One of things that annoys me more than anything is when someone talks about how they wish things were like the good old days. Really? It grates on me like fingernails on a chalkboard. What good old days? The medieval good old days when there were no toilets, deodorant or toothpaste. When most of society was a class of peasant farm workers. What about the good old days of the United States of America? The good old days when I was a slave or a share cropper. The good old days when no matter what things I achieved I was considered less than human. As an African American man I really take issue with this one. You can have your good old days! Although I do admit I want to time travel just to go back to the 1920′s and dance in a speakeasy 
Another phrase that I hate is when I hear someone say America needs to go back to the Bible. This is usually said in regards to being against abortion, homosexuality, or prayer and the ten commandments being taken out of school. Honestly I can’t get down with the whole notion of us as a nation going back to the Bible.
First of all, this country is not necessarily founded on Bible verses or Biblical principles. Our country was based off of ancient Greek democracy with a little tweaking here and there. There are no democracies in the Bible. Israel is a theocracy with a human king as God’s representative. Is that what people mean by going back to the Bible? I think not.
And it’s not like America as a whole actually followed the commands and injunctions of the Bible. There was slavery which many used the Bible to justify. There was genocide and land stealing which many used the Bible to justify. The list goes on and on. The history of America is more like a history of how not to use the Bible.
So what if we did actually go back to the Bible? It would be tough. Which parts would we follow and which parts would we ignore. The whole country would be schizophrenic because the Old and New Testament don’t exactly agree on some things (like war).
I can say that some things would definitely go over well with the general populace including many of the people who cry “Let’s go back to the Bible” or “God needs to run this nation”
Some of the negative things that would definitely rub people the wrong way would be stoning for breaking the Sabbath (Exodus 31:14, Numbers 15:32). A lot of corporations or CEO’s would get stoned and most of us wouldn’t like the law anyway since we our consumeristic society shops 24/7. How about drinking bitter water as a test for adultery (Numbers 5:11-31)?
Some of the positive things that would bring a smile to my face would be all the Feasts and Festivals. We don’t have enough of those. I mean we get the usual Christmas and Easter but wouldn’t it be cool to have a Feast of Booths where everybody lived in a tent for a week and had a big party? Another thing that would be great is the year of Jubilee. I heard some preachers on tv one year saying it was the year of Jubilee but I don’t think they got it right. During the year of Jubilee everyone gets their debts canceled and last time I checked I still owe money. Now that’s the part of the Bible I want to bring back cause God knows those student loans are as oppressive as the Canaanites. It’s funny because most of the people who feel like we need to go back to the Bible would probably not go that far. This guy tried it as an individual but only could maintain year of living biblically.
Alot of laws and rules are neglected when we talk about applying Old Testament law to our present day society. Chew on that. Let it sink in. Why am I saying this? Not because I believe the Bible is irrelevant and full of errors. No. I believe the Bible is extremely relevant and true. I also believe that it can be confusing and dangerous when it’s not interpreted correctly. So many Christians take things out of context or try to apply scripture in ways that just break down in the 21st century.
So when you say we as a nation need to go back to the Bible which parts do you mean? Do you believe that following the laws and regulations listed in the Bible will magically change everything that is wrong with our country? Remember that’s been tried before. Can’t be done anyway. Read the Old Testament.
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