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Monday, January 14, 2013

The American Holy War

In response to the anti-Bible rant on MSNBC's “The Last Word” hosted by Lawrence O’Donnell, I would like to mention a few important points that Mr. O'Donnell seemed to have missed. Mr. O'Donnell's main point was that the Bible has no role in the Inauguration Day ceremonies. He said and I quote:


“As I’ve pointed out in many previous episodes of the politics of religion, no one accepts all of the teachings of the Bible. No one! There are no literal followers, of, the word of God, as presented in the bible, left on earth. if there were any, they would have to be burning people at the stake, all day, everyday. For example, the Bible, orders that prostitutes be burned at the stake, the bible, orders, that the penalty for adultery is death, the bible orders that the penalty for not observing the Sabbath, is death! The bible has more death penalties in it then Texas law, and there is no Bible thumping church in, the, world, that follows the word of God, on all of those death penalties. Not one! Still, the president, following one of our most absurdist traditions in the government, that invented the separation of church and state, will put his hand on this book filled with things he does not believe, filled with things that no one in the United States of America believes, and with his hand on this book he will recite the oath of office.”

 
 
Let me start by saying, it is the absolute height of hypocrisy to use select quotes from the Bible in order to try and prove Christians to be hypocrites of their own beliefs, especially when you have not bothered to actually read the bible and more importantly do not grasp the most basic principles that it contains. This is what my wife calls, a Google Bible Scholar. Mr. O'Donnell says that no one accepts all of the teachings of the Bible. With this statement alone, we know that Mr. O'Donnell has no idea of what he is talking about. Putting aside the fact that excepting something and following something are completely different, I will attempt to help correct Mr. O'Donnell of his ignorance. There are two parts of the Bible. What O'Donnell quoted in Leviticus 18:22 is from the old testament, as is all of the parts that condone the killing of sinners. During his anti-Bible rant It seems that Mr. O'Donnell completely left out the part about Christ, and seeing that we call ourselves Christians, that would seem to me, quite an omission, however, after watching O'Donnell, and MSNBC news in general, it is obvious that this is nothing new to their style of News.
 
When Christ died on the cross he took on himself the sins of man. With that sacrifice there was a fundamental break from traditional Judaism. Meaning we went from condemnation under the Law to sanctification by Grace, through faith. Mr. O'Donnell we no longer kill prostitutes, sacrifice animals and we can eat pork sandwiches everyday if we choose, while still being in perfect harmony with our beliefs. You are correct in one thing, however, we as people could not, and cannot, follow the "Law" as written in the bible but what you also failed to understand, and what Google obviously did not explain to you, is that this was the very reason Christ came in the first place. Christians do not live by the "law" we live by Grace through faith. For me to explain this may be a waste of time, for the Bible also says that people like you, Mr. O'Donnell, will not be able to discern the truth anyway and it only strengthens my faith to see just how true that is.
 
O'Donnell's entire rant came about after Pastor Louie Giglio was removed from giving the benediction at President Obama's inauguration ceremony, for preaching a sermon 15 years ago on what his faith, according to the Bible, dictated. The question people like Mr. O'Donnell are constantly asking, is what parts of the old testament do Christians follow and what parts have changed since the sacrifice of Christ? This is usually the source of their arguments and is where they always attempt to find select quotes in order to villainize Christians as hypocrites. What these Google Bible scholars don't realize is that the Bible actually requires that someone honestly seek the truth in order for that person to find it.
 
I pondered how to explain this issue between the old and new testament without writing out the Bible myself, because it explains things far better then I could. But seeing that it is highly doubtful O'Donnell and those like him will go to the trouble of actually reading the Bible, I will make a short attempt at the basic idea. When asked what is the most important commandment in the Word of God, Christ answered, "Love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and Love your neighbor as your self." No Christian is perfect but millions of us not only except the Bible, we actually follow the Bible perfectly, even if we sin, and we all sin. Those two Laws now reside in our hearts Mr. O'Donnell and really encompass all of the Biblical Laws we follow today. Here is an example: "Thou shall not steal". You cannot love your neighbor if you steal from him. We are now longer bound by the law in the old testament because Jesus fulfilled the law.
 
Mr. O'Donnell slanders the Bible and a good pastor for his faith, because they do not align with his own lack there of. He accuses Christians of using parts of the Bible and disregarding the rest, while he does that very thing to try and prove Christians as hypocrites. All the while, missing the most obvious fact of all, being that there was no such thing as a Christian before Christ. One of the most outlandish of O'Donnell's claims against the Bible, is that because there are different interpretations of the Bible, it has changed. In short, he is saying that because we change words to accommodate a more modern vocabulary, the unchanging word of God has changed. Mr. O'Donnell, the Bible is written in Hebrew and Greek and has not changed in over two thousands years. As a news reporter (I use the term very loosely) I would think that you would know that there are several words that can mean the same thing or express the same idea, even if you do not know how to interrupt Hebrew and Greek. You see Mr. O'Donnell, when a non-Christian holds up a Bible in condemnation of Christians, he holds himself up as the absolute king of hypocrites, because even Christians who use the law to judge, are judged themselves by that measure.
 
This one-sided view of morality is also making MSNBC's grandstanding on gun control just as hypocritical. While tearing down the Bible as a moral guide, it then turns around and blames the inanimate gun for the moral sickness of the man who shoots it. By not putting the two together, it allows them never to face their own lack of morality. It gives them something else to blame, that conveniently aligns it self with their political agenda. The reason we put our hand on the Bible is because it is a moral standard far above man and while we can never live up to that lofty standard, Christ made it possable for us to receive the free gift of grace and with that gift, we find we want to follow His higher standard and we repent, when we fall short. If our greatest standard is only that of man, we will do just as man's nature dictates and as we can see by the shooting at Sandy Hook, that standard has major flaws. If a man has no faith, believes that once he dies there is nothing else, then the decision to murder others, before killing himself, carries no consequences past death.
 
O'Donnell had the audacity to say that "no one accepts all of the teachings of the Bible. No one. ”
 
The fact that O'Donnell has deemed himself the spokesman for what Christians believe is laughable, given the massive ignorance he displayed in his overtly anti-Christian political rant
 
Mr. O'Donnell you are right about one other thing. Our president should not use the Bible in the upcoming Inauguration. No one who is paying any attention to what the President has done or said believes for a moment that Obama is a Christian or that he believes in the Bible. Sadly Obama should be sworn in with his hand on the Koran. With that thought in mind it begs the question, why haven't we heard you ranting about the Islamic faith. You said, and I quote "there is no Bible thumping church in, the, world, that follows the word of God on all of those death penalties". While Muslims are Not Christians they do in fact follow all of those death penalties and it's members, even now, are brutally murdering woman and Christians. You don't seem to have a problem with that, in fact it never even came up in your grossly inaccurate monologue.
 
I will leave you with a Bible verse that actually does apply Mr. O'Donnell, it seems to have been written for you and MSNBC in general.
 
2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
 
Joe Roy
twitter @TheLibertyJoe
 
Mandeville, La


3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Again Joe, great article, well done. I finished it after all.

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  3. You bring up some great points. You also add humor to it 'we can eat pork sandwiches every day' made me laugh. A wonderfully written article. Also there is the point of the old and new testament. People also don't seem to realize that God gave man free will to decide where he should spend eternity.

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