Roy Lloyd: The Bible and Right-Wing Politics

Many of the Republican presidential candidates assume that the Bible inevitably points people to a conservative political philosophy, but-they are wrong.  

An article in this month's issue of the evangelical Christian publication Christianity Today claims reading the bible and progressive political views go hand-in-hand.  

The proof of this startling assertion comes from a recent Baylor University survey.  The study found that increased Bible reading means readers become more progressive and in tune with abolishing the death penalty, reducing material consumption and agreeing with actively seeking social and economic justice.  

What people may think they know about what the Bible says is radically shifted when they encounter the authentic message about caring for the poor and sick and bearing responsibility for one's neighbor.  

In other words, conventional wisdom is wrong in believing that devoted Christians have to be right-wingers in their politics rather than progressives.  

It's time to read what's really in the Bible instead of imposing personal beliefs on isolated texts to prove a political point.

This is Roy Lloyd.

[Originally presented as a commentary on 1010 WINS Radio in New York City.]