[Daniel]

I've been musing on the matter of belief, a phenomena unto itself. It's a very interesting thing to 'believe' and organize one's life around what is written for a culture several thousand years hence. I mean- do we believe something just because it is old? Perhaps. Is that a bad thing? I guess it would depend on what one's beliefs are.

My thought is this: for a country which many think of as a Christan Nation- and one that follows ancient texts, we do a very poor job of taking care or the elderly- the ancient among us- those with the wisdom of their years. In fact, our nation makes a point of idolizing youth- which knows next to nothing. Why is that? It seems very strange to me. In like fashion, it seems like there is an idolization of scripture- that which is old - a worshiping of the letter of the law rather than it's spirit. And what about 'young' information? That is often tossed out. Very strange too. Do we go to doctors who aren't knowledgable about the lastest treatments? Do we ignore the lastest findings in research and study? Or course not! Then why- I ask you- do we do this with respect to gay people? No! The lilteralist ignores everything but those 8 verses. He/she will cling to them for dear life. Doing this seems like a sure fire way to project ones fears and yes- hatred- on to others. My sense is that real belief would act other than it does.

Whom does this serve? Only the one with the rigid views. And literalists- I would say- are rigid in their beliefs.

Have you known a literalist to be rather flexible about biblical matters?

I think not. I was at an AoG school, I can remember first hand: those who screamed the loudest had hearts of stone.

Is there a disagreement brewing here? Or is there a desire for understanding and commonality? Is this another case of legalistic thinking- is this going to be about who has the 'right' understanding of scripture?

The pharisee's thought they were 'right' too. And Christ has some pretty harsh thing to say about them.

Literalists take note.