Politics in the SBL
Readers of this blog might find this recent essay by Robert Gagnon of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary to be of interest. He critiques recent moves by the leadership of the Society of Biblical Literature to enter contemporary American political debates in the name of the organization's membership. Since the readers of Texanglican span the political spectrum, your responses will no doubt vary widely!
Below is the text of the SBL Executive Committee's resolution Dr. Gagnon is criticizing:
Resolution:
The United States election of 2004 witnessed the emergence of “values,” often referred to as “Christian values” or “biblical values,” as key political issues. The “values” most commonly identified in public debates were the issues of gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research. The Society of Biblical Literature, which is the largest international, professional association of teachers and scholars of the Bible, calls attention to the fact that the “values” so prominently and divisively raised in this 2004 U.S. election are not major concerns in the Bible, and in fact are not even directly addressed in the Bible. Rather, they tend to reflect the underlying problems of homophobia, misogyny, control of reproductive rights, and restraint of expression (including scientific research) in U.S. society today. With over 7,000 members representing a broad range of political and religious leanings, the Society of Biblical Literature has fostered discussions of such fundamental problems against the background of biblical ethics and respect for all human beings. As many of our members have indicated in publications and lectures, the moral issues dominating the biblical texts focus instead on concerns such as the well-being of individuals, the integrity of community, care for the powerless and the vulnerable, economic justice, the establishment of peace, and the stewardship of the environment. The Society of Biblical Literature urges citizens and political agencies to direct their energies toward securing these goals and values of well-being and responsibility.
Below is the text of the SBL Executive Committee's resolution Dr. Gagnon is criticizing:
Resolution:
The United States election of 2004 witnessed the emergence of “values,” often referred to as “Christian values” or “biblical values,” as key political issues. The “values” most commonly identified in public debates were the issues of gay marriage, abortion, and stem-cell research. The Society of Biblical Literature, which is the largest international, professional association of teachers and scholars of the Bible, calls attention to the fact that the “values” so prominently and divisively raised in this 2004 U.S. election are not major concerns in the Bible, and in fact are not even directly addressed in the Bible. Rather, they tend to reflect the underlying problems of homophobia, misogyny, control of reproductive rights, and restraint of expression (including scientific research) in U.S. society today. With over 7,000 members representing a broad range of political and religious leanings, the Society of Biblical Literature has fostered discussions of such fundamental problems against the background of biblical ethics and respect for all human beings. As many of our members have indicated in publications and lectures, the moral issues dominating the biblical texts focus instead on concerns such as the well-being of individuals, the integrity of community, care for the powerless and the vulnerable, economic justice, the establishment of peace, and the stewardship of the environment. The Society of Biblical Literature urges citizens and political agencies to direct their energies toward securing these goals and values of well-being and responsibility.
posted by Texanglican (R.W. Foster+) | 8:58 AM
3 Comments:
That's yucky! Fr. John
Hi Randall, Jay here. What I want to know is who delegated these folks to speak for the Society? What percentage of the membership backed that statement? Did anyone ask you to sign on? 'Cause no one asked me, and I've been paying dues and getting the periodical for quite a while now.
While the discussion of "values' in the last election was diversionary and utterly tedious from my perspective, significant mainly in relation to those Christian "values" absent from the cable news screamers' and radio chatterboxes' bleating cant, I don't understand why anyone needs to hear from the SBL on the subject. While I agree that homosexuality is not a major subject of either the NT or the Hebrew Bible (compared with, say, eating food offered to idols) and doesn't seem to have interested Jesus in the slightest, it's quite another thing to say that the Bible isn't "about" homosexuality, but is "about" that other stuff that all right-thinking members of the SBL agree on. I guess what I don't understand is why the SBL felt compelled to enter, post-election, a debate that was genuinely absurd pre-election. So my verdict is a simple scratch of the neck, a raised eyebrow, and a grunted "huh?"
Jay
Jay
well-being of individuals, integrity of community,
care for the powerless and the vulnerable,
economic justice,
establishment of peace,
stewardship of the environment.
Is that in order or are they all equally important. I can see that some ways of accomplishing some goals might be detrimental to the solution of others.
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