I would like to take issue with Bill Ferguson's commentary on "The gospel according to St. Pat (Robertson)" (July 27).
While I do not wish to defend Pat Robertson altogether, this piece shows that Ferguson is willing to misuse and manipulate God and his word for his own purposes.
Ferguson does not take into account the full import of Scripture when he accuses conservatives of abiding by the Old Testament and liberals the New Testament. Ferguson atomizes the passages he finds helpful. Atomization is taking one or two lines to prove a point while ignoring the principles and meaning of the whole book.
Abortion is just one example that Ferguson would do well to stay away from. He calls criminalizing abortion a "temporal retribution for lapses in morality." Yet, using the whole Bible, there is not, in the Old or the New Testament, any justification for the ending of an unwanted or inconvenient pregnancy. Children are a gift from God. No amount of moral obfuscating can change that.
You see, Ferguson's claim that "some liberals read the Bible, too" proves the case in point. While they are reading to justify their position, they are ignoring God's position. In fact, liberals clamor against the Bible if it does not support their position.
The purpose of reading the Bible is not to find out if it goes along with what we want. The Bible tells us what God expects. His position should be our position. And liberals like Ferguson just do not understand that.
