Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

I’m really struggling with trying to understand how people who say they are followers of Jesus Christ can justify being for abortion.  Can someone show me from the Bible how you arrived at that decision?  I don’t want to hear it is complex or I’m personally against it but who am I to tell a woman about her body. What about the unborn baby’s choice? I want to know how a follower of Jesus Christ can justify taking an innocent life?  I’m not talking about those outside the faith, I’m talking about those who claim Jesus as the leader of their life.  From the Bible, how do you justify abortion?

I’m not trying to pick a fight.  I just don’t get it.  I don’t see how killing a life honors God.  I can’t grasp how many believers think it is no big deal.  Please help me understand your thinking.  I won’t bash your view, I just want to try to get it.

What do you think?

[CW Newz]

New PBS documentary called ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ says, Abraham didn’t exist? The Exodus didn’t happen? William Dever, an archaeologist who specializes in Israel’s history says, “It challenges the Bible’s stories if you want to read them literally, and that will disturb many people, but it explains how and why these stories ever came to be told in the first place, and how and why they were written down.”

The program says the Bible was written in the sixth century BC and that hundreds of authors contributed. “At least the first five books of the Bible come together during the Babylonian exile,” says producer Gary Glassman.

The program challenges long-held beliefs. Abraham, Sarah and their offspring probably didn’t exist, says Carol Meyers, a religion professor at Duke University.

Read more here.

[From me]

If someone wants to believe that and make a TV documentary then get advertisers and put it on the History Channel.  My only beef with this is “My” tax dollars went to make this and I don’t like it.  I don’t even understand why we still have PBS.

What do you think?

[Houston Chronicle]

Local school districts got a green light Friday to offer high school students an elective Bible course without the specific state standards that some contend are necessary to guide well-intentioned teachers from straying into religious proselytizing.

State Board of Education members argued about whether they were obligated to establish specific state standards for the new course approved by state lawmakers last year or allow the 1,039 independent school districts to set up their own course, using existing general guidelines from English and social studies classes.

The argument focused on legislative intent. In the end, the board’s coalition of social conservatives prevailed, 10-5. Some religious experts immediately expressed dismay.

Read more here.

[From me]

I don’t know if this is a good idea.  Sure, if a teacher is an accomplished Bible scholar it would be good. But what about having an atheist, Buddhist or Mormon teaching the Bible?  I wouldn’t want my child being taught by someone who wasn’t empowered by the Holy Spirit.  The Bible is meant for teaching at home and church or private Christian school.  I had a non-believer teach a class on Christians in History while I was at UAB and it was very slanted against Christianity.

What do you think?

[USA Today]

Bradley LaShawn Fowler of Canton, Mich., is seeking $60 million from Zondervan, based in Cascade Township, and $10 million from Nashville-based Thomas Nelson Publishing.

Fowler filed the suit in federal court against Zondervan on July 7, the same day U.S. District Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr. refused to appoint an attorney to represent him in his case against Thomas Nelson.

Fowler filed a suit against Thomas Nelson in June. He is representing himself in both claims. 

“The Court has some very genuine concerns about the nature and efficacy of these claims,” the judge wrote.

Fowler, 39, alleges Zondervan’s Bibles referring to homosexuality as a sin have made him an outcast from his family and contributed to physical discomfort and periods of “demoralization, chaos and bewilderment.”

Read more here.

[From me]

Why don’t overweight people sue for the references on gluttony?  How about the National Enquire suing for the verses on gossip?  Why not have Budweiser sue about the verse on being drunk?  Why not Mothers Against Drunk Driving sue for the verses where Paul tells Timothy to drink a little wine?  

I get convicted daily when I read the Bible.  I’m not going to sue–I’m going to change my life to become more like Jesus.   I hope the ACLU backs the publishers!

What do you think?

[HT] Bill Grandi & Ruth Turner

[WBAL & WND]

Public schools in Somerset County, MD will no longer allow the Gideons on school grounds to distribute Bibles.

For years, The Gideons, an international Christian organization, has been passing out Bibles to interested fifth-graders. But Stephanie Kayhan says when she moved to the county three years ago, she was shocked by the Bible distribution.

Kayhan says she is a practicing Christian, but she is against Bibles being passed out on school grounds because it blurs the line between church and state. She contacted the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU then wrote a letter to the school board, stating that the distribution was unconstitutional.

About the Bibles, she said: “I don’t have a problem with them, I have a problem with them being in the schools.

Supporters of the Bible giveaways say no child was ever forced to take one.

Read more here and here.

[From me]

I remember getting my Gideon Bible when I was in 5th grade.  No one forced me to take it.  I don’t get why a Christian woman would go to this extreme.  

What do you think?