Faith vs Literalism

For the past few weeks I've been having a mostly internal debate on the possibility of someone being a Christian (or Jew, Muslim, etc) and, at the same time, being a rational, caring, and tolerant person. This debate stems mainly from the fact that I do consider myself both a Christian and a rational, caring, tolerant person.

In doing some reading on the subject, I recently came across an article that addresses something that people will quickly point to as evidence that people of faith are a bunch of superstitious nuts. I'm referring to the insistence of some believers in the "literal interpretation" of religious texts. Of course, many of those who insist that their holy text be read "literally," really only want the literal reading to apply to the parts of the text that reinforce beliefs they already hold.

The article, posted this January in the "On Faith" section of washingtonpost.com, stems from a tragic death in Wisconsin, where an 11-year-old girl died because her parents were part of a Christian sect that does not believe in seeking medical treatment for illness or disease, relying instead upon the power of prayer and God's intervention

Brad Hirschfield, author of the article and himself an orthodox Jew, explores the ramifications of Biblical literalism, and how often it "quickly devolves into ugly and dangerous behavior." He also makes some good points regarding the difference between people of faith, even fundamentalists, and hypocrites "hiding behind a claim of reading the Bible literally, which nobody does anyway."

It's well worth reading for anyone interested in the differences between faith and fanaticism.

Biblical Literalism Kills -- Literally by Brad Hirschfield at washingtonpost.com

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