The Religious Right Has Always Been Wrong

As political parties woo the so-called "evangelical voter" and the coveted influence of the Religious Right in this election cycle, American culture still struggles to understand the belief system and worldview generated by biblical literalism.

There is however, an individual whose example all Christians should follow in resisting the methods and philosophies of the Religious Right. That person is none other than Jesus Christ himself.

A close read of the New Testament reveals how vehemently Jesus resisted the Religious Right of his day. Jesus fought with religious leaders who were using literal translations of scripture to generate wealth and power for themselves by controlling the faith of others. In Mark 7 Jesus is shown chastising a group of corrupt priests who have twisted faith to their own gain by turning selected portions of the Torah into literal laws and practices their subjects had to follow: "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."Jesus was angry that by turning scripture into law the religious authorities of his day had gotten people to focus on the material, not spiritual expression of faith in their lives.

Jesus also sternly warned his own disciples not to engage in literalism when interpreting his message and teachings. The book of Mark also shows Jesus lecturing his disciples not to take his parables literally: "After he (Jesus) had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable he used to educate some of the religious authorities of his day. "Are you so dull?" he asked." Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean?' For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, then out of his body. What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean."

The main battle for Jesus in communicating his message and ministry was to fight literalism at every turn. Should we not respect that message so clearly communicated in the Bible and apply this lesson to Christian faith today?

Biblical scholarship abides by the maxim that one can only test scripture with scripture. If that is the case, then biblical literalism fails miserable as a foundation for true faith. Here's why:

1)
Jesus chastised religious leaders of his day for their application of a literal and legalistic interpretation of scripture.
2)
Jesus admonished his disciples for missing the meaning of his parables and taking his message literally.
3)
Jesus taught principally through parables that were highly symbolic as the means to convey spiritual principles to everyday people through earthly examples.
4)
The Bible communicates almost everything it says about God through symbolism (metonymy) based on organic sources.

These four foundations of true biblical theology form a "scriptural matrix" that calls into question the practice of interpreting the bible literally. By extension, this scriptural matrix also debunks ideas derived from literal biblical interpretation. Thus the scriptural matrix and the case it makes against biblical literalism should be the litmus test for any proposed introduction of Christian principles into the public forum. Compare this foundation to that promoted by web sites such as answersingenesis.org and study the activities of the Religious Right today.

The conclusion we draw here is that biblical literalism should never be used to determine the beliefs and contentions of Christian faith. Christians need to remember how adamantly Jesus opposed religious literalism and its ensuing rigidity. If Christians hope to evangelize legitimate beliefs to a free society, the least the faith can do is get their own biblical house in order. Otherwise the faith can be used to persecute people and despoil the environment through a misguided belief system Jesus himself would not embrace. The phrase "What Would Jesus Do" popularized years ago was designed to help people think about the role religion should play in their lives. According to the Bible, Jesus did not support the Religious Right in his day. Nor would he support the Religious Right of today.