Sunday Sermonette: the bible

Herein our traditional Sunday homily on matters of sanity and reason:

“A major function of fundamentalist religion is to bolster deeply insecure and fearful people. This is done by justifying a way of life with all of its defining prejudices. It thereby provides an appropriate and legitimate outlet for one's anger. The authority of an inerrant Bible that can be readily quoted to buttress this point of view becomes an essential ingredient to such a life. When that Bible is challenged, or relativized, the resulting anger proves the point categorically.”

(Bishop John S. Spong, Rescuing the Bible From Fundamentalism, San Fransisco: Harper Collins, 1991, p. 5.)