This diary is as much of a response to Iowa Boy's diary, Communicating in the native dialect, as anything. I started to write a response suggesting that we start using the Bible to attack the approach of the Evangelicals. Unfortunately, the comment got entirely too long, so I am going to use a diary entry instead.
In short, the Christian Right is using a very warped interpretation of the Bible to further their political views. I have always believed that, to confuse and defeat this base, believers and non-believers alike should use the best resource that we have: the Bible.
One of my favorite scenes from the movie Saved! is when Hilary (the bible-thumper, played by Mandy Moore) throws a Bible at Hilary (the 'sinner'), and Hilary responds, "This is not a weapon!"
Unfortunately, the Bible is being used as a weapon in America. Check that - a very selective interpretation of the Bible is being used as a weapon by Evangelical leaders. You see, I've found that very few Evangelicals (outside of the leadership) have actually fully read and digested the Bible. Instead, many show up to church dutifully every week and listen to whatever their pastor tells them. Showing up to church weekly is a good thing. Only reading the passages that your pastor preaches about is not a good thing. It's kind of like reading the Constitution but skipping over Article I and the First Amendment. You just won't get the point.
I'm a product of this madness: I grew up in a devout family that was heavily involved in our Baptist church. I learned a bit about what we were supposed to live our lives, and learned a lot more about how we were supposed to convert others to Christianity. It had a lot to do with speaking vaguely about God's love and saying that all people needed to do was accept Him and read the Bible (never mind that many are illiterate). And then all of their problems would be solved(!). For example, when I found it difficult to gather up the funds needed to go to college, my mother told me that it was because I wasn't praying enough. Thank God I graduated.
It wasn't until I left for college and got a grasp on critical thinking that I realized the error of this approach (even if I believe in God). It wasn't the non-believers who needed to be saved; it was us. So I started talking about the Bible not with non-believers, but rather with the true believers who claimed to represent Jesus. These people tend to very selectively quote the Bible, and in reality only know a few verses to back up their narrow political (and religious) views. So, every time I had the words of the Bible chucked at me to condemn my "liberal" views, my counterargument included the best resource that I had: the Bible.
Books could be written about how to use the Bible to refute many of the Right's political positions: abortion, authoritarianism, capital punishment, immigration, war, and so forth. But we don't have time to read books today, so instead I will focus on one current hot-button issue.
Homosexuality:
When somebody gets on their high horse about how homosexuality is wrong, ask them where exactly in the Bible it says where it's wrong. If they don't know, ask them to go find it before they start preaching about it. Definitely invite them to re-engage you in the discussion when they find out. If they do know, then it's likely only from two books - Leviticus and 1 Corinthians.
Leviticus 18:22 (NIV) - Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.
Never mind that the English translation was probably done incorrectly. I would say it was even done rather selectively (sensing a theme?). Rather, ask them whether they aspire to follow all of the laws of Leviticus. If no, ask them why not (note: Jesus invalidated many of the Old Testament laws - like "eye for an eye" - they should know this). If yes, ask them whether they follow...
Leviticus 19:19 (NIV) - ...Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material
or
Leviticus 19:27 (NIV) - Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
Note that the Lord didn't say that these laws were any less important than the law about homosexuality. Ask why said Evangelical is flouting their sins and passing judgement on others before the Lord. Proceed to ask Evangelical to read the entire Bible before preaching to others. Suggest that they should figure out whether they want to follow the Bible in full (including clothing and shaving) or follow the primary themes of Jesus Christ, who said absolutely nothing about homosexuality. Then of course there's...
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NIV) - Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers now swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Never mind that this is the only time in the entire Bible that the translated word "homosexual" is used. Never mind that we don't see Evangelicals attacking the greedy (:cough: televangelists :/cough:) or the drunkards with as much zeal. And never mind that the next verse says "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified" (forgiven). Rather, ask them if they follow:
1 Corinthians 11:5-6 - And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut of shaved off, she should cover her head.
Note that God did not prioritize this laws any lower than the "law" about homosexuality. Ask them why the Muslims seem to be following Christian law better than the vast majority of the American Christians. But let's not forget about...
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 - To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.
Inform the Bible-thumper that not only is this verse in the same book as the 'law' about homosexuality, but Jesus also said:
Matthew 1:32 - But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
Jesus doesn't say a single word about homosexuality, but he does have plenty to say about loving your enemies, feeding the hungry, and divorce. And yet, Christians get divorced as often as Atheists. It is easy for the Church to attack homosexuality and abortion because (they think that) it's not a problem inside the Church. But divorce? Ask the Evangelical why the Church is trying to stop gays from getting married, but won't take steps to make divorce illegal. After all, the best way to protect marriage is to ban divorce.
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It is my belief that we should respond to religion in government not by yelling about separation of Church and State, but rather by saying, "You want to legislate the Bible? Bring it. But we have to legislate the whole thing, instead of cherry-picking a couple verses to persecute people we don't like." Obviously, no Christian would want the entire Bible to be put into law. Every one of them would be breaking the law. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Many reasonable Christians, if only educated in full about the Bible, would turn away from the Republicans and the Religious Right. After all, if we ask "What Would Jesus Do?", it would almost certainly not be anything that the Republicans are doing. And although the Religious Right claims that it wants Jesus to return, they should be careful what they wish for. For if Jesus returned, the Republicans would almost certainly throw Him into Guantanamo Bay.
Maybe in the future I can write more about approaches to using the Bible to discuss the Iraq War, abortion, capital punishment, etc. In the meantime, if somebody throws a Bible at your head, thank them and return the favor by throwing it right back at their heart. Happy Easter!
1 Corinthians 13:13 - And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.