The Bible has been used and abused as a weapon in human arguments since – well, biblical times. It was certainly invoked by both sides during the Civil War, argues Henry Brinton, pastor of the Fairfax [VA] Presbyterian Church, a Covenant congregation, in a recent opinion piece in USA Today.
Both northern and southern pastors defended their positions on slavery with ample biblical citations.
The Bible should indeed inform our thoughts and decisions, says Brinton; but it is all too easy and too common to use it to score points in human disagreements – including over same-gender relationships, ecology, and the death penalty.
