June 26, 2010, 11:02 am by dc-agape.

Mark 10:1-12

Well this is certainly an interesting section of the Gospel of Mark.  It is Jesus’ teachings on the topic of divorce.  Jesus has only one thing to say, but he does have to answer a question with a question first.  Don’t you love it when someone does that to you?  Doesn’t make you think they are stalling or acting “all superior?  Either way Jesus response makes you think he is a tad bit arrogant.

On the topic of divorce in Deuteronomy it is written in chapter 24:1-4.  It says that a man can divorce his wife for any reason at any time.  But it also says that if she remarries, he can never marry her again.  For some reason Jesus extends this to woman having the same rights.  I guess woman’s lib had progressed from Deuteronomy to Jesus’ time. 

Of course this is the famous section that is used in almost every marriage ceremony and used by bigots to attempt to stop civil rights (both of blacks and homosexuals) – read Mark 10:7-9.  This is where the concept of “traditional biblical marriage” comes from.  But of course this is not traditional OT biblical marriage were slave marriage, polygamy, and levirate marriage were acceptable to YHWH.

But Jesus finishes this lesson with the most powerful and damning commandment in the Christian faith:

Mark 10:10-12 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.  And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

I am repeating these verses verbatim because I know of no “Christian” faith that obeys this teaching.  To live in adultery cannot be forgiven each day…that would cancel this verse:

Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.

Living in the sin of adultery will kill you!  Jesus clearly states that remarriage is off the books.  But do christians follow this teaching of Jesus? It is an emphatic NO!  by ignoring this verse, christians ignore the teachings of Jesus and put their souls at risk.  You cannot be a part “christian”…it’s all or nothing!

I do love that by the time 1^st Corinthians was written by Paul around 55AD (22 years after Jesus taught about divorce) the rules were already changing.  Paul was already softening the teaching of Jesus in these verses 1^st Cor 7:12-16.  At least he admits that it is his saying and not the Jesus’:

1^st Cor 7:12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord); If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.

But notice this is Paul’s opinion not Jesus’.  Jesus makes it quite clear that divorce is OK but remarriage is not.  This is traditional NT biblical marriage!  Man I wish the rabid “TrueChristians™” would get this straight!  They don’t want gays to marry, but they will allow divorce and remarriage!  What a bunch of hypocrites.  That is why it is so difficult for any Christians to debate with an Atheist…your own “brothers and sisters in faith” sabotage you.

Posted in Inerrancy - My Ass, Gospel of Mark, YHWH & slavery, Biblical Marriage, Readings | Print | 7 Comments »

October 24, 2009, 4:39 pm by dc-agape.

Genesis Chapter 38

In this chapter we are told that Judah leaves his brothers.  We are told that he went to a city that was southwest of Jerusalem (which of course did not exist yet).  The brothers were located in Hebron, which is about 20 miles south of “Jerusalem”.  Judah went to different town than this that was also southwest of “Jerusalem”.  Basically, he went across the street, compared to keeping the flocks in Dothan (80 miles way).

So just like Dinah going out with the Canaanite woman, Judah goes out with the Canaanite men.  He befriends a man by the name of Hirah.  During this time he meets a woman and marries her.  He also has three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.

When Er was old enough to marry Judah got a wife for him named Tamar.  YHWH did not like Er, we have no idea why.  The Word says that Er was wicked in the sight of YHWH, just like all the Canaanites.  For some reason YHWH picked out Er to kill.  The only reason that makes any sense is that Er was born into the Chosen Family.  YHWH was not ready for evil children yet.  See the entire book of Judges; YHWH has to deal with a bunch of wicked people in that Book.  But YHWH was naive in Genesis and did not put up with this type of behavior, except in the case of Levi, Simeon, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Well there just happens to be a practice that YHWH does not have an opinion on:  levirate marriage.  This is the practice of a brother-in-law being responsible for producing offspring for a dead brother.  Since this was a traditional marriage in the Word of God, I wonder why we don’t practice it today.  It seems that since so many TrueChristiansTM want to have traditional marriages protected; shouldn’t levirate marriage also be protected?  Polygamy was also a traditional Biblical marriage; I wonder why that is not protected as well.

Onan is required to sleep with his dead brother’s wife because of the Biblical levirate marriage tradition.  He cheats, knowing that it will not be his children, and OMG…spills his seed.  Well, this piss-off YHWH and in a temper tantrum YHWH kills Onan as well.  Judah has only one young son left and is not ready to marry Shelah to Tamar. 

Judah sends Tamar back to her father, with a lie that she should wait there until Shelah is old enough to marry.  After some time, Tamar learns that she will not be wed to Shelah.  She decides to trick Judah into sleeping with her.  She dresses with a veil to disguise her face and waits for Judah to pass by on the way to sheer his flocks.  Judah, ready to get his rocks off, sees her and thinks that he has found a prostitute.

Tamar and Judah begin the bargaining process of the cost of having sex outside of marriage.  She requires his seal and his staff as promise that he will give her a young goat.  Judah is so ready to have sex that he agrees.  Later he sends Hirah back to the spot where he met Tamar with the goat, but Tamar is not there.  Judah finds out that no prostitute has been in the area for a long time. 

In pride, he decides not to hunt down Tamar to pay for the sex he had with her outside of marriage.  Three months later he finds out that Tamar is pregnant.  He is furious, and wants her to be burned to death.  She counters with the presentation of his seal and staff.  Judah recognizes that the Canaanites can be more righteous than the Chosen Family.  The people without YHWH are more righteous than those who do have YHWH, what a surprise!  Soon Tamar has twins.  The story ends with a detail about how the two boys struggle to get out of the womb and the name of the boys are: Perez and Zerah.  Even though this birth of the two sons seems isolated, these are the firstborn tribes of Israel.  Throughout the Book of Numbers these names will reappear.

From a gay Atheist point of view I cannot see why anyone would think that this Word of God was a good guide to how to live your life.  Judah committed the sins of adultery, anger, pride, false witness, and attempted to not pay for services rendered!  How is this an example of how to live?  He neither fears, nor worships YHWH.   Judah even admits that a Canaanite woman, that commits adultery, is more righteous than himself.  Reading this Book without the for-determined attitude that it is “God-breathed” makes all the difference.  Without making the assumption that YHWH was involved does make this an interesting read, but that is all the Book is: an interesting read.  No morality for the human race exists in this Word of God.  If anything we are learning from other peoples back choices, but YHWH is not required for that.

Posted in Biblical Marriage, Family Values?, Genesis, Readings | Print | No Comments »

August 15, 2009, 10:09 am by dc-agape.

Genesis 31:1-21

An unknown number of breeding seasons have passed since Jacob and Laban made the contract for the spotted livestock as pay.  Jacob’s use of heredity has caused almost all the sheep, lambs, and goats to be spotted.  Remember, Jacob never calls on YHWH in the previous chapter for assistance; Jacob is responsible for the outcome.  Well, of course, both Laban and his son’s would have noticed this by now.  YHWH finally chimes in with “go back to your father”. 

Jacob makes plans with his wives to leave Paddan Aram.  He explains to his wives how he feels that Laban does not treat Jacob the same.  Jacob admits that he has put all his strength into the work that he has done of Laban, but then the lies to his wives:

Gen 31:6-7 You know I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times.  However, God had not allowed him to harm me,

This is, if we can take the Word of God literally, a flat out over exaggerated lie!  Only once did Laban change the wage, and in that process Jacob got 4 wives.  Up to this point Laban has treated Jacob with complete respect.  Remember in the last chapter, when Jacob wanted to leave and Laban asked:

Gen 30:31 “What shall I give you?” he asked.  “Don’t give me anything,” Jacob replied, “But if you will do this one thing for me, I will go on tending your flocks and watching over them:”

In verse 32 he makes the deal with Laban about the streaked and spotted livestock.  Laban has treated Jacob excellently in everything except the wife switch more than 14 years earlier.  Not one recorded violation has been recorded. 

YHWH finally speaks up and tells Jacob that it is time for Jacob to honor the conditional prayer that was made back in chapter 28:

Gen 28:20-21 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be by God

So here is YHWH making good on the vow that Jacob made.

Both Rachel and Leah have seen that all the wealth now belongs to Jacob as well.  In fact, they compare their marriage to Jacob as slavery:

Gen 31:15 Does he not regard us as foreigners? Not only has he sold us, but he has used up what was paid for us.

So it would seem from the wives point of view that Jacob actually has 4 slave wives.  But they agree that it is time to leave their father’s home.  They tell Jacob to go wherever YHWH has told him to go.

Jacob packs up everything that he has earned in the long stay with Laban.  This includes the 4 wives, the 13 children, all the sheep and goats, and heads for his father in Canaan.  The two things have been done that are contemptible.  First, Jacob runs away without telling Laban that he is leaving.  Jacob is taking the daughters and grandchildren of Laban away without tell the man, without letting the man say goodbye to his family, or letting Laban know where his grandchildren will be!  How would your grandparents feel if this occurred to them?  But Rachel does something just as bad.  Remember that Laban is an idolater; well it seems that Rachel is still an idolater, she steals the family idols from her father.   Here we have Rachel taking the most precious item left to her father and she is still not a believer in YHWH.  It’s a good thing that only the men count.  Rachel is certainly not a good example of how to be faithful to YHWH!

As a gay atheist this story only reinforces two observations that I have about our society.  First, that the concept of marriage has drastically changed over the millennia, TrueChirstiansTM who do not like the idea of gay marriage should look more closely at their holy book.  In the Word of God there is slave marriage and polygamy.  Since YHWH sees nothing wrong with that, why is that not the norm for marriage now?  Second, as an atheist, I see nothing in this book that I want to use as an example of how to be a better person.  These people were corrupt, they lied, they stole, and they manipulated.  The whole concept that these were the chosen ones of YHWH only makes me know that YHWH does not exist!

Posted in Biblical Marriage, Family Values?, Genesis, Readings | Print | No Comments »

August 1, 2009, 11:08 am by dc-agape.

Chapter 29:31-30:24

At this point Jacob has two wives, but he only loves one of them.  Being a good husband he has sex with both of them, even though it is obvious that he has neither respect nor love for Leah.  One of the possible problems of marrying first cousins is being barren but many other undesired effects can occur.  YHWH allows this type of sexual propagation of the offspring of Jacob with this knowledge. 

Leah is the first to have a son.  She names the boy “he has seen my misery” or more concisely Reuben.  Wouldn’t you love to grow up with that name?  She continues to bear children for Jacob, but Jacob does not love her more for each son born.  She has Simeon, Levi, and Judah.  Still Jacob only loves and respects Rachel. 

Rachel on the other hand, becomes jealous (do I hear “Satan”) over how her sister is popping out sons.  In desperation, she gives her slave to Jacob as a wife.  Bilhah does not have a choice in the matter, she is a slave.  This is equivalent to rape.  But in the process Bilhah has two sons: Dan and Naphtali.  At this point Jacob has three wives and 6 sons.

Leah recognizes that she has become barren and rushes to give Jacob another slave wife that he can rape.  Zilpah has two sons: Gad and Asher.  Now Jacob has four wives and 8 sons.  But two of these wives are slaves, with no freewill.

Rachel at this point is beyond desperate.  Without even calling on YHWH, she approaches Leah and wants a magical plant that Reuben has just collected.  Hmm, I wonder what ever Leah wanted with it?  To get the mandrake from Leah, Rachel allows Leah to have sex with Jacob.  When a wife must hire her husband:

^{Gen 30:16} So when Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You must sleep with me,” she said. “I have hired you with my son’s mandrake.” So he slept with her that night.”

You really can tell that Jacob is an ass!  When Leah, his wife, has to buy his sexual favors like a prostitute, that’s just wrong!  It turns out that Leah gets pregnant from this episode, and names the son Issachar.  In fact, Leah has sex with Jacob at least two more times and gives birth to Zebulun and Dinah.

Finally, YHWH remembers that Rachel even exists, possibly because of the mandrake root, and Jacob’s last child is born, who is named Joseph.  In the end, Jacob has two wives, two slaves that he has sexual intercourse with, one daughter, and 12 sons, of which only one is his favorite.  What a man!  Here is a wonderful example of what YHWH wants each and every one of us men to be like.  You women out there are shit out of luck; YHWH just wants you to pop out babies.

Posted in YHWH & slavery, Biblical Marriage, Genesis, Readings | Print | 2 Comments »

July 25, 2009, 8:33 am by dc-agape.

Genesis Chapter 29:1-30

Jacob makes it to Paddan Aram, where Laban, his uncle, lives.  He meets some people tending sheep near a well and asks about his uncle.  For some reason he orders them to water the sheep and take them back to pasture.  Why he feels the need to tell other people how to manage their property is beyond me. 

All that conversation is completely forgotten as soon as Rachel, Jacob’s first cousin, arrives with her father’s sheep.  Jacob then has to show off to Rachel by moving the heavy stone that covers the well all by himself.  I wonder if this is a prophecy about the stone being rolled away from Jesus’ tomb.  The study note in the NIV claims that moving this stone on the well is an impressive feat for one man.  Especially for Jacob, remember he is the weaker son:

^{Gen 25:27} The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents.

He immediately kisses Rachel after impressing her, and tells how he is her first cousin.  Rachel runs to tell her father about Jacob, and Laban comes to meet Jacob.  He ends the meeting agreeing that Jacob is truly his own flesh and blood.

Within a month, Jacob is madly in love with Rachel, his uncle’s younger daughter.  Laban strikes a deal with Jacob that if Jacob works for Laban for seven years he can marry Rachel.  Laban agrees and the seven years passes quickly.

Jacob then asks for Rachel’s hand in marriage.  Laban throws a feast, but at the last minute switches Rachel with her older, uglier sister.  Somehow Jacob does not recognize this until after he has had sex with Leah, the older sister.  Either he is so horny he can’t even think, or it is so dark after the feast that he can’t see, maybe he is so drunk that he can’t remember.  Whatever the reason he is now married to his first cousin Leah, instead of Rachel! 

To say the least Jacob is not happy.  He immediately confronts Laban about the breach in his seven year contract.  Laban claims that it is custom for the oldest child to marry first.  He then promises to give Rachel to Jacob in one week, if Jacob works another 7 years.  So now Jacob has married two of his first cousins.  You would think that YHWH would know of the risks that sexual intercourse between first cousins include, and stop this from happening.

So in this section of chapter 29, we see YHWH excepting hubris, lust, and polygamy from his favored individual.  Since humans ate from the tree of knowledge, you would think that YHWH favored would avoid acts like showing off by moving massive stone covers.  But you would really think that they would avoid lusting after their cousins for seven years.  Polygamy, on the other hand, must be what YHWH expects marriage to be.  Abraham was a polygamist, and now so is Jacob.  So why are we a monogamist society if YHWH approves polygamy?  It would seem that we are breaking YHWH’s commandment to “multiply and prosper” by only marrying one spouse. 

Posted in Biblical Marriage, Genesis, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »

June 6, 2009, 7:48 am by dc-agape.

Genesis Chapter 24

In this chapter we are introduced to the traditional style of marriage that the Word of God endorses. Abraham prepares an arranged marriage for his son Isaac.  He does not want his son marrying a Canaanite, today we call this racism.  What is even better is that he requires his chief servant, a slave, to go to Abraham’s relatives of Nahor.  The town of Nahor is in Haran, most likely near where Terah, Abraham’s father settled in Haran.  And we know from Genesis chapter 11 that Terah was an idolater.  So basically, Abraham does not want his son to marry an idolater from Canaan, but instead one from Haran.  If this is not bigotry, what is? Abraham’s sins are racking up, yet all of these are acceptable to YHWH.

Abraham’s slave makes it to Aram Naharaim and stops at a well outside of town.  He prays to YHWH that if a certain sequence of events occurs then this is the woman to marry Isaac.  Well, low and behold, Rebekah comes out to get some water, even before he finishes the prayer.  There are two possibilities that can fit this story.  Either the slave started the pray after seeing Rebekah headed to the well.  Or YHWH started Rebekah headed to the well before the slave started the prayer.  In the first case, it was lucky happenstance that the slave showed up at the right time.  If it was the second case, YHWH was pulling strings with both the slave and with Rebekah before the prayer was answered.  In both cases YHWH eliminated free will!

Rebekah fulfills the prayer and introduces the slave to her parents and brother.  Now the family does not know that this is a slave to their relative Abraham.  All they see is that he has 10 camels and “all kinds of good things from his master.  Rebekah’s brother, Laban, saw the gifts of jewelry that Rebekah had and knew that this was a rich man.  Of course, the family would honor him with everything they had; he was like a passing prince to them, even though he was only a slave to Abraham. 

The slave tells of all the good things that have happened to Abraham, like the theft of Abimelech and the Pharaoh’s cattle.  He continues the story about how an angel would guide him and the prayer he saying when Rebekah showed up at the well.  He tells of how Rebekah fulfills the prayer.  As a dowry, the slave gives Rebekah’s family gold and silver, clothing, and costly gifts.

Boy, have marriages have changed in the last few millennium.  I guess today’s marriages are not acceptable in the eyes of YHWH because of all the changes that have occurred.  Here in the US we certainly don’t have many arranged marriages.  We also don’t have dowries given to the bride’s family!  Worst of all, we let people marry outside of their kinsman!  Rebekah was Isaac’s second-cousin.  No wonder marriages fail!  No wonder TrueChirstian^TM don’t want gay marriage.  If we get much further from YHWH’s desired marriages we might invoke his wraith!

Well Rebekah is given the choice to leave with the slave.  She accepts and they travel back to Negev.  Fortunately, both Isaac and Rebekah are stunningly beautiful…at first glance both are stricken with love!  They get married very shortly after Rebekah arrives and Isaac is comforted from the pain of losing his mother.

Posted in Biblical Marriage, Genesis, Readings | Print | 1 Comment »

May 20, 2009, 5:17 am by dc-agape.

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A Meditation on Creation

I have five more Tractates on Genesis before I will start the Book of Exodus.  The first three that I deal with will be rather short, due to their fragmentary nature.  These are the Tractates “A Meditation on Creation”, “Lives of the Patriarchs”, and “A Sermon on the Flood”.  The Tractate “Commentaries on Genesis” is a little bit longer.  Bu it is the “Tales of the Patriarchs” that will take the most time.  This last Tractate has survived for many centuries in both Jewish and Christian form.  So it might not be what you expect or have heard of, since it is the closest to the original anyone has seen. 

Until the end of August, post will be made less frequently than I have done up to the middle of April.  I will repeat, this is not due to lack of material or lack of inspiration.  I am in a PhD program and this is the period of that experience that is “make it of break it”.  I have finished classes and the written cumulative exams.  At the same time I have enough data collected to begin the process of publication.  As I begin to write and go to conferences, my time will be less free to work on this project.  For example, before July 18^th, I will have one paper in the process of publication, a poster on the second paper to carry to Philadelphia, and write my proposal for PhD candidacy.  Add to that moving and going to Southern Mexico to scuba dive.  I have a strong feeling that the trip to will be the most disruptive…I have heard that where I am going internet service is quite sparse.

This Meditation is obviously from the first chapter of Genesis.  Even though it is so fragmented that it makes the entire chapter less than two paragraphs, it does have the same order as the first chapter.  The first paragraph is about the creation of the world.  The second stresses the creation of Adam and Eve.

It begins with a call to “all you who possess understanding”.  It goes on to say that YHWH, as a “them”, created the light and the heavens from the void.  And that he would rule over all their works.  This part is not clear as to if it is the animals of the world, special angels, but it certainly cannot be Adam and Eve because their creation is added in the following lines.

The surviving text starts this section with “and the understanding of good and evil…”.  Adam is then taken from the earth.  So does YHWH use the understanding of good and evil to create Adam or does he create Adam with the understanding of good and evil?  Eve is then “taken” from Adam.  This concept is much more vague than the “from his rib” that is common in Gen 2:21.  This Tractate goes further still by calling Eve a helper and partner.  Nowhere does it say that YHWH created Eve to be subservient to Adam!  She is not as equal as in Gen 1:27, but it is clear that YHWH never intended women to be treated as inferior beings.  Even blaming Eve for the “Fall of Man” goes against why YHWH created Eve in the first place!  YHWH created both male and female to take care of his creation.  If anyone wants to have a religious purpose in their life, men and women are equally made for one purpose by YHWH: to rule passionately over YHWH’s creation.  Why should there be any sexual discrimination when humans were created for one purpose?  The first  chapter of Genesis is quite clear that if this is Biblical Marriage, then man and woman are equal.  Is that what most of you hypocritical Bible thumpers want?  It certainly does not seem so!

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Posted in Genesis Material, Dead Sea Scroll, Biblical Marriage, Readings | Print | 5 Comments »

May 16, 2009, 9:19 am by dc-agape.

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The Last Words of Levi (Part 3)

I will cover two sections of this Tractate in this post.  The first one is about the life of Levi.  He speaks of his children, his murderous actions in Shechem, and his final age at death.  The second one is about seeking wisdom.  Not wisdom from YHWH, but wisdom from reading and writing.  In fact, in this entire post, YHWH is not present, not even when his children are born.  This is quite a telling point to an Atheist. Shouldn’t the high priest of YHWH praise YHWH for every event in his life?

The first event in Levi’s life that can be linked to the Bible is the story of how he murdered the entire town of Shechem for revenge.  This occurred when he was 18 years old.  One year later he became the priest of YHWH.  Joseph was still around at that point, but was only 10 years old.  Yet we know from the birth files that

From this section a time line can be created from the events in the Word of God and the events recorded in this Tractate.  The second event that can be linked to the Bible is that Levi was 25 years old when Joseph was sold into slavery.  Joseph was ~17 years old when this occurred. The Tractate claims that Levi was 118 years old when Joseph died.  Since the Bible tells us that Joseph died when he was 110 years old (Gen 50:22) this would make Levi eight years older than Joseph.  Three years later, Levi married the daughter of his mother’s brother.  In other words, his first cousin!  Through this marriage he has four children.  The oldest son, being Gershom, was born to him when he was 30.  Four years later, his second son was born to him, Kohath.  Here again, the second son would inherit everything from the father.  Gershom was evil and did not become the high priest that was Kohath who inherited the position.  It took another six years for his third son to be born, Merari.  The Tractate says that this son was dying when he was born, yet later says that Merari had two sons.  24 years later he had a daughter, who he named Jochebed. 

Now things get interesting.  Levi gives his daughter Jochebed to his son Kohath as a wife!  So not only do we have first cousins marrying in this Tractate but we have sibling marriage.  This is what the “Defenders of Biblical Marriage” want?  This was acceptable to YHWH?  In the book of Leviticus two verses condemn this practice (Lev 18:6 and Lev 18:9).  I guess it was tougher to find appropriate wives when the clan was so small. 

Here the Tractate and the Word of God also disagree.  The Tractate claims that the descendants of Gershom would be homeless.  Yet in Joshua 21:33 the Gershomite tribe inherited 13 towns.  That does not sound like being homeless to me!

The second section is about gaining wisdom.  First he tells his sons this:

4Q213 col E 14-16 Whoever sows goodness will reap goodness; but whoever sows evil, his seed will return to him.

Pretty good advice and YHWH is not involved!  Levi continues to encourage his sons to learn and teach writing, discipline, and wisdom.  I wish that the Religious Right, here in the US, would reflect on this subject more!  Our students are some of the least bright in the world!

30 million people in the US are below basic reading skills!  And only 28 million are proficient.  This is hideous results.  Worse is that it has not changed in a decade!

Levi ends this section with a warning or promise.  No one can take away wisdom, they can steal all your property, take you as slaves and take your land, but they can never take away your learning.  He also promises that people will come from all around to listen to the wisdom that his sons will learn.  Good advice, I wish the citizens of the US would take some of this to heart.  It even comes from a religious document, shouldn’t they listen to this? 

Both graphs come from National Center of Educational Statistics.

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