Point is to not impose it

Published 2:25 pm Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Most of us have the decency to respect religious views. Especially those of us who value our churches. But many with religious ideas seem hell-bent on disrespectfully imposing their views on society. They rant about an imaginary war on Christianity. And any idea is ethical as long as it comes from the Bible.

But according to the Bible, women who are unfaithful to their husbands should be stoned. Those who have feelings for the same sex should deny those feelings lest God condemn them for eternity. God is also in favor, according to the Bible, of annihilating whole populations of unbelievers, women and children to be specific. This must be the same God that spoke to George W. Bush. And, my all time favorite: slaves should just buck up and show their masters respect.

Excuse my sarcasm but I feel I’m just being honest. No sacred book deserves a free ride. Millions of Christians believe that fundamentalists, who seem unable to process these contradictions in the Bible, often have a political/social philosophy that lacks basic human empathy to say nothing of the type of love Christ proposed. They talk like they have never even read the Sermon on the Mount. As Gandhi said: Everyone knows what Christ said, except Christians. The Bible calls Christ the Word of God. The concept that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God is, and always has been, patently absurd. I think that, regardless of their religious inclinations, voters should categorically reject any politician, particularly Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin (the Christian bookstore darling), who call for values that usually result in a world the majority of us just don’t want.

Rick Walker

Snohomish