Misuse of the Bible

People misusing the bible is common in current times. Most people who misuse the bible are conservatives (republicans). They misuse the bible to spread hate against people that they don't like. Some Republicans dub the word "woke" on things that they do not like.

One example of a person who misuses the bible is Matt Walsh. Matt Walsh is an American right-wing commentator and "activist". He works at the Daily Wire, a company founded by Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing, more right-wing "activists".

Matt Walsh is a controversial figure and is known for his opposition to LGBT rights and his anti-transgender content. He is known for ignoring history and facts while pushing his beliefs that some events did not happen. Some of these are the ozone depletion and acid rain events.

He also just so happens to be someone who strongly believes in being a Catholic. In 2022, he released a book called "Johnny the Walrus" under the publisher "DW Books" (owned by the Daily Wire). The book had compared "transitioning" into a walrus, to "transitioning" your gender.

The book was quickly pulled from schools and libraries after it was deemed inappropriate. Later that year, he also released a documentary called "What Is a Woman?". The documentary focused on telling people what a woman "really is".

While on the surface, the documentary sounds okay, it is of course targeted at LGBT people. On top of that issue, 3 people say that they were tricked into participating in the documentary and were not aware that it would be used to spread hate.

Matt Walsh's team created a website that prayed on transgender people by saying that the documentary was going to be pro-trans. His producer used a fake name to email out to various trans people promising to "educate the public" (credit: Naia Ōkami).

Along with his other controversies, he's been known to dox or harass various people (including transgender people) and even attacked the "Vanderbilt Transgender Clinic", he started doxxing some of the doctors who worked at the clinic.

He also falsely claimed that the "Boston’s Children’s Hospital" does gender reassignment surgery on children, when in fact, they never have. He compares the care that hospitals provide for transgender people to genital mutilation and rape.

He also thinks that people should be stripped from having their voting rights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axT-BAd4UwA. Even though he believes in the bible and is catholic, he still spreads hate against LGBT people.

Anyways, enough about Matt Walsh and back to the main topic: the misuse of the bible. Even Pope Francis, the creator of the famous religious book: Fratelli Tutti, is calling for anti-gay laws to be removed and for LGBT people to be allowed in the church.

For those who don't know the book, it dives right into the themes of the interconnectedness of humanity, and the need to build a more equitable world. While It doesn't directly address any misuse of the bible, it does offer insights that apply to this topic.

One of the key themes is treating everyone with equal kindness and respect, just like if they were a brother or sister. It mentions how we should be careful about how we interpret the bible. We should never use the bible to justify hurting others or treating them unfairly.

The book mentions that we should never take the bible too literally. We should always remember that it was written a really long time ago and that we need to understand it in the context of the time that it was written.

The book also mentions that we should always be open to hearing other people's interpretations of the bible. We should never ever think that our way of understanding the bible is the only "right" way.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that there are reasons to not misuse the bible, some people are still blindsided by their own beliefs and skew the bible. A good song lyric sums this up: "Holier than thou yet soaked in your sin" and "But when it doesn't serve your purpose, you just bite your tongue" (Hollow Points - Motionless In White).

In conclusion, there is nothing we can do to stop people from misusing the bible. All we can do is prevent more misuse and spread awareness of what's happening, how people can avoid it themselves, and how they can spot others doing it.

References

(No date) All Saints Church, Pasadena. Available at: https://allsaints-pas.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/LGBTQ-FAQs_2019-1.pdf (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

3 people say they were tricked into appearing in an anti-trans film (no date) NBCNews.com. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/what-is-a-woman-stream-matt-walsh-movie-daily-wire-rcna91359 (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Blake, J. (2018) Sessions isn’t the first to ‘textjack’ the Bible. here are five of the most misused scriptures, CNN. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/22/us/misused-bible-verses-sessions/index.html (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Bricker, V. (2021) Why do manipulative people misuse the Bible?, Christianity.com. Available at: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-life/why-do-manipulative-people-misuse-the-bible.html (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Corey, B.L. (2019) How to completely misuse the Bible in 5 easy steps, Benjamin L. Corey. Available at: https://www.benjaminlcorey.com/how-to-completely-misuse-the-bible-in-5-easy-steps/ (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Greenough, C. (2023) Using the Bible against LGBTQ+ people is an abuse of scripture, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/using-the-bible-against-lgbtq-people-is-an-abuse-of-scripture-110128 (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

How to avoid misusing and abusing the Bible – ywam montana – lakeside (no date) YWAM Montana Lakeside. Available at: https://ywammontana.org/avoid-misusing-abusing-bible/ (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

leon, I.P. de (2023) The Bible, misused, INQUIRER.net. Available at: https://opinion.inquirer.net/160735/the-bible-misused (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Matt Walsh (political commentator) (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Walsh_(political_commentator) (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Matt Walsh is doxxing doctors where I work.......i’m the security guard and my anxiety is exploding (no date) Reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/h3h3productions/comments/xk64hg/matt_walsh_is_doxxing_doctors_where_i_workim_the/ (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Matt Walsh with a horrible take on the Catholic Church scandal (no date) Reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/insanepeoplefacebook/comments/142jhvo/matt_walsh_with_a_horrible_take_on_the_catholic/ (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Morris, H.M. (no date) Misuse of the Bible, The Institute for Creation Research. Available at: https://www.icr.org/article/misuse-bible (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Pope Francis calls for end to anti-gay laws and LGBTQ+ welcome (2023) The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/25/pope-francis-calls-for-end-to-anti-gay-laws-and-lgbtq-welcome (Accessed: 28 November 2023).

Robertson, B. (2023) Brandan Robertson: The Bible does not condemn LGBTQ people, Outreach. Available at: https://outreach.faith/2022/10/brandan-robertson-the-bible-does-not-condemn-lgbtq-people/ (Accessed: 28 November 2023).