My friend, being the person that she was, got on a bus and rode from West Palm Beach to Miami to the office of the district superintendent of the Methodist Churches in that area to ask him what he thought about she and her friends having a dance in the basement of her church.
Same answer. "No - because the Bible says so."
In the late 1960s I had, on two occasions, people in my own church scream obscenities at me because of my stance on desegregation. They firmly believed in segregation because "The Bible says so."
In the 70s I had two close clergy friends and their families go through horrendous, unnecessary misery when they divorced. Divorce at that time was not acceptable in the clergy for any reason other than adultery. Why? Because the Bible says so.
Early on, I had several talented, highly educated female friends who were denied acceptance into the ministry of my denomination because "the Bible says so."
I've been told that I could not teach men and, furthermore, I must obey my husband in all things where there is a disagreement - because the Bible says so. ( My husband, Ken, used to enjoy telling people that we'd both have been in jail a couple of times if I had gone along with all of his crazy schemes)
Now, in 2014, all of the above has changed. Most of the issues seem silly even.
The Bible, in all of its 66 books, forbids many things. It also depicts Jesus calling into question much of the way folks (make that old white men) were interrupting the Old Testament scriptures.
I hope, with the issues we're facing today and will face in the future, we remember that "Because the Bible says so" is just the beginning of the discussion.
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