Many years ago, a priest I knew in the Episcopal tradition severely criticized parishioners who he thought were prone to too much social drinking. To my eye, they were perfectly normal people in their social habits. I learned that he had come from a family with a very abusive (both mental and physical) alcoholic father and therefore had a phobia about the use of alcohol for any purpose or in any form. Since he was a bit of a biblical scholar, I recited this admonition from Jesus to him. His response was to say that too many people took biblical quotes out of context. It is amazing how often specific quotes of the Bible are weaponized to criticize or control others, but when used in a way to inform or get people thinking about things with which they disagree, they are discounted. That’s how we end up with the kind of intolerant nonsense being spewed in publications such as the Christian Post—the Bible is the ultimate authority for morality, but only the parts that support my self righteous, narrow minded judgmentalism. The rest is irrelevant or inapplicable.

I suspect the author views himself as a humble servant of Christ pushing back on the satanic influences threatening society. In point of fact he is more like the pompous Pharisees of Jesus’ time for whom he saved his most biting criticism. He needs to get the plank out of his own eye.