BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY

A Vile Biblical Tale

2 Samuel 13:11-14 (ESV)

8/24/25

“Christian nationalists should spend less time seeking power and more time reading the words Jesus preached.” – Christian Pecker

Because the Four Corners Fair has come and is almost gone, Christian and Grace thought we could skip breakfast Bible study this week. Also, they thought that the past few weeks about Moses, Ezekiel, and Yahweh have upset me too much, but I am mostly concerned about the crops this year, which I always worry about in August. When I asked about breakfast Bible study, Christian asked if we could skip, but Grace said it was fine because she had been waiting to talk about Tamar, who was the daughter of King David.

“I know who the other Tamar was,” I said. “She did bad stuff with the Judah, who was her father-in-law. She tricked him or something by pretending to be a prostitute.”

“Sex worker,” Grace said, “and probably not a historical figure, though temple brothels did exist in the region. Isn’t that what you were telling me, Christian?”

“World’s oldest profession,” Christian said.

“Was David’s daughter historical?” I asked.

“Probably a higher likelihood that Tamar of the Davidic line existed than the Tamar of Genesis,” Christian said. “The further back you go, the further from historical you get, and the more you tread into the realm of folktale.”

“Folktales can be true,” I said.

“But oftentimes aren’t fact,” Christian said.

“Well, I wanted to discuss the rape of Tamar, daughter of King David,” Grace said.

“Does that mean it’s time for me to read?” I asked.

“I’ll read it,” Grace said. “It begins, ‘But when she (Tamar) brought them near him (Amnon) to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. As for me, where could I carry my shame? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.” But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.’”

“That’s not appropriate for public schools because of the sex and stuff,” I said.

“Rape is a serious topic,” Grace said. “There are students who struggle with rape and incest in any school. I’m not sure how this story would help them.”

“Wait,” I said. “Why did Tamar ask her brother to go talk to the king?”

“Well, she might have been trying to buy time to escape her half-brother,” Grace said.

“But she says the king won’t withhold her from Amnon,” said.

“Maybe she thought King David, their father, would intervene when Amnon asked him for Tamar,” Grace said. “We don’t know.”

“Like to marry?” I asked.

“That would be a logical conclusion,” Grace said.

“Oh, wouldn’t that be against the law of Moses because of the incest and stuff,” I said.

“One of the patriarchs was married to his half-sister,” Christian said.

“Who?”

“Abraham and Sarah,” Christian said. “God didn’t have a problem with that.”

“Oh,” I said. “But that was before Moses.”

“The point is that most Christians would probably not want public schoolteachers regaling their children with stories of incest and rape,” Grace said.

“They may have less of a problem with the revenge that follows,” Christian said.

“What revenge?” I asked.

“Absalom killed Amnon,” Christian said. “And David was not a happy man.”

“Can we do that one next week?” I asked.

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.

Some themes in my books below might not be appropriate for children.