I am simply weary of people using sacred texts to justify cruelty, bigotry, and small-mindedness. I know that a lot of people feel the same way, so this video from the VLOG Brothers, tackling religion, marriage, and gay marriage, delights me.
My earliest religious teaching - from my mom and dad - emphasized the importance of taking the Bible as a whole, because understood in pieces it lost context. This continued through my teen years, when Father Larkin was adamant that we understood the Bible as both an inspired document AND a product of its times and the people who wrote/interpreted it. My Jewish mother reminded us that the Old Testament was a history book, and my Lutheran father interpreted the New Testament as an advisory to have a direct, personal, and responsible relationship with God. So when people pull a chapter here and a verse there to support their bigotry and fear, it doesn't feel like religion at all to me. It just feels like human failing in its smallest, saddest form. Happy Sunday to all. It's a good day to reflect on the big themes of the Book - responsibility, community, integrity, family, charity, humility, and love- always love.
