As I See It (10/9/08)

Our Disciples III Bible study has been reading the prophets starting with Lamentations. We’ve gotten as far as Hosea, and the readings seem to fit the gloom and doom of the current economic news. We’re sending soldiers to die in Baghdad, but at least our entire nation hasn’t been shipped off into exile as the Jews faced during that period of the Hebrew Bible. What parallels can we draw between our “sins” and those of Israel and Judah, and is God punishing us? I think that’s a gross oversimplification of the problems we are facing that are due to well documented examples of greed and speculation run amok, and I’m not sure there is a religious connotation to our current crises even though our leaders have spoken of saving the world for democracy. We have a lot of false prophets today just as they did 2,500 years ago.

I think that one of the difficulties in Bible studies is trying to extrapolate some meaningful interpretation for today from the ancient readings even considering the context of the different times and cultures and the evolution of the scriptures through the centuries in many different translations and interpretations. I’m not suggesting that we should “water down” all of the harsh judgment portrayed in the Hebrew Bible that we call the Old Testament, but it does call for some careful reading and study.

At the same time, I just watched a pleasant little comedy that helped lift my mood. The film called “Prom Queen” is a movie supposedly based on a true event when a Canadian teenager sued his parochial school to allow him to take his boyfriend to the prom. Aside from the improbable whole-hearted support not only of his parents but also all of the students in his school in opposing the ruling of the principal and the school board, it also gave an overly rosy view of how people view “gay rights” as “civil rights.” The issue of homosexuality is cloaked in religious, cultural and societal overtones that cloud any rational discussion of the issue. We’re not seeing the gay bashing today that we did in the last national political campaign, but gay marriage is still a hot button issue that inflames both sides.

While we cannot generalize from a particular story in the Old Testament and should not try to describe the controversy over homosexuality as the bell weather for change in our society, we can strive for dignity and respect in our religious and political discussions and not impugn the integrity of the “other side.” When people rant and rave (I refuse to watch a lot of radio and TV commentators for that reason), it loses any sense of proportion of the significance of the issues and the emotional crossfire only hardens beliefs and attitudes into making “enemies” of those who think or believe differently. Tolerance of differing viewpoints is not a passive reaction but a conscious effort to heal and make whole a broken world and a dysfunctional society.