Tartin Mop: Institutional Racism in the Bible

Previous attempts to reduce the Bible’s influence at Ichabod Chapel have apparently failed. Visiting preachers sometimes feel the need to quote from it (they shan’t be asked back) and some of our members secretly read it in their own homes. Well a diligent minister such as I must surely guard against such things. Of course, as a liberal Christian, I believe the Bible is a special book, yes, of course I do. I just shudder at the thought of people actually obeying its outdated and unreasonable demands. Furthermore, there are lots of alternative sources of spiritual truth, such as poems, walking up hills, meditating on pebbles and even holy writings from the other great faiths. Our God is far greater than any one book can possibly contain. Anyway, I declared that, as the Bible underrepresents people of colour, it is institutionally racist. For example, when Jesus chose his 12 disciples, none were black, Asian, or Chinese! Now that’s what I call prejudiced! And don’t get me started on levels of LGBTQ+ representation among those 12!

After preaching this on Sunday, some smart alec pointed out that a great many of the Bible’s characters are Jews, and these are technically an ethnic minority. Obviously, I knew this all along, and simply wanted to check that people were paying attention. However, I thought about it a bit more and concluded that as I do not like the state of Israel, and many Jews live there, we should continue to avoid using the Bible at Ichabod Chapel as a gesture of solidarity with our Palestinian friends. So put your Bibles away and make a stand against prejudice! 

Yours Wokely,

Rev Dr Ms Alana Denmars (she/hers),

Ichabod Chapel, Tartin Mop