What does Miss Maudie mean by "sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of---oh, of your father"? Why...

In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie is explaining to Scout why Boo Radley never leaves his home. Maudie tells Scout that Arthur was a friendly boy whose father was a "foot-washing Baptist." She goes on to explain that Mr. Radley believed that any type of pleasure was a sin and that he followed a strict interpretation of the Bible. Miss Maudie makes the comment, "but sometimes a Bible in the hand of one man is...

In Chapter 5, Miss Maudie is explaining to Scout why Boo Radley never leaves his home. Maudie tells Scout that Arthur was a friendly boy whose father was a "foot-washing Baptist." She goes on to explain that Mr. Radley believed that any type of pleasure was a sin and that he followed a strict interpretation of the Bible. Miss Maudie makes the comment, "but sometimes a Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of---oh, of your father" (Lee 60). Scout is offended and comments that Atticus never drank alcohol in his life. Scout is too young to understand Maudie's analogy and takes her statement literally. Maudie was trying to compare the way Mr. Radley misuses the Bible to harm his son and other members of the community to the way alcohol destroys families. Distorting religion and misusing the Bible can be very harmful. Mr. Radley perverts scripture by taking certain passages and applying them literally. Maudie uses the example that "foot-washers" believe that women are a sin by definition to explain their twisted interpretation.