More Faulty Exegesis from Jeremiah Wright.
Another excerpt from the Bill Moyers interview with Jeremiah Wright of the Chicago Trinity United Church of Christ.
"I had members who lost loved ones both at the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center. So, I know the pain. And I had to preach to them Sunday. I had to preach. They came to church wanting to know where is God in this. And so, I had to show them using that Psalm 137, how the people who were carried away into slavery were very angry, very bitter, moved and in their anger from wanting revenge against the armies that had carried them away to slavery, to the babies. That Psalm ends up sayin', 'Let's kill the baby-let's bash their heads against the stone.' So, now you move from revolt and revulsion as to what has happened to you, to you want revenge. You move from anger with the military to taking it out on the innocents. You wanna kill babies. That's what's going on in Psalm 137. And that's exactly where we are."
I'm going to give another quote to combat this one:
*******
*******
After September 11, I didn't hear much of a call from Americans demanding that innocent children on the other side be slaughtered. We wanted to go after the adults who hit us, the radical Islamists who cowardly chose to use innocent men, women, and children as unwitting suicide bombers just for riding in the wrong planes that day. And we did. Not good enough, but that's a topic for another day.
I would rather the young children who are being raised by Muslims be rescued from that destructive world view than grow up to be the next generation of Al Qaeda terrorists. Islam is an illusion, as is much of the theology of Reverend Wright. Both at times teach people to be content in the darkness of their anger rather than coming to the Light.
"I had members who lost loved ones both at the Pentagon and at the World Trade Center. So, I know the pain. And I had to preach to them Sunday. I had to preach. They came to church wanting to know where is God in this. And so, I had to show them using that Psalm 137, how the people who were carried away into slavery were very angry, very bitter, moved and in their anger from wanting revenge against the armies that had carried them away to slavery, to the babies. That Psalm ends up sayin', 'Let's kill the baby-let's bash their heads against the stone.' So, now you move from revolt and revulsion as to what has happened to you, to you want revenge. You move from anger with the military to taking it out on the innocents. You wanna kill babies. That's what's going on in Psalm 137. And that's exactly where we are."
I'm going to give another quote to combat this one:
*******
To those who have been raised on the non-violent teachings of the New Testament, it seems unusually harsh, vindictive, and unloving. Why should innocent, defenseless children be treated so inhumanely? In answer to the question, we would suggest the following:
First, we begin with the premise that this verse is part of the Word of God, verbally and plenarily inspired. Therefore any problem lies in our understanding rather than in the Word itself. Second, the destruction of Babylon’s little ones was clearly predicted by Isaiah:
Their little children also will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished (Isa. 13:16).
So the psalmist is only saying what God had already foretold (except for the part about the happiness of the ones who execute God’s sentence).
Then again we know that innocent children are often involved in the consequences of their parents’ sin (see Ex. 20:5; 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9). No man is an island. What he does affects others, either for good or for evil. Part of the bitterness of sin is that, in being allowed to work itself out, it engulfs others in its tragic retribution.
In these imprecatory passages, we keep coming back to the fact that conduct and attitudes that were suitable for a person living under the law of Moses are not necessarily suitable for a Christian living under grace. The Lord Jesus said as much in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5:21–48).
No matter how you interpret the verse, the spiritual application is clear. We must deal radically with little sins in our lives. The little darlings must be destroyed or they will destroy us. C. S. Lewis says, in this connection:
I know things in the inner world which are like babies; the infantile beginnings of small indulgences, small resentments, which may one day become dipsomania, or settled hatred, but which woo us and wheedle us with special pleadings, and seem so tiny, so helpless that in resisting them, we feel we are being cruel to animals. They begin whimpering to us, “I don’t ask much, but,” or “I had at least hoped,” or “you owe yourself some consideration.” Against all of such pretty infants (the dears have such winning ways) the advice of the Psalm is the best. Knock the little brats’ brains out. And “blessed” he who can, for it’s easier said than done. 96
*******
After September 11, I didn't hear much of a call from Americans demanding that innocent children on the other side be slaughtered. We wanted to go after the adults who hit us, the radical Islamists who cowardly chose to use innocent men, women, and children as unwitting suicide bombers just for riding in the wrong planes that day. And we did. Not good enough, but that's a topic for another day.
I would rather the young children who are being raised by Muslims be rescued from that destructive world view than grow up to be the next generation of Al Qaeda terrorists. Islam is an illusion, as is much of the theology of Reverend Wright. Both at times teach people to be content in the darkness of their anger rather than coming to the Light.
"After September 11, I didn't hear much of a call from Americans demanding that innocent children on the other side be slaughtered."
Then either you weren't listening or you were listening very selectively.
Reply to this
Would you care to quantify your claim by giving an example?
Carrie
Reply to this
It is noted that no examples are given. That would have helped your case.
Carrie
Reply to this