Is God the Actual Author of Confusion?
Or is he just a lousy writer?
This past weekend my husband and I watched a bad movie. Not a naughty movie — that would’ve been less bewildering and more fun. This film was bad as in “all over the place.”
It reminded me of the early Mickey Rooney flicks when someone would say “Let’s put on a show!” and the cast would scramble to present an off-the-cuff performance. When I see movies such as last weekend’s, I envision a director — someone with too much money, too many sycophants and too little talent — deciding that their brain babies are amazing, no editing required.
The result? A movie without a clear point. Was it a statement on society? On gender roles? Was it a raunchy comedy? An unconventional romance? Since it didn’t know, I certainly couldn’t. My husband, who carries the crime of having chosen the film for our weekend viewing, fell asleep halfway through.
Unsatisfying as I found the movie, however, I’ve intentionally chosen not to name it. If I did, I would undoubtedly irritate someone who’d simply adored it. They would feel compelled to explain to me where my criticism was wrong — how insightful and hilarious the show is to anyone with half a brain. I don’t have the time for that, let alone the energy.
Besides, it’s not important. It’s only a movie. The stakes aren’t high — a couple of wasted hours, sore muscles from rolling my eyes, some bruising from biting my tongue. It’s not the end of the world if another viewer and I differ in our opinions. It’s not as if anyone will come to blows. It’s not as if someone will be ostracized, lose their family or home, end up in prison or a torture chamber.
After all, it’s not as if that movie is the Bible.
An ill-conceived literary weapon
I was raised in a Christian home, in a majority-Christian society. I’ve heard again and again that the Christian God is unchanging, all-knowing and all-powerful. I’ve heard again and again that the Bible is the inerrant and literal word of that same God. But the book itself — well, it’s just all over the place. It’s much, much worse than that terrible movie.
And people are killed over it.
Is the Bible a historical document? A thriller? A love story? A better-living manual? On one page a prophet is talking out of his ass. On the next page an ass is talking. In one place we’re told how much God loves us, and in another he’s drowning nearly all of humanity. Women are being respected — and stoned. Children are being valued — and slaughtered. The old laws are being upheld, then abolished, then upheld again. It’s a hodgepodge of unclear messaging that’s resulted in a religion that can’t even agree with itself.
Which is where we are now. There are estimated to be more than 45,000 different sects of Christianity in the world today — more than 200 in the U.S. alone. Each denomination has split off from the others, believing that they, and they alone, have correctly decoded the inscrutable Word of God.
A rather handy result of this muddle is that when someone points out that a Christian has used their religion to steal, kill and/or destroy, someone is bound to insist that “they weren’t a real Christian.” And who’s to argue? With so many interpretations, so many translations, the Christian handbook can be used to promote almost any position, to support almost any action. It can and is used to endorse racism and slavery. It can and is used to defend domestic abuse, genocide and homophobia.
The Bible can also be used to promote peace and love, but alas, that happens less than one could hope.
Reckless words or poisoned pen?
If our proclivity for excusing our bad behavior — for blaming it all on a book — reflects poorly on our human nature, what exactly does it say about the reputed author of the tome?
I can forgive the director for last weekend’s terrible movie. He’s only human, after all. But shouldn’t the almighty creator of the universe — perfect and infallible — be able to do better with his messaging? Shouldn’t an all-seeing God have been able to predict the suffering that would ensue when he handed the world a document so opaque and obtuse that it could be used as a handbook for evil — that it could be used to harm children, incite wars, destroy the environment, and elect reprobates?
Last weekend’s movie didn’t try to sell itself as The Truth. What if the Bible didn’t either? What if we could agree that the Bible is simply a deeply flawed, occasionally lovely, frequently modified, often utterly inexcusable book pieced together by ordinary men over centuries — an unfocused piece of mythological literature created to preserve folklore and consolidate power? What if it was seen as a propaganda-riddled storybook, adored by some and shrugged off by others, like Shakespeare’s plays or The Odyssey?
How would our world look today if we no longer had the Bible to trip over — if we were no longer squabbling about differing interpretations, purported prophesies, scientific and historical errors, and strange contradictions?
Would our world be closer to peaceful? Would lives be saved and souls be salved?
I believe they would.
So what about it? Did an all-powerful God lose control of his message? Is he inept, short-sighted — a self-absorbed entity who just doesn’t care? Or have we attributed the Bible to the wrong author?
One thing is certain. Any deity who intentionally put such a muddled message out there, so easy to misinterpret in such unkind ways — he certainly is no god of love.
He must be a god of chaos.
