Pitts also selectively quoted Bible
The following is a Counterpoint:
By KOFI DOONQUAH
In the Leonard Pitts column, "Thou shalt not quote Bible selectively" (March 11), the author argues that evangelicals selectively quote the Bible to deny homosexuality. He gave a very compelling reason why not to selectively quote Scripture. I applaud this emphatically.
Unfortunately, this type of biblical interpretation is rampant in contemporary Christianity. This type of selective quoting is not unique to recent history, however. A former altar boy in Germany used Christianity to torture and kill millions of Jews in the 1900s. European and American society used the Bible to justify the brutality of enslaving or killing 25 million to 50 million people of African origin. In our day, people have used Scripture in an attempt to dogmatize all types of weird teachings. All one has to do is turn on the TV set and observe the numerous aberrations and derivations from orthodoxy. This has resulted in 22,000 different denominations that are growing at a rate of 20 monthly. This may also point out the difficulty in interpretation of Scripture.
However, one thing that we cannot do is simply ignore parts of Scripture to hold to our preconceived notions and prejudices.
Pitts, unfortunately, has become guilty of the very same hypocrisy of selectively quoting Scripture for selfish agendas. He quotes a few Old Testament laws without reference to their New Testament explanations. Of course, we do not kill people who work on Sunday/Sabbath, although this was commanded in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, Jesus himself worked on the Sabbath, showing that doing good is more important than not working on the Sabbath.
And, of course, we do not force people to marry in situations of rape. That would not be love (the higher standard of the New Testament). And while most Protestants have bowed their knees to the sexual revolution and feminism, which I agree are selective interpretations, there is nothing in Scripture that even comes close to supporting homosexuality. In fact, this type of activity is categorically condemned just as adultery, murder and drunkenness.
What Pitts is really saying is because evangelicals have selectively quoted Scriptures to facilitate the sexual revolution and feminism, then evangelicals should do the same for homosexuality. Pitts' headline, therefore, should not have read "Thou shall not quote Bible selectively." Instead, it should have read, "Let us all quote Scripture selectively."
The writer lives in Reidsville.
Comments (6)
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As the "holy" Bhagavad Gita says:
"As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purpose."
The "holy" Bible is such a hodgepodge of material, written from such a myriad of cultural norms, that it can be used to support everything from universal love to universal hate. It certainly is not something a person could use without selecting what he wants to follow. The big item here being that he must want something before looking for support of it in the Bible.
Perhaps people would do better if they stopped trying to prove God is on their side in their prejudices and started looking for better ways to live together using all the wisdom that humanity has discovered over the centuries. Looking over just one book like this is counterproductive... or haven't you noticed this yet?
Posted on April 4, 2006 6:18 AM
Leonard Pitts reminds me of Charles Davenport, another op-ed writer the N&R has used in the past. They are both cut from the same bolt of cloth, using faulty reasoning and carefully selected sources to justify their opinions. I don't give a lot of credence to either one. They're both a waste of time. Perhaps they are twins who were separated at birth.
Posted on April 4, 2006 8:57 AM
there are some of us who will not be as well-read and therefore well-rounded and intelligent as you...and yet there are many people who have already tried to rely on their own strongly-developed intellect as we seek answers in the search for truth and/or the truth...in my case, after spending half of my life making all of my own decisions purposefully ignoring whatever it is G-d might think, fortunately he drew me to him in a way that caused me to understand who He is and what his HOLY Word says...you have found a good place for yourself with yourself and it all makes sense to you...is your place the truth or is there no truth?...tell us from your highly intellectual point of view and tremendous number of years seeking through reading and listening what makes sense to you, and have you found that to be the truth?...
My 'big item' as you write above for wanting to look to the Bible was to know if there is absolute truth, and after a few years of study on both sides, I came to the belief and conclusion that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and further, that He is the only way...'humanity' makes so much more sense to me now than previously when I ignored G-d's wise words...
Thant is my mini-testimony, what is your mini-testimony for the place that you have arrived? and of course to let us know, is it a place that you would recommend that all humanity be?
Posted on April 4, 2006 9:10 AM
there are some of us who will not be as well-read and therefore well-rounded and intelligent as you...and yet there are many people who have already tried to rely on their own strongly-developed intellect as we seek answers in the search for truth and/or the truth...in my case, after spending half of my life making all of my own decisions purposefully ignoring whatever it is G-d might think, fortunately he drew me to him in a way that caused me to understand who He is and what his HOLY Word says...you have found a good place for yourself with yourself and it all makes sense to you...is your place the truth or is there no truth?...tell us from your highly intellectual point of view and tremendous number of years seeking through reading and listening what makes sense to you, and have you found that to be the truth?...
My 'big item' as you write above for wanting to look to the Bible was to know if there is absolute truth, and after a few years of study on both sides, I came to the belief and conclusion that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and further, that He is the only way...'humanity' makes so much more sense to me now than previously when I ignored G-d's wise words...
Thant is my mini-testimony, what is your mini-testimony for the place that you have arrived? and of course to let us know, is it a place that you would recommend that all humanity be?
Posted on April 4, 2006 9:11 AM
And another one knocking the idea that Pitts proposed.
I never read Pitts article as wanting to selectively interrpret scripture. What I read was that there are many ways of doing so and that there are disagreements.
Pitts, to me, was seeking to show that the teacher and similar minded people do not acknowledge the error in doing so. I did not read Pitts as saying that those people are wrong, just that they will find themselves in disagreement wtih others who interrept differently.
What I saw Pitts doing was showing how easily "selective" interreption/reading is done.
I find it difficult to grasp why so many others have not seen this in the original Pitts article. maybe a re-reading of it will help.
Shalom
Posted on April 4, 2006 1:21 PM
Whether we admit it or not, all of us who use the scriptures to help us find our way and to guide our lives do so selectively. Certain truths found in the Bible are self evident, some are open to interpretation. The theme of the New Testament is Love. It tells me that anything that I do that hurts another is wrong.
Posted on April 5, 2006 8:03 AM