Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Barack Obama and "Distortions"

Barack Obama distorted the bible? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but doesn't just about every single preacher do that? Religion is largely based on religions leaders interpreting ancient texts (the Bible, the Torah, or the Koran) and presenting them to people in such a way that they decide that your interpretation is the best one and the one that makes the most sense to each individual - and then those people give you money. Whether these interpretations are "distortions" or not is a judgement call. One man's distortion is another man's interpretation. Senator Obama read the bible and picked out a passage and mentioned it in a speech, including an interpretation of what he thinks it means. How is that different than Reverend John Doe picking out the same passage and using it in a sermon on Sunday, providing his own interpretation of the passage? Isn't the entire reason for different sects of religions (Islam - Suni and Shia; Christianity - Catholic, Protestant; Judaism - Hasidic, Reform) the differing interpretations of their religious texts? Even within religious sects like Protestants there are sub-sects like Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc.


I guess my point is this for this Dobson fella: calling out someone for "distorting" the Bible is really treading on shaky ground. If you are going to call out Senator Obama for distorting the Bible, you better start calling out every clergyman in the country for distortion as well. He just didn't like Obama's interpretation. To Senator Obama, perhaps Dobson's view is a "distortion." Pot, meet kettle.


I hate hypocrisy. I'm outraged at Dobson's outrage.

2 comments:

Brandman said...

It's just ridiculous rhetoric.

Like Kipling said, words that are "twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools."

Anonymous said...

What are you talking about? I am sure you will see there is only one true interepretation of the Bible if you just look in any of the following 21 different versions of the Bible...

1. 21st Century King James Version
2. American Standard Version
3. Amplified Bible
4. Contemporary English Version
5. Darby Translation
6. Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. (with Apocrypha)
7. English Standard Version
8. Holman Christian Standard Bible
9. King James Version
10. New American Standard Bible
11. New Century Version
12. New International Reader's Version
13. New International Version
14. New International Version
15. New King James Version
16. New Life Version
17. New Living Translation
18. The Message
19. Today's New International Version
20. Wycliffe New Testament
21. Young's Literal Translation