Thursday, August 12, 2010

blessed are the peacemakers

It's odd that fundamentalist Christians never quote from the Gospels when they try to use the Bible to justify their own bigotry. Instead, they find isolated, out-of-context verses in Old Testament or Epistle books of questionable origin (which is not to imply that the Gospels are not of questionable origin), twist them into whacky interpretations, and convince the willingly-deceived believers in the pews that they are "preaching the Bible".

When I was in the my late teens, circa 1966, temporarily waylaid in the Deep South, I heard a sermon that used scattered Old Testament verses to come to the conclusion that racial segregation is Biblical. How convenient for a racist congregation! That was the moment I realized that a person can make the Bible, a very big book, say anything you want it to say. The Gospels and the perceived ministry of Christ are an inconvenience to such people.

That was my theological thought for the day. You won't get too many of those.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I spent 5.5 years in lower SE Georgia where the white united methodist churches are down the road from the black ones. The ushers from the white church were part of the KKK and would sheet up on friday night and usher on sunday morning. AND--- everyone knew it. In 5 years I never heard a sermon of faith, love, conscience grace or anything that Christ taught. Question the dark side of any main-line denomination that will not preach from the "red letters" AMEN !! :) DYA