On NPR this morning, a woman was being interviewed about her concerns about the election, and the divided state of the country. Her remarks were very telling, and reflect a lot of the sentiment I hear from those on the left... and also reflect a GREAT blindness to Scriptural truth.
Among the things she said was the following series of comments:
"Religion should have no place in public life. The Bible shouldn't dictate people's lives. We all just need to listen to our hearts to know what's right. Just go with your gut - then we'd be more unified."
Her comments show the real blindness with respect to Christianity that so many people have. What in the world is the place of the Bible in one's life if it does NOT serve as a guide? What's the Bible for, otherwise? I honestly am totally and completely flummoxed at what she thinks the Bible would be for, in her ideal world.
Of course we don't need to debate what would happen if everyone just "listened to their hearts" to determine what is right. For the most part, I believe this is already what we have going on, but if followed to a fuller degree, chaos that we already see would simply worsen. It's clear that she simply thinks "all people are good", and that we can all naturally come to a "good" consensus.
She is clearly utterly blind to the true nature of humanity (but then that's no surprise, just sad).
I sat listening to her comments, not in disbelief, but in sad acceptance of the point of view she expressed. She's simply acting as the blind and deaf do in the Scriptures. Seeing, she doesn't see. Hearing she doesn't hear. An acceptance of anything outside yourself as an authority is to be cast off like chains of slavery. No wonder Bush seems to them to be a right-wing Christian zealot. I shudder to think of how my points of view - political and Biblical would be regarded.