Conservative Ideology
I've read the entire Bible in three languages & in various versions beginning in 6th Grade. (I lost count of how many times after the first 8 systematic readings.) I've studied, translated, and taught it for decades. I've read commentaries, taught Sunday school, preached, listened to sermons, gone to conferences, graduated from seminary, and gone back for further study. The Bible does not jive with conservative ideologies. Yahweh's economics place people over profits. Yahweh's welcome is for outsiders. Jesus was killed by those clinging to the status quo of power structures, heritage, and culture. Jesus tells us to love one another, then goes beyond that, saying #LoveYourEnemies. The Bible is not about propping up power structures, upholding cultural traditions, or clinging to the old ways. It consistently calls us to embrace new categories of people we have yet to see as loved by God. It consistently demands that poverty be seen as an evil for wh...