Since I am a minister, I thought I'd share something I found from the Society of Biblical Literature regard the recent election and the talk about "moral values."
" The United States election of 2004 witnessed the emergence of "values," often referred to as "Christian values" or "biblical values," as key political issues. The "values" most commonly identified in public debates were the issues of gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research.
The Society of Biblical Literature, which is the largest international, professional association of teachers and scholars of the Bible, calls attention to the fact that the "values" so prominently and divisively raised in this 2004 U.S. election are not major concerns in the Bible, and in fact are not even directly addressed in the Bible. Rather, they tend to reflect the underlying problems of homophobia, misogyny, control of reproductive rights, and restraint of expression (including scientific research) in U.S. society today.
With over 7,000 members representing a broad range of political and religious leanings, the Society of Biblical Literature has fostered discussions of such fundamental problems against the background of biblical ethics and respect for all human beings. As many of our members have indicated in publications and lectures, the moral issues dominating the biblical texts focus instead on concerns such as the well-being of individuals, the integrity of community, care for the powerless and the vulnerable, economic justice, the establishment of peace, and the stewardship of the environment.
The Society of Biblical Literature urges citizens and political agencies to direct their energies toward securing these goals and values of well-being and responsibility."
While I might have a different view on how to achieve things like economic justice, care for the poor and the establishment of peace, I tend to agree with this statement. I'd love to know what others think.
Posted by Dennis at January 19, 2005 11:48 PMA really great read that points to the reason Bush's advisors led him to use the "moral values" platform, is the book American Dynasty, by Kevin Phillips. Advisors were schooling the Bush family on this rhetoric many years ago. According to Phillips, current advisor,Karl Rove, is a follower of Machiavelli and has convinced George Bush to also adhere to his teachings. They seem to believe that lying to the American people demonstrates their superior negotiating skills, their fantastic persuasive abilities, and their amazing power over all people. Oooh! Aren't we impressed?
Posted by: Teena at January 31, 2005 12:09 PMI'm in firm agreement with you. I don't know how the message of feeding and sheltering the poor and the weak, of being stewards of the earth, of tending to the sick, became filtered out of the Christian message. Well, I have an idea - something I wrote months ago may interest you: http://www.kudzufiles.com/archives/000305.html
I just don't believe Jesus came to bring us the Religious Right.
Posted by: Harry at January 20, 2005 08:19 PMMore evidence that religious conservatives are out of control...
Conservatives Pick Soft Target: A Cartoon Sponge
Don't most pro-lifers equate abortion with murder? I'm no bible scholar but I think there's something like "thow shalt not murder" in there.
Which is not to say I agree with this equation. Folk, as always, are going to hear what they want to hear and disregard the rest.
Posted by: Anonymous at January 20, 2005 09:19 AMThe Bible is a reflection of what was important to the people writing it at the time. The attempt by some to promote the bible as the authoritative word of god is simply moronic. Anyone that has read the bible without a religious bias towards christianity would wonder how someone could draw such a conclusion.
EG is 100% on this. Morals have nothing to do with religion other than religion being used to provide "guidance" for those that cant determine a good set of values on their own.
Posted by: mike at January 20, 2005 06:32 AMI never accepted 'moral values' to equate as 'Christian values.' That is, one can be moral but not a Christian but not vice versa.
Secondly, most Americans who call themselves Christians cannot name the four gospels (I believe the number is 25%). I believe that is less than the percent that say they attend church services weekly. So we can assume biblical scholarship is not a high priority among American Christians.
Posted by: EG at January 20, 2005 05:49 AM