Separation of Church and Scripture

How Christians lost sight of the Bible’s central message

“There’s no love like Christian hate”, goes the phrase popularised by Christianity’s critics but seemingly adopted as a motto by many conservative adherents of the religion. History is littered with examples of Christianity being used as a vehicle of, and justification for, extreme cruelty — look no further than the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, or how the Bible was used to justify the continuation of slavery in the 19th Century.

But anyone unfamiliar with this long, shameful history need look no further than the last few months, to see this in practice. In the face of record economic inequality, multiple refugee crises and a climate emergency, many Christians have largely ignored those issues, in favour of focusing their ire on pretty much anyone they can marginalise and other.

Heck, the last few months alone have been testament enough of this. Over a dozen Republican governors this year have introduced cruel ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills that ban discussion of LGBT issues in schools. Those same Governors also sought to restrict — or even outright ban, in some cases — access to legal abortion in their states; a move that, history shows, will not meaningfully decrease the number of abortions, only the number of safe ones. More…