May 15, 2013 by David K. Sutton
That’s What The Bible Says
Many religious zealots absolve their bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia by uttering the phrase “that’s what the Bible says.” It is supposed to seal the deal. It’s the word of God. End of story. “Hey, it is not me talking, it is God.”
But this is not what the Bible says, it’s how it reads. Or more importantly, it’s how a bigoted person chooses to read it. — It’s not what the Bible says, it’s how bad people choose to interpret the Bible so they can continue being bad people. — It’s not what the Bible says, it’s the means of bigoted people to treat other human beings poorly, often with impunity.
Religion doesn’t get you off the hook. The Bible is not an excuse. Discrimination and intolerance are unacceptable whatever form they take. I don’t care what your Bible says or what your God says, if you are putting people down, treating others disgracefully, you fail as a human being. You cannot hide your narrow-mindedness, your sexism, your racism, and all your other biases behind scripture.
