Politics and Religion? Nah...
Sometimes, very occasionally, the Academic and the "Real World" align rather well.
As of late, I'm sure most have been introduced to Sen. Obama's former paster, Rev Wright. The media's obession with his 'bombastic' speach is interesting but at the same time it helps illustrate something I've noticed before: Most people have no idea what the Bible says.
Rev Wright recently has done some interviews to explain the exerpted You-Tubed comments of his that were all over the airwaves the last few weeks. Adventus has some longer exerpts from those appearances as well as some commentary on them.
Listening to the questions, and the responses, it struck me how little people know about what the Bible, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, actually say. To further back this up, my Hebrew course this semester has been focusing on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel and the prophets I think we tend to forget about because they say a lot of things that might make us uncomfortable. And when we do look at them, we insist their message was for a specific group of people in history and can't be applied to us.
Micah calls for us to "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God" after suggesting that all the pomp, ceremony, and ritual is precisely what God is not interested in. (Micah 6:6-8) Hosea tells us God wants mercy more the sacrifice. (Hosea 6:6) Other prophets extort their audiences to protect the poor, the oppressed, the alien, the widow and the orphen.
And for bombastic language, well, here's Ezekiel 22:23-31:
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in the day of indignation. Its princes within it are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it. Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. Its prophets have smeared whitewash on their behalf, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.
And if you think that calling the leaders "wolves" that "tear prey" is tamer than what is being said now, Ezekiel 16 gets very raw. (And when it translates things all 'nice' as "fornication" and "harlotry", they're the same word and I think "harlotry" and its other forms are being used because they sound more... Academic than dropping F-bombs.)
So I read through Rev Wright's sermons, and I hear some of them via YouTube and I think... What's the big deal? Not only is the same sort of language that is throughout the Bible*, but I would think that it should be used. Part of the "mission" of religion is to challenge us to be better than we are, and we can't do that without someone pointing out uncomfortable things to us.
And how is it that Rev Wright (and Obama) get called to task for "God damn America" while Rev Hagee (and McCain) don't get called to task for blaming Katrina on Americans (gays, specifically)? Or the many that say that 9/11 was God's wrath on the US for it's permissiveness?
*Heck, Christ calls the priests a "brood a vipers" or more loosely from the greek "bastards of snakes", as the word "brood" meant illegitimate offspring. Matthew 3:7 and others
As of late, I'm sure most have been introduced to Sen. Obama's former paster, Rev Wright. The media's obession with his 'bombastic' speach is interesting but at the same time it helps illustrate something I've noticed before: Most people have no idea what the Bible says.
Rev Wright recently has done some interviews to explain the exerpted You-Tubed comments of his that were all over the airwaves the last few weeks. Adventus has some longer exerpts from those appearances as well as some commentary on them.
Listening to the questions, and the responses, it struck me how little people know about what the Bible, both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, actually say. To further back this up, my Hebrew course this semester has been focusing on Ezekiel.
Ezekiel and the prophets I think we tend to forget about because they say a lot of things that might make us uncomfortable. And when we do look at them, we insist their message was for a specific group of people in history and can't be applied to us.
Micah calls for us to "Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God" after suggesting that all the pomp, ceremony, and ritual is precisely what God is not interested in. (Micah 6:6-8) Hosea tells us God wants mercy more the sacrifice. (Hosea 6:6) Other prophets extort their audiences to protect the poor, the oppressed, the alien, the widow and the orphen.
And for bombastic language, well, here's Ezekiel 22:23-31:
The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, say to it: You are a land that is not cleansed, not rained upon in the day of indignation. Its princes within it are like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows within it. Its priests have done violence to my teaching and have profaned my holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Its officials within it are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. Its prophets have smeared whitewash on their behalf, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, “Thus says the Lord God,” when the Lord has not spoken. The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress. And I sought for anyone among them who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; I have returned their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord God.
And if you think that calling the leaders "wolves" that "tear prey" is tamer than what is being said now, Ezekiel 16 gets very raw. (And when it translates things all 'nice' as "fornication" and "harlotry", they're the same word and I think "harlotry" and its other forms are being used because they sound more... Academic than dropping F-bombs.)
So I read through Rev Wright's sermons, and I hear some of them via YouTube and I think... What's the big deal? Not only is the same sort of language that is throughout the Bible*, but I would think that it should be used. Part of the "mission" of religion is to challenge us to be better than we are, and we can't do that without someone pointing out uncomfortable things to us.
And how is it that Rev Wright (and Obama) get called to task for "God damn America" while Rev Hagee (and McCain) don't get called to task for blaming Katrina on Americans (gays, specifically)? Or the many that say that 9/11 was God's wrath on the US for it's permissiveness?
*Heck, Christ calls the priests a "brood a vipers" or more loosely from the greek "bastards of snakes", as the word "brood" meant illegitimate offspring. Matthew 3:7 and others