I am not an
ardent Bible reader. The Truly
Religious, the Falwellian Moral Majority, the righteous gay bashers, the
on-going “the Bible tells me so” types…I gave up on them and their rule book
years ago. More recently I’ve realized
that the parts of the New Testament printed in red
are meant to be ignored…that’s why they’re in red,
it seems. Not because Jesus allegedly said
it and it should be followed; rather, even though Jesus allegedly said it and it
can be ignored.
I had a sort
of religious upbringing. Presbyterian,
but back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, so they were still pretty literal. We did not read the Bible daily, although
father ultimately succumbed to some brand of “put your paycheck in the
collection plate and you’ll be saved” grift.
However, Sunday school was Bible drill and church was “I know the Bible means this…question me at
your peril,” so I had to know the drill.
And there was
also Old Testament and New Testament “study” at school, a small Christian
college for small Christians.
Now I’m
grateful because it helps me see how disgusting The Truly Religious are. Not just in their treatment of others, but by
their careful cherry-picking of Bible verses.
The most recent, as of 6/17/18, is our morally bankrupt attorney general’s
quote of Romans 13:1 to justify the separation of brown-skinned children from
their brown-skinned parents as they all still believed the bullshit and wanted
to find a better life in the once-great United States.
“Let everyone
be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except
that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God.” All right. That justifies ripping kids from their
parents.
But then there’s an “oops” in verse 6: “This
is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who
give their full time to governing.” This
comes awfully close to Jesus’ bout with the Pharisees in Matthew 22: 18 But Jesus, knowing
their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why
are you trying to trap me? 19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They
brought him a denarius, 20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
21 “Caesar’s,” they replied.
Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God
what is God’s.”
22 When they heard this, they were amazed.
So they left him and went away.
It’s not my
intention to use Romans 13:6 as an argument for why churches should be
tax-exempt (“It’s in the Bible!”) or for showing off one’s “deeply-held
religious beliefs” while refusing to make a wedding cake for an LGBTQ
couple. Also, it's in red. However, it is interesting to
contemplate.
And while we
all know that god himself wrote the King James Version, I don’t speak that
version of English, so this is the New International, written by mere mortals.
Anyway, our oh-so-honorable/god-fearing
attorney general (or his lovable lackey speechwriter) also failed to get to the
point of the entire chapter.
According
to Paul:
8 Let
no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for
whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You
shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You
shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are
summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does
no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
(Emphases
mine)
If verse 6 seems to paraphrase Matthew
22:21b, this is nearly an actual quote from Matthew 22:34-40:
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the
Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law,
tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment
in the Law?”
37 Jesus
replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments.”
Those
Pharisees could really be annoying, but nearly as annoying as that Jesus guy. Fortunately, it’s highlighted in red, so we
can ignore it.
However, for cherry-picking purposes,
how’s this:
Psalm 137:9: Happy
is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Or, if you prefer god’s own words:
Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the
stones.
(Emphasis god’s)
How long before
this one is used?
