Standing on my Soapbox

I don't often venture out and discuss my political/moral/ethical/whatever leanings. And I'm not about to start telling you what I think is right and if you disagree you're wrong. Bc I don't necessarily think that. I think everyone has the right to their own opinions and choices. And I think that I'm always open for new information, even if it is something that could alter my opinion. I'd rather have more information than base an opinion on fluff. But I thought this could, at most, offer an interesting point for thought. I'm not saying you have to agree with me here, and I'm more than welcome for discussion.

I don't know if you read Newsweek, but their cover story was about using the Bible as a tool to show that gay marriage is right and good. Frankly I think this is dandy because if gives me more fodder I can cite when I get into religious debates with my uncle (hello, next family reunion). At any rate, response to this article has blown up to epic proportions. Here's a link that discusses the backlash and some of the things that have sprout up because of it, on both sides. Sifting through those I came upon this paper (sorry for all the links, but this paper is very interesting) that breaksdown the translations of the ancient text and how it has been changed and what the original text stood for. And I find this fascinating, and not just because this has been one of my personal arguements that I frankly had no footing for because I can't read greek or aramaic, or what have you. And I think maybe this coincides more from where I'm coming from.

Yes, I have very strong religious beliefs, but I also know that there has been so many translations of the text over the centuries, that you have to look at the...i want to say.. overall theme of goodness and equality and not the words verbatim. Bc those words aren't necessarily the correct meaning. Caesar incorporated local religions into it. Henry VIII created his own version so he could divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn (something he would use again in later wives). The King James Version was scribed by the Puritans who found problems in previous translations. I don't even know how many versions there have been, bc wiki does not have this information for me. For fear of being struck by lightning, I won't say it's been watered down, but do you get my point here? Have you had a foreign language class and had to write a paper? You probably wrote on a very elementary level, doing your best to find words that are at least close to what youre trying to say. And sometimes, you're way off.

And now I'm way off my point, aren't I. Maybe I don't have a point. Maybe I just needed to justify myself and my thoughts. I promise blogs will return to stories about the dog and holiday cheer.