Quit Lying-No American takes the Bible literally

A certain North Carolina pastor got his fifteen minutes of fame when he said gay people should be fenced off somewhere until they eventually die off. He stood his moral high ground, however, and stated, “I’ve got a King James Bible. I’ve been a pastor for 53 years. Do you think I’m going to bail on this?”

The pastor not only had a Bible, he had a King James Bible. The terrible irony, of course, is that King James was gay. King James’ “favorites” did not seem to bother people so much on moral grounds as on political-he tended to put them in positions of authority for which they were highly unqualified, as was the case with the handsome Duke of Buckingham.

The concept of submitting to the king, because he is the Lord’s anointed, has obviously been thoroughly rejected by American Christians on the grounds that we don’t like kings. Yet there are more scriptures urging submission to kings than there are on homosexuality.

For example, David said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.” (1 Samuel 24:6) and “Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” (1 Samuel 26:9) David’s military leader, Abishai, thought cursing the king should be a capital offense, “Shall not Shimei be put to death for this, because he has cursed the Lord’s anointed?” (2^nd Samuel 19:21)

There are many other Bible passages that urge unconditional submission to whoever is in authority on the grounds that God put them there. If they took the Bible literally, the major political activity Christians should be engaged in is restoring an anointed monarch over the U.S.A.  After all, the U.S.A. was born in rebellion against a king and is therefore cursed, right? Rebellion is a serious sin which will bring disaster, right? (1 Samuel 15:23)

Then again, Ted Cruz’s pastor daddy says his son is the Lord’s Anointed to bring about the “end times transfer of wealth” so let’s get in line with that King James Bible, brethren and sisterns, and back King Teddy the First.

Alternatively, let’s admit we pick and choose which parts of the Bible to take literally and which parts to take figuratively. Who decides which is which? Admit it-we do. We choose as individuals, and I think that is fine.