Months ago, I noticed Obama's rhetoric on the separation of church and state, and I liked his wording. I even sent an email to several religious friends and family members to say that I liked how this Christian seemed so level-headed on this topic. I thought, "Here's a guy who understands the dangers of letting religion into politics." Obama said the following:
"Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK and that eating shellfish is an abomination? Or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount?"
To me, it was obvious that his point was not that Christians wanted to use these Old Testament Mosaic laws in government. His point was that once you let religious laws guide our law making, you open the door for all sorts of distorted possibilities. For one thing, you open the door to laws that support one branch of Christianity and not another. It potentially infringes on freedom of religion- not enhances it.
The same part of the Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death. I personally know Christians who, while they might not say death, would certainly support laws against homosexual rights because of this. That's just one example of how it could be applied. It also says you can be put to death for breaking the Sabbath. This has created blue laws in many states about what business can be open on Sundays. The Old Testament also commanded that people who build "graven images" be put to death. Or, taking the Lord's name in vain- You would be put to death. It also states that you can sell your daughter into slavery and provides many, many accounts of God-authorized genocide.
My own hope is that people will become aware of what's actually in the Old Testament. How can Christians get so bent on condemning people who don't believe the Bible should be taken as literally true when it is filled with such disgusting morality in its foundation?
I get so tired of people who think that they are morally superior because they only engage in "traditional sex". Morality is such a bigger topic than what happens when you're naked. Genocide, slavery, the emancipation of women - now those are moral issues that people should pay attention to. Avoiding war, repairing our planet, finding cures to disease and starvation - These are moral issues.
Nonetheless, people will listen to James Dobson. He will convince them that Obama's mentioning passages in the Bible that put Christianity in a bad light makes him an enemy of morality. However, I think people are getting smarter. I think it's going to cause more of them actually to read and consider what's in their Bible, and say, "Hey, did you know this crap is in here?"
I found the cartoon image HERE.
