11AR16-19

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Apologia Report 16:19 (1,069)

June 2, 2011

Subject: Is religious "disrespect" equivalent to racism?

In this issue:

ETERNAL PUNISHMENT - a great resource for the Rob Bell controversy

OLD TESTAMENT - was God "behaving badly?"

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM - secular book rejects the idea that "to disrespect someone's religious beliefs is itself a kind of racism"

RELIGIOUS IDENTITY - what makes someone a Hindu or a Jew?

SCIENTOLOGY - Rolling Stone editor throws the book at the church

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM - mapping the Sabbath-day minefield

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ETERNAL PUNISHMENT

What about Rob Bell? We too have noticed the media frenzy, the evangelical gone bad spin, and the deeper issue: younger Christians who question the eternal price for sin. In response, we'd encourage you to visit <www.tinyurl.com/6z9um5o> and after you're done, check out the rest of the content on the host site.

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OLD TESTAMENT

God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? by David T. Lamb1 – "In this welcome analysis of what he calls the 'bad reputation' of Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, biblical scholar Lamb confronts head-on scriptural passages from which readers have drawn negative conclusions about Yahweh's nature. Addressing arguments and examples that buttress atheists' 'anti-God sentiment' and prompt Christians to distinguish between Yahweh and the New Testament's Jesus, Lamb wrestles with texts that portray Yahweh as arbitrary and violent. He examines their literary, biblical, and cultural contexts, and explores ways that contradictory images 'can be faithfully reconciled without downplaying the tensions.' Thoughtfully explicating troubling passages, such as Yahweh smiting Uzzah for touching the Ark or Lot offering his daughters to be raped, Lamb cites cross-cultural comparisons and offers analogies (for example, he equates the Ark's danger potential with plutonium, necessitating rules for handling). While emphasizing the overarching witness of the Bible that God is 'slow to anger,' Lamb encourages readers to probe disturbing passages with an open mind, read feminist theologians, and engage in prayerful conversation. Some analyses prove more compelling than others; nevertheless, this book will challenge, comfort, and provoke reflection." Publishers Weekly, May '11, n.p.6

Lamb also considers accusations that God is violent and legalistic. The broad "God of wrath" topic needs regular treatment. Lamb's creative approach is right in step with those who typically ask these questions today.

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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism, by Paul Cliteur2 – "Cliteur's book begins with the widening gulf between secular society and fundamentalism and the growing problem of religious violence – issues that inform the early years of the 21st century. Given the Rushdie affair, the murder of Theo van Gogh, and the furor over the Danish cartoons of Muhammad, thinkers must be clear about the possible limits of free speech, especially when some people argue that to disrespect someone's religious beliefs is itself a kind of racism. Cliteur (Univ. of Leiden, the Netherlands) considers all the arguments concerning atheism, agnosticism, and freethinking in general, and in so doing reviews a considerable amount of scholarly (and popular) literature. He also gives readers his own views: religious violence is intolerable, but self-censoring simply to avoid offending those with religious sensibilities would be a mistake. And one cannot separate the 'essence' of any religion from the ways in which its practitioners have interpreted it. Cliteur's book is timely and well written. It covers some very recent events, and offers coherent – if sometimes impatient – perspectives on religion from the secular standpoint." Choice, Apr '11, n.p.4

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RELIGIOUS IDENTITY

"Become a Hindu to marry a Hindu: Supreme Court" by Rakesh Bhatnagar – "If a Muslim woman plans to tie the knot with a Hindu man she should convert before marriage, otherwise the alliance could be declared illegal in the eye of the Hindu Marriage Act.

"This edict came from the Supreme Court on Thursday in case of an [Indian Air Force] officer who had appealed for divorce from a Muslim woman who also had two kids from her first marriage. She was a Hindu before her last marriage.

"The young officer had met the woman on board a flight to Hyderabad from Delhi. They got married at his native place in Rajasthan. But the relationship soured and the IAF officer sought dissolution of the marriage on the ground that his wife was a Muslim at the time of marriage. The plea was accepted and the marriage was declared void.

"But the woman produced evidence in a higher court that she was a Hindu before her first marriage and thus there was no violation of the Hindu Marriage Act." DNA India (Daily News & Analysis), May 13 '11, <www.j.mp/itRn5P>

Compare with "Who Is a Jew?" (Wikipedia): <www.j.mp/Wn6vZ>

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SCIENTOLOGY

Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, by Janet Reitman3 – "Anyone who missed the recent investigative accounts of the Church of Scientology will benefit from this exhaustive history of the controversial sect. A contributing editor at Rolling Stone, Reitman has expanded on her 13,000-word story on Scientology, which ran in 2006 [www.j.mp/hG1SsI], to produce a detailed and readable examination of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church, and his successor, David Miscavige. The book is rife with astonishing accounts of the abuses of power, the purges, and the climate of fear and intimidation commonplace in the top ranks of the organization." Publishers Weekly, May '11, n.p.6

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SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM

"Cherry Picking the Commandments" by Scott Klusendorf – the summary reads: "Evangelicals who engage Seventh-day Adventists on the question of Sabbath observance are stepping into a minefield if they don't first clarify the nature of the Mosaic law and its relationship to Christians today."

After a brief historical introduction, Klusendorf discusses the Adventist case for a seventh-day Sabbath and how it centers on "fundamental questions about the scope of the law, its purpose in the new covenant, and whether we can distinguish between those aspects that are morally binding (eternal) and those that are not." Nicely done. Christian Research Journal, 34:2 - 2011, pp19-25.5

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist? by David T. Lamb (IVP, 2011, paperback, 205 pages) <www.j.mp/jWORRv>

2 - The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism, by Paul Cliteur (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, paperback, 328 pages) <www.j.mp/lK5qtY>

3 - Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, by Janet Reitman (Houghton Mifflin, 2011, hardcover, 464 pages) <www.j.mp/fC3s9Q>

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