The Cruelest Misinterpretations of the Bible



Different interpretations of the Bible are almost endless. We have hundreds, maybe thousands, of branches of the faith.

There are a few interpretations that were and remain harmful to our society. They are ones that jumped from the faith into government and affected society at large. Harm has come from them.

Slavery was one of them. High on the list of justifications for slavery was that important characters referred to in the Bible had slaves. Even the Ten Commandments refers to slavery without criticism. Using religious justification was so effective slavery survived for a hundred years in the U.S. It is say to think there were three to four generations of people who were held as slaves before the Civil War.

Currently, same sex relations are viewed by some as a Christian taboo. Some Christians treat religious condemnation of homosexuality as self evident. They site Bible verses and claim these are clearly religious condemnations. This is far from the truth but it has resulted in suicide rates and alcoholism among gay people higher than average. Condemnation of black people and gays has caused harm and accomplished nothing.

The absurd claim that one fertilized human egg is a human being is another cruel misinterpretation. Ultimately, a law establishing this notion would imprison many thousands of young women. Yet, experience tells us it would not reduce the number of abortions.

Keeping strange ideas of Christianity from jumping over into government and harming members of the public is a goal all of us should endorse.


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