Monday, November 23, 2009

Does the "Sacred Text" Contain the Entire Truth?

From Sat. USA Today letter to editor in response to article by Dinesh D'Souza defending against claims that religion is to blame for terrorism: "The bottom line: No one group (atheists or religionists) has cornered the market on morality. There has never been any perfect text - religious or otherwise - to guide us through life. We have to guard against religious fanatics just as we must guard against atheistic fanatics. A belief that any religion, sacred text or ideology contains the entire truth is always fraught with danger. All good people must contend against this insistence on absolute moral certainty. - Norm Allen Jr. Buffalo" (emphasis added)

This from my Catholic Study Bible's readers guide to Micah (RG, 372):

"The true prophet here, as so often in the history of Israel, finds himself in opposition to the religious leaders, the priests, and the official prophets (3,11). On the surface of things, the priests appear to have great faith: no evil can come upon Israel because the Lord is in its midst. Such faith is no virtue for Micah. Rather virtue lies in the practice of justice and in facing reality honestly. He regarded the Temple on Mt. Zion, often the focal point of Jewish religion in antiquity, as a negative force. According to the Psalmist, Mt. Zion was 'the holdy dwelling of the Most High. God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed' (Ps 46,6). If kings came to attack it, they would be seized with terror and put to flight (Ps 48,5f). Micah realized that the Assyrians would not panic at the sight of Jerusalem. The belief that Zion could not be destroyed was a source of complacency and illusion. So Micah uttered his radical prophecy that Zion would be plowed like a field. This prophecy is quoted in Jeremiah 16,18 as a precedent for the equally radical prophecy of Jeremiah. It was not fulfilled in Micah's time, but it was not forgotten either, and it was justified in time. Faith cannot be based on any religious institution, no matter how sacred. No temple is permanent, and no one is guaranteed the unconditional protection of God." (emphasis added)

Are they saying the same thing? Close, but not exactly. When the sacred text warns against the very attitude decried by the letter writer -- the attitude that pridefully assumes it is in the right -- the sacred text IS entirely truthful!

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