Calla's Twenty-First Post

What do you think about Paul? Tabby is annoyed at me for even mentioning his name. See, 'cause here's the deal: he writes this beautiful passage about love, and doesn't apply that to the rest of his writings when he writes about slaves or women or homosexuals. So, then it's like. . . um, what? And then Tabby said that Christ didn't preach liberation theology, but told us to turn the other cheek and what not. . . And I said that Christ's actions speak louder than words. So, healing people on the sabbath? That is an affront to legalistic authority. Letting women follow him, sit at his feet, and announcing men can also commit adultery? That is an assault on oppression. Being born to a SINGLE MOTHER. . . Well, if we consider that this is still taboo in today's society, imagine what kind of controversy this was.

So no, Christ did say pay Caesar what is due to Caesar. . . but that sentence ended with pay God what is due to God. And what is due to God, precisely? We must LOVE God and we must love each other and we must love all of creation. . . If not love, RESPECT. (But I'm gonnna go with love. Some people maybe cannot bring themselves to love a rock or a tree or something, but you should still respect it.) So, how do you love? Probably with your actions. Probably with you fight to end oppression. Liberation theology was accurate as far as I am concerned.

So, Paul. . . Well, I have my fair share of problems with Paul in that he doesn't challenge the status quo. Women are subject to their husband's command, slave's to their masters and gay people are full of sin. Tabby says I can't just throw away everything Paul says because of these problems. After all, Paul wrote a lot of letter and was quite influential in the early church and in modern churches. He wrote before the gospels were written down (though they were circulating orally.) So Tabby says, all Christian teachings were influenced by Paul because he was the first one writing so much stuff. . and I say, if that is the case, then why does Christ (in the gospels), through his actions, defy what Paul writes?

So, Paul. . . I like what he says to the Corinthians about love, and who couldn't like that? But if one is to honestly read Paul critically one would realize he doesn't always follow his own advice. Christ didn't talk about sodomy; but Christ talked about love. So if I'm gonna pick and choose pieces of Paul to follow, which one must do if one is to be realistic with his/herself because Paul is a contradictory figure, I am going to choose the pieces that match up with the gospels. As Tabby pointed out, most other writings were influenced by Paul anyway. I assume the first century was full of oral traditions since so few people wrote and read. I thus assume that stories of Christ were already established before they written down (and thus not necessarily influenced by Paul). . . So I therefore conclude that the gospels can stand apart from Paul's teachings, which are FULL OF CULTURAL INFLUENCES. The gospels seem less full of cultural influences because Christ let women sit at his feet, a sign that they were his apostles, a big no-no for women in that time. So see, what this is all about is how we should listen to what Paul says about love but not all the stuff his says that is clearly just the oppressive status quo of the time.

My Reverend one day, when talking about gay rights, reminded me of the story homophobic people always say, "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." No what she says at that point? "Yes, God created diversity." And God totally did create diversity. And we need to love that diversity and not criticize people and oppress people and be stupidfaces.

This is so so rambly. I don't think I had a point at all when I started this post, which is why it is so rambly and strange. But the point is I don't really like Paul because he did not challenge oppression even though he told us to love each other, and loving each other definitely includes fighting for each other's rights. So, the further point is, how do I know which point of Paul's to follow? The points that are also in the gospels. . . So this is rambly and also FINISHED.

The End,
Calla and her kitties.