'Sacred writings' have long been distorted to suit purpose of time
Posted By
Posted 3 months ago
Re: "St. Paul's United praised for welcoming same-sex couples," letter to the editor, Friday, Nov. 6, Wayne Mumford.
As Wayne Mumford congratulated St. Paul's United Church for welcoming same sex-couples, he calls for the expunging of homophobia, misogyny and anti-Semitism from Christian thought and the Bible. Many would claim that the Christian Bible does not promote any of those ideas.
Surprisingly, Mumford did not call for similar expunging for the Qur'an and Muslims, the Tanakh and Judaism, The Book of Mormon and Mormons, and Guru Teachings such as Granth Sahib in Sihkism.
This call for change to Christianity is repeated frequently these days, which reminds me of the saying, "History repeats itself." Throughout history, people have distorted their "sacred writings" and accumulated "ancient wisdom" to complement personal goals, societal mores or to satisfy the desires of a king.
This similarly happened in the 16th and 17th centuries when the Catholic church wanted people such as Galileo to conform their scientific research and findings to the beliefs held by "The Church" at that time in history.
Specific to Christianity, if scripture contains truth as many believe, it is foolishness to disregard or rewrite centuries of writings and wisdom.
It is very unlikely that the Christian early church fathers such as Chrysostom, Basil the Great, Eusebius, Cyprian and Clement would be congratulating the congregation at St. Paul's today.
As with most religions, it is every individual's responsibility to pick up their sacred writings and study them within the context of an entire passage. For many today, that task is far too daunting or time consuming, and they become dependent upon the opinions or statements of others.
If it is true that every person is equal in God's eyes, and that there is a heaven and hell, it is only logical that our creator only judges our thoughts, decisions and our actions. Judgment is an active and common theme for all religions, and we don't get to make the rules.
Heaven and hell, karma and reincarnation, reaching nirvana are some examples in world religions that defines the rewards or consequences of how one lives their life.
It boils down to what Jack Palance used to say on Ripley'sBelieve it, or not!
Randy Baker, Orillia
