The danger of misinterpreting the Bible . . .

Around the time that Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed the slaves, a lot of preachers were urging him not to do so.

In a climate in which even the United States Supreme Court declared that African Americans were only three-fifths human, America's preachers were called to action. But instead of preaching against the evils of slavery and helping bring an end to that damnable institution, our preachers did something shocking.

They quoted the Bible in defense of slavery.

They declared that it was God's will that people be kept in chains, as furniture. They said that it was ordained by God to be this way, that white men should own black men.

And those religious slave masters quoted the Bible to back up their claim, both the old and new testaments . . .

"And as for your male and female slaves whom you may have, from the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. Moreover you may buy the children of the strangers who sojourn among you, and their families who are with you, which they beget in your land; and they shall become your property." (Leviticus 25:44,45 <Old Testament>)

"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel. " (1 Peter 2:18 <New Testament>)

Slavery never was God's Plan. But try telling that to those men of God in the mid-1800's. They quoted the Bible better than anyone ever could, and lots of people believed them.

They abused the Bible by using it as a tool to prevent a particular group of people from achieving full civil rights.

Today, some preachers are abusing the Bible the same way that those racists abused it. Except now, they are abusing it to marginalize people who are gay and lesbian.

They are using it to try to stop gay and lesbian people from gaining their equal rights. They call it "special rights", all the while standing on the street corner, abusing the Bible and turning it into what it was never intended to be; a weapon of intolerance.

Both bigoted people and preachers almost always follow the same path. They place special emphasis on and give a lot of attention to those parts of the Bible that they want to believe, while ignoring and staying quiet about the parts that they find inconvenient.

Most people do not read the Bible first and then decide what they believe.

Whether they know that they are doing it or not, they already have beliefs inside their minds and then go through the Bible, feeling an affinity for verses that seem to justify those beliefs.

Many Christians have favorite verses in the Bible. Just ask any Christian what their "favorite verse" is and they will undoubtedly have one. Now just consider this for a moment: what does it say about a person who feels a special affinity for those misused anti-gay Bible verses?

Email us at: fallwellcomments@aol.com