pre-conversion

Wednesday June 5^th, Galatians 1:  13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.  Today, the pre-conversion Paul would have been known as a member of the religious right.  He had right on his side, he had the power of politics on his side, he had knowledge of scripture on his side, and he knew how to use it for his own and his political affiliation’s self-interest.  He was ready at a moment’s notice and without further thought to the risk of life and limb (especially if it was someone else’s life and limb) to protect the word of God.  The only trouble is that back then, and through the ages down to today, the main thing the word of God needs protecting from, are those who wish to protect the word of God from others.  Today we call them the Piety Police or the Religious Right.  We too live at a time when it is not so much a conflict between Christians, Muslims and Jews, but rather between fundamentalists Christians, Muslims and Jews and people of faith who wish only to live their lives in decency and respect for the many ways God comes to us.