Textbooks

As most of you know I'm an orthopedic surgeon. I love my job. It took a long time to become a surgeon: 26 years of school if you count kindergarden. During those years of training, I read many, many textbooks. I lost count of the number of books. The information in all those pages provide the facts I need to do my job. I accepted that data without question because it was in a TEXTBOOK, written by some famous guy with impressive credentials. Somebody respected by his peers and by me.

In speaking with Haitians, I realized that many if not the majority of them have never read a TEXTBOOK. However they have read the BIBLE. To them it is THE TEXTBOOK; written by some famous guy with great credentials and an impressive pedigree. It provides the information they need to live their lives. They have zero doubt that the information inside is factual, and is irrefutable. Their immense faith is founded in their unwavering belief in the absolute truth of the facts in the BIBLE.

I've read the BIBLE for forty years and for some reason I never considered it a TEXTBOOK. After my trip to Haiti, I do now.