Posted by Sir Four at 3:31pm Jan 13 '07[private] wondered how a person can say they are a Christian, yet decide that the Bible is out of date on the gay issue, as an example of some kind of liberal, pseudo-Christian faith. Afterall if the Bible is the word of God, then you cannot go around picking and choosing which parts you follow and which ones you don't.
But I think people pick and choose all the time. All sorts of self-identifying Christians do. Consider conservative, evangelical, red state America. I think this would be a great place to find people who really follow Christ to the letter. They'd have you believe they are His greatest fans, afterall.
But let's look deeper into that.
From one of my favorite passages, Matthew 25:41-45:
Anyway, the beliefs also change with the times no matter how you look at it. The Bible permits slavery--we now know it to be a moral abomination. We also no longer burn witches, perform exorcisms (very often), or rely on miracles rather than modern medicine to treat illness (except in rare cases).
How can someone claim they serve God, and not money, then justify gutting the inheritence tax and the capital gains tax?
But I think people pick and choose all the time. All sorts of self-identifying Christians do. Consider conservative, evangelical, red state America. I think this would be a great place to find people who really follow Christ to the letter. They'd have you believe they are His greatest fans, afterall.
But let's look deeper into that.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy." -Matthew 5:7Red state America is a place where you'll find strong sentiment for draconian sentencing laws, the death penalty, retributive justice, and putting a foot up someone's ass (it's the American way). Granted, Matthew 5:39-40 is easily one of the most difficult things Jesus asks of his followers, but hey this is the word of God here...you can't just blithely ignore it.
"If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well." -Matthew 5:39-40
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" -Matthew 6:19A common belief circulated in red state America is that business is business...it's separate from moral considerations. And what follows from that is the enabling of tax cuts for the rich, laws that further empower the rich, politicians who serve the rich, etc.--not to mention many prominent people within the Christian community are themselves fairly well off, and no one blinks an eye.
"You cannot serve both God and Money" -Matthew 6:24
"it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" -Matthew 19:24
"what God has joined together, let man not separate" -Matthew 19:6 (talking about marriage)However, the red states have the highest rates of divorce in the country. From this article:
Kentucky, Mississippi and Arkansas, for example, voted overwhelmingly for constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage. But they had three of the highest divorce rates in 2003, based on figures from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.Interesting, no? Red states also have the highest rates of teen pregnancy, but that's a topic for another post.
The lowest divorce rates are largely in the blue states: the Northeast and the upper Midwest. And the state with the lowest divorce rate was Massachusetts, home to John Kerry, the Kennedys and same-sex marriage.
In 2003, the rate in Massachusetts was 5.7 divorces per 1,000 married people, compared with 10.8 in Kentucky, 11.1 in Mississippi and 12.7 in Arkansas.
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged" -Matthew 7:1Do I need to elaborate? Considering their own flaws, red staters make a lot of judgements about liberal sinners. Jesus also had something to say about "casting the first stone" and "pointing out the sawdust in your brother's eye."
From one of my favorite passages, Matthew 25:41-45:
"I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me"Granted, many Christians do charity work or give to charity. But there is also a large contingent with a "screw the poor" mentality, not to mention "immigrant, go home, we don't want you here." Kudos to the Catholic Church for sticking to their principles on that latter issue.
"Blessed are the peacemakers" -Matthew 5:9*ahem*
Anyway, the beliefs also change with the times no matter how you look at it. The Bible permits slavery--we now know it to be a moral abomination. We also no longer burn witches, perform exorcisms (very often), or rely on miracles rather than modern medicine to treat illness (except in rare cases).
added on 3:38pm Jan 13 '07:
Here's a question. How can someone who ought to be opposed to usury justify the Republican-passed bill a few years ago that permitted credit card companies to charge any interest rate they like...when Democrats wanted to cap it at, IIRC, the already way high rate of 26%? Usury, okay. Gay marriage, no.How can someone claim they serve God, and not money, then justify gutting the inheritence tax and the capital gains tax?