Can't we distill it one more time?Let me add this to what I said below:
"The faith passes, so to speak, through a distiller and becomes ideology," he said, according to Radio Vatican. "And ideology does not beckon [people]. In ideologies there is not Jesus: in his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. "And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought... For this reason Jesus said to them: ‘You have taken away the key of knowledge.' The knowledge of Jesus is transformed into an ideological and also moralistic knowledge, because these close the door with many requirements. The faith becomes ideology and ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances of the Church of the people," Francis added. "But it is a serious illness, this of ideological Christians. It is an illness, but it is not new, eh?"I am not accusing Lucy Duncan of committing ideology; I'm thinking rather of her topic, of the abuse of Scripture; and ideology certainly plays a strong part there. The basic ideology which is so abusive is the idea that Scripture is universal, is applicable to all and a solution for all things. That is the "distilling" which the Pope speaks of; in my application, the reducing of Scripture to a thing, an object, even a weapon.
If it is, instead, the Word of God, it needs to be handled rather differently from other things. And the first thing to do, is not to try to distill it.
Probably my Quaker background and bias, but I wish people at the very least would see Scripture as a guideline or inspiration, rather than a weapon, as you say, to beat up people they don't like (the Gays, the Poors, the Liberals). Don't use it as an excuse for your shitty policy stance on SNAP, etc.
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