Equality

It's amazing to me that we have to have government intervention to define equality between one human being and another. I know I'm dense, but I really just don't get it. In my mind it is sheer ignorance and arrogance that one person, group of people, or government should preside over equality.

First off, in order to compare two things, there has to be a baseline. So what determines what that is? Who defines what is "normal"? Who says this is right and that is wrong?

Many people point to the bible. We were given 10 principles to follow in living well. But when I look at those, not once does it mention anything about one sex, race, religion, or country being greater than another. No where does it define what constitutes a marital relationship. There is no pecking order established that makes anyone superior to others.

Sure, there are plenty of others pages in the bible providing direction and guidance. There is also this magical concept that God is the judge. He specifically instructs us NOT to judge one another, but to leave it to him. We are instructed to love one another and do no harm.

It is human nature to judge. Within the very book that tells us not to judge, there are numerous parables making judgments. It is those parables we look to in guiding us, as well.

But the thing I always get hung up on when it comes to the bible is this. It was not originally written in English. And the group of folks that translated it are a little suspect to me.

I love learning about the English monarchy. I have read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies on it. That doesn't make me an expert by any means, but I have seen a lot of consistencies in the behaviors of both the monarchs and their advisors. In those days, the advisors were religious figures.

The bible was authorized by King James. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. She was beheaded by Queen Elizabeth I for trying to steal her throne. Elizabeth was the illegitimate daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry the VIII. Henry had Anne beheaded for adultery and witchcraft. The witchcraft was based on her differing religious views. All that being said, James was very adamant about "righting" the religious ship after it wavered back and forth in the reigns before him.

So a leader influenced by a church that was more than happy to be back in power after years of exclusion doesn't leave me with a lot of confidence that a book that will become the gospel to all future generations was translated without bias. Shew, that was a major run on sentence, I know. But hopefully you get my point.

Goodness knows that many of you reading this will want to string me up for heresy for questioning the bible. But I hope you will set that aside and hear the true meaning of this post. Judging someone for your own personal gain is greed. Greed does harm. There should be no distinction in the way in which we are treated by our fellow humans for any reason when our actions do no harm. Period, end of story, no questions asked.

We don't need a government to tell us how to behave like mature, intelligent, compassionate human beings. We need only look in our hearts.