In yesterday's case, President Obama said, " ...in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
The bolded words from the quote above come from 1 Corinthians 13:11. Here's what it says with some context: "8Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away9For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.11When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.12For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
The paraphrased scripture that Obama used was clearly taken out of context. I really have no idea why he had to use Scripture in the first place. It's like he decided that he needed to appeal to the Christians, so he picked some random verse. He, of course, fit it nicely into his speech. I still don't really understand why he used it.
You can't just pick and choose scripture to suit your needs...to appeal to Christians....or whatever his motive was. Scripture must be read in context...otherwise we would be stoning our children for disobedience. Why couldn't he have used "the time has come to set aside childish things" and left scripture out of it? To me, it is just disrespectful to God and Scripture and undermines Christians as people who read scripture only at the surface.
Since he likes using scripture in his speeches, maybe he can use some to back up the last part of the quote above about our God-given promise. Hmmm????
This sort of thing angers me to the very core of my being.
Now, I have many other "gripes" about his speech, but I will spare you...for now. This one, however, was one of the biggest issues for me.
Oh, and for all you people out there who think we just need to be more tolerant of each other...don't forget, that means you too.
"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." Thomas Jefferson
2 comments:
Brad and I chatted about this last night.
Though I might not agree with you entirely in faith and in politics, you make a good point. I listened to Obama's speech live and then again on NPR.
When we read scripture at church {we attend an Episcopal Church}, we read the entire passage. Brad has mentioned that this was not always the case during Catholic Mass.
Thanks for your comment. I wasn't trying to be nit-picky about his speech, but that's one of the things I just can't tolerate-just flippantly using scripture like that.
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