Believe Differently

I mentioned in my previous post that I am currently reading Jack Huberman’s book, “The Quotable Atheist”, and on the whole I am enjoying it. But I am starting to question the thoroughness of the author’s research. The following quote Huberman attributes to King David of Old Testament fame:

For I have done your bidding, I have slain mine enemies in your name. I have put women and children to death in your honor, I have caused great pain among them, for your glory.1

Huberman cites Psalms 5:4-10 as his source. Although the quote did not ring any bells for me, I find much of the Old Testament morally offensive and it would not have surprised me to learn that it did, indeed, exist within the cannon of scripture, but checking the reference in the NIV translation, this is what I found:

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies ;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors.
But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
towards your holy temple.
Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies –
make straight your way before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is full of destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.2

This excerpt from Psalm 5 could not read more different, and I therefore went looking on bible gateway to see if Huberman had simply just got the wrong reference – a silly but easily forgivable mistake – but nothing turned up. Lastly I tried typing the text into Google and found it immediately. It is a quote taken straight from a site entitled “Veyanne’s Dark Fortress”.

Veyanne describes herself as a “daughter of Satan” and this text is lifted directly from something she has written called “Psalms of Veyanne”. Despite the obvious clue in the title, and the very amateurish nature of the site, Huberman seems to have been taken in. It leads me to wonder if he has truly engaged with any of the material he has included within his book.

1. Jack Huberman, The Quotable Atheist: Ammunition for Nonbelievers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and those generally hell-bound (New York: Nation Book, 2007) 82 [↩]
2. Psalm 5:4-10 [NIV] [↩]