"Inside every Jew, there is a Christian trying to get out."
--Matthew Duss
Posted by Matthew Duss on October 11, 2007 1:13 PM|Permalink|
COMMENTS (5)
I'm not sure of your point. Of course, as a liberal atheist, I don't like this idea -- but it really is a commonplace of Christian theology. Marvell, for example, uses it as a joke in To His Coy Mistress" (line 10).
I grew up in a liberal Christian tradition (the Episcopalian Church), and this was a source of real tension for me -- the church itself was tolerant, but I couldn't see where to find that tolerance in the Bible.
"I couldn't see where to find that tolerance in the Bible."
How about "Judge not, lest ye be judged," or the Beatitudes in Matthew which exhort that we should not look for the mote in the eye of others, when we have a log in our own? That could be interpreted as tolerance, right? The character of Jesus as written in the Bible comes across as tolerant, though that's not how he's portrayed by his supposed followers. I'm not Christian, but I do think the Bible can be read as a work of literature that promotes tolerance. People don't read it that way, though, because power is more seductive than tolerance.
Right, I was overreaching there. "Tolerance" is one thing, and it can be found in such fragments as you quote. But even Jesus says "I am the Way". The attitude Coulter is advocating is not, strictly speaking, intolerant -- those who have not signed on don't have to be extirpated or even shunned, but they really really ought to convert.
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COMMENTS (5)
I'm not sure of your point. Of course, as a liberal atheist, I don't like this idea -- but it really is a commonplace of Christian theology. Marvell, for example, uses it as a joke in To His Coy Mistress" (line 10).
I grew up in a liberal Christian tradition (the Episcopalian Church), and this was a source of real tension for me -- the church itself was tolerant, but I couldn't see where to find that tolerance in the Bible.
Posted by: Vance Maverick | October 11, 2007 1:50 PM
Didn't there use to be a preview feature for comments on this site? I wish I'd caught that missing quotation mark.
Posted by: Vance Maverick | October 11, 2007 1:52 PM
"I couldn't see where to find that tolerance in the Bible."
How about "Judge not, lest ye be judged," or the Beatitudes in Matthew which exhort that we should not look for the mote in the eye of others, when we have a log in our own? That could be interpreted as tolerance, right? The character of Jesus as written in the Bible comes across as tolerant, though that's not how he's portrayed by his supposed followers. I'm not Christian, but I do think the Bible can be read as a work of literature that promotes tolerance. People don't read it that way, though, because power is more seductive than tolerance.
Posted by: winer | October 11, 2007 3:47 PM
Right, I was overreaching there. "Tolerance" is one thing, and it can be found in such fragments as you quote. But even Jesus says "I am the Way". The attitude Coulter is advocating is not, strictly speaking, intolerant -- those who have not signed on don't have to be extirpated or even shunned, but they really really ought to convert.
Posted by: Vance Maverick | October 11, 2007 5:32 PM
"COULTER: Well, it's a lot easier. It's kind of a fast track."
I guess so if all you have to do is *be* Christian.
Posted by: Anonymous | October 11, 2007 10:10 PM