,” I said.

“Yes, but that’s rare, and it grabs headlines,” Grace said.

“Most cases go unreported,” I said. “Sometimes, it comes out years later.”

“How many stories have you heard about children getting a parent drunk and molesting them?” Grace asked. “You can Google it if you like.”

“Um,” I said. “I’ve never heard of that. Except…wait, the story of Lot and his daughters has that exact same thing happening, so I know one time it happened.”

“Where’s my lesson going, Grace?” Christian said under his breath.

“So…imagine Lot and his family have fled their city. Lot’s wife dies. Lot only has his daughters. His daughters only have Lot. Just like in the story. Based on what we know happens in real life, does this story sound plausible?”

“But that’s what the story says,” I reminded Grace.

“Okay, let’s say Lot is with his daughters a year after his wife is turned to salt,” Grace said. “His daughters are suddenly pregnant. If somebody comes along and asks Lot how his daughters got pregnant—when there were no other men around—what might Lot tell them?”

“Immaculate conception?”

“What does the story say?” Grace asked.

“Lot’s daughters got him drunk,” I said. “They lived in a cave. Why did they have to run from that one little city?”

“Zoar?” Christian said. “He was afraid to be there. That’s all we know…but back to the point at hand. Lot got so drunk that he couldn’t remember what happened,” Christian said. “He got black-out drunk. I see where this is going. Big red flags.”

“They had flags?” I asked. “In their caves…to help the girls find men?”

“No, Cole, they didn’t have flags,” Grace said.

“How do you know?”

“They might have had flags, but…okay, based on what we know about incest, how does incest usually work?” Grace asked.

“Men mostly perpetrate incest,” I said. “Children mostly victim-ate?”

“Many men can’t even perform when they’re black-out drunk,” Christian said.

“Perform what?” I asked.

“Sexually,” Grace said. “Plus, where is Lot’s accountability in all this? Would he not be able to tell his daughters that he needed to stop drinking? He was the father in the situation. Could you imagine me trying to get Dad drunk like that?”

“You…”

“I didn’t, Cole,” Grace said. “Dad’s drinking was his issue alone.”

“Um, maybe Lot got drunk and raped his daughters,” I said, “and then he blamed his daughters, which is what lots of molesters do—they blame the victim.”

“In real life, have you ever heard the scenario that’s in the Bible?” Grace asked.

“But it’s in the Bible, so it must be true because the Bible says it’s true,” I reminded Grace and Christian.

“And what kind of logic is that?” Christian asked.

“Circular?”

“Considering that sexual violence occurs, and many young victims are afraid to come forward, do you think this is the best story to be teaching children in public schools?”

“I guess I don’t think they should be teaching about getting drunk and having sex in the first place,” I said. “But if it scares kids against coming forward because Lot’s lying about what he did to his daughters, and his daughters get blamed, that’s way worse. I don’t like this story. I bet this story is another copyist error.”

“Cole, remember the Moabites and Ammonites?” Christian asked.

“Sure, they fought with Israel.”

“What if this story isn’t only about incest?” Christian said.

“But that’s what it’s about, according to Grace.”

“Okay,” Grace said. “How would this story make the Ammonites and Moabites look to the Israelites?”

“Gross?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Grace said.

“Have you ever heard of people making up stories to make people look bad?” Christian said. “Sometimes, people start rumors to hurt minority groups, even today.”

“Like people eating cats and dogs?” I said. “That didn’t really happen, I bet.”

“Exactly like that,” Grace said.

“So…this incest story could just be propaganda against the Ammonites and Moabites?”

“Good word choice,” Grace said. 

“Many of these old stories are exactly that,” Christian said.

“And the sex and drinking is not appropriate for school,” I said. “Can we do one without any sex or drinking or war next week? I’d even take poetry, but not that Song of Solomon.”

“You mean like something from Psalms?” Grace asked.

“Yes, we sang those in church all the time.”

“Are you sure?” Christian asked. “Because I think I know the one Grace will pick.”

“I’ve read them all in the church hymnal,” I said. “You can’t trick me.”

In state legislatures across the country, Christian fundamentalists are passing laws meant to force the teaching of the Christian Bible in public schools. From the posting of textually inaccurate iterations of the Ten Commandments on the walls of classrooms to the incorporation of the “Trump Bible” across multiple pedagogical disciplines, these laws and mandates are sweeping the reddest parts of this nation.

The height of hypocrisy is banning books in the name of “protecting children” while mandating one particular book rife with numerous acts of sexual violence and scenes of graphic violence and genocide.

Book bans are dangerous. The Bible is worth reading and exists online and in public school libraries across the country, but proponents of mandating its formal teaching in public schools need to know what it actually says.

My books are right down here. I have theme songs for them on each page.