I am a big fan of Scripture – all Scripture. One of the best things about going to Wilmington College in Ohio was that the Quakers respected all forms of religious writing, at least from an academic point of view. I learned about hundreds of religions, which might not have happened – at that time in history – if I had attended a mainline Christian college. I got to read holy writ from Hindus, the Qur’an, and my own tradition, plus so many more. It was during that time that I learned that when it comes to God, we have most things in common. The particular differences matter, but in most things, we agree.
When I see people misuse Scripture for their own benefit, it riles me up. For example, there was an article online today about a Pennsylvania lawmaker using Genesis 8: 22 – ‘as long as the Earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.’ – to defend her anti-environmental stance. She said that we should be good stewards of the earth, but that the Bible didn’t support a “forceful climate control global agenda.” Never mind that “God so loved the world” or that God’s sole purpose in creating humanity was to take care of the garden. She, like so many ultra-conservative people of faith, believes that God is in control, and the sooner we get Jesus back here, the better off we will be. So, to hell with the environment – God will take care of things.
Or what about all those people who refused to accept Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate, or who wouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton for president? Why? For many ultra-conservative so-called Christians, it was purely based on their gender. They used 1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 11 to promote their misogyny, completely ignoring the way Jesus treated women, or Paul’s writing about equality in early chapters of 1 Corinthians and Galatians. Like the rest of us, they pick and choose, but unlike us, they deny it. Nobody can keep all the commandments (which are mostly man-made), so God offers us grace instead of human perfection. Jesus told His followers that the most important laws were to love God, and love neighbor as much as we love ourselves. All the rest of the rules have to measure up to those two commandments. I think He was telling us that Scripture isn’t to be used for bad; it is to be used for good.
Of course, if we don’t know our own foundation of our faith traditions, how can we speak intelligently about these things? Reading the Bible – or whatever your holy writings are – allows you to see for yourself what is good and bad and sometimes ugly in your own tradition. The only way to deal with people who abuse Scripture is to have read it and considered its meaning. And since I don’t take it literally, I can be serious about how I study it. I can try to understand why it was written and who it helps. Scripture should make the world a better place, just like religions based on those Scriptures should bring about light, not darkness. If your religion teaches you to do wrong – to hate or commit violence or treat people unequally – you just might need another religion. Because religion is just our flawed, human attempts to understand God. They are the tale, not the dog.
Prayer – Holy God, You have given us writings that can inspire us to do good or lead us down dark paths to do evil. Help us to discern how those writings can make life better for all of us. Amen.
Today’s art is “Women for Equality, Justice, and Peace” by Bert Monterona.