I, like a whole lot of people, have been interviewed by a member of the press. Also, like most everyone, I have the misfortune of my statements and expressions being represented out of context.
Now in my case it was no big deal. The newspaperman had an agenda that permeated his column and I was skewering his agenda. I did not think I was going to get a fair hearing nor a fair airing of my point of view despite his claims to the contrary. I was not disappointed. While not a single thing he attributed to me was false, they were stated in ways as to change their meaning or to make me look foolish. The reporter even went so far as to call me several times during the day until I was away from my phone, at which time he never returned my calls; thus I was unavailable for comment on his last point.
So the complaint of being taken out of context resonates with me. But that is not the point of this post.
The point is that it got me thinking of other things that could be taken out of context. Specifically an area that I have been researching a great deal lately. That is the Bible.
Think about it. Every teaching, every sermon, every quote from the Bible that you have ever heard takes a snippet here, a snippet there, combining several snippets to make some point or another. History abounds with people using these snippets to teach and preach evil. In fact, you yourself may have experience some really crummy teachings using some passage in the Bible to give the preacher/pastor/minister/Rabi/layman credence for his/her actions.
And it could all be just taking crud out of context. Nothing better or worse than a sleazy news reporter.
