I've been reading R. Crumb's adaptation of the Book of Genesis, and I've already talked on Slog about how I really enjoyed how literal a translation it is. Crumb doesn't throw in any of his goofy enormous penises or weird psychedelia. It is the most literal adaptation of any part of the Bible that I've ever read.

Naturally, Christians hate it.

"It is turning the Bible into titillation," said Mike Judge, of the Christian Institute, a religious think-tank. "It seems wholly inappropriate for what is essentially God's rescue plan for mankind.

"If you are going to publish your own version of the Bible it must be done with a great deal of sensitivity. The Bible is a very important text to many many people and should be treated with the respect it deserves."

First of all, a Christian spokesman named Mike Judge is hilarious on at least two levels. Second of all: This sounds suspiciously like those anti-cartoon Islamic extremists we Americans got all huffy about. ("How dare they tell someone not to draw their prophet!") Third of all, and most importantly: Crumb doesn't draw anything that doesn't appear in the book. He's not glamorizing or overselling it. He's not even Crumb-ing it up. And it's too much for some Christians to take because there's a visual aspect to the book.

Between this, the Christian Bible-burning, and the Conservative Bible movement, I think we might be seeing the beginning of an outlet of Christianity that rejects the Bible outright but somehow still embraces Jesus.