the bible: just another brick in the wall

"The Bible: Just Another Brick in the Wall" (cartoon by nakedpastor David Hayward) This cartoon was inspired by Pink Floyd's rock opera, The Wall. The lyrics, "just another brick in the wall", refer to abusive school teachers. There's a story in Ezra 9 and 10 where Ezra and Nehemiah force men to divorce their foreign wives and send them back to their own land. Read it. It's tragic and sad. This action was inspired by a recent rediscovery, renewal and reapplication of the Law. In other words, they read the scriptures and found justification to purify their race. Ethnic cleansing through divorce. We see this same dynamic at play today. In fact, it is on the rise. People are finding scriptural justification to cleanse their groups of what they believe is impure. Interestingly, it's not just sin. It is now projected on certain people. Sinners. The evil they abhor is embodied in "them". The bible has become a prooftext for purity. Rather than being a story of reconciliation and unity, it is now a document of judgment and division. Religious cleansing through divorce. newsletter    art     community     books