Exhortation, May 22

A week and a half ago, Newsweek published a story alleging that U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, desecrated the Koran by flushing pages down the toilet. The report touched off riots throughout the Middle East that killed 15 and left many injured. This past week, Newsweek retracted the story, promising to investigate the sources more thoroughly.

When the story first hit the news, the London Times reported that �Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, promised an inquiry and punishment for any proven offenders,�Eand added that �Disrespect for the Holy Koran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States. Disrespect for the Holy Koran is abhorrent to us all.�E Rice told Muslims throughout the world that religious rights are �of great importance to the President and to me,�Eand that �we understand and share�Ethe concerns of Muslims. Apparently, for Rice and the Bush Administration, all religions have a right to be respected, a right to be held as sacred, and it is abhorrent to treat other religions with �disrespect.�E

To put it bluntly, Scripture does not agree, and in particular the writer of Kings does not agree. In our sermon text, we read the story of Ahaziah, son of Ahab. He sends some messengers off to the Philistine city of Ekron to consult with an oracle there, known in the text as �Baal-zebub,�Ewhich means Master of the flies. This is not what the people of Ekron called their God. They called him �Baal-zebul,�Ewhich means �Baal the Prince�Eor �Baal the Exalted�Eor �Baal of the Lofty Dwelling.�E For the writer of Kings, Baals of any sort are not exalted; they are lords of the dungheap, surrounded by flies.

This is not the first time that the author of Kings has made a play with the names of idols. When he listed the false gods of Solomon, he called them all �detestables,�Eusing a word that would not be used in polite company. The writer of Kings, in short, was provocative enough to touch off riots in Philistia.

We live in an age when tolerance is a weapon of intolerance. Tolerance is demanded, and hushed respect is required; all religions are sacred, and any opposition to or mockery of someone else�s religious beliefs is forbidden. But that means we live in an age when Scripture�s own language about idols and idolatries is increasingly suspect. To my knowledge, no one today worships Baal, but if they did, we can be sure that they would have an lobbying organization laboring intensely to condemn the Bible for its intolerance. We should not allow ourselves to be cowed and silenced. Scripture teaches us that idols are nothing, lighter than air; and Scripture teaches us not to take their claims seriously or treat them with deference.

posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, May 22, 2005 at 07:54 AM

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