Thread by @evandeneykel

I get why people are wanting to point out that "the Bible" has lots to say about predatory lending practices and the need to forgive debts. Trust me, I get it. A few things to keep in mind, though:

The impulse to point this out seems to be coming from the desire to show that Christians who are opposed to the forgiveness of student debts are cherry picking in terms of what texts they're paying attention to and what texts they're choosing to ignore.

And I suppose that this is a reasonable thing to point out. But it's also important to recognize that the principle "the Bible says X and therefore that's what I do (or don't do)" is also never consistently applied. Readers always gravitate toward what fits their ideologies.

Take the bit about forgiving debts from the tweet above. Why uphold this as authoritative when you're not going to do the same thing with, say, instructions on how to treat your slaves?

Again, I get where people are coming from. It's a good thing to point out hypocrisy. But "surprise, many biblical authors condemn predatory lending practices and also advocate forgiveness of debts" isn't going to land the way that you hope.

In fact, what this type of rhetoric actually does is reinforce the harmful idea that 2,000+ year old texts should have a say in how laws are made and enforced. It's a dangerous road, and one that we should be avoiding at all costs.

And for the record, I was thrilled to hear the student loan forgiveness announcement. But this is a wonderful step in the right direction regardless of whether "the Bible" agrees. Thanks for reading.