"The problem with purity politics in any society is the way that it renders the most vulnerable as easy scapegoats. Those without social status and cultural capital are often the first to be blamed for betraying established standards and decorum. Blame tends to roll downhill and to land at the feet of the already disinherited and disaffected. Purity politics, then, helps to legitimate, if not ignore, the morality of those living in the upper echelons of society. This may be why Jesus said later in Matthew (7:3) that it is much easier for some to see the speck in the eyes of others, rather, than the plank in their own eye"
Professor Jonathan L. Walton from his book: The Lens of Love: reading the Bible in its world for our world.
Link to interview with Prof. Walton here.
Service Art:
Image 1: Blessing the Way © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com
Image 2: Jan van Eyck, 1390-1440 feb - Vanderbilt
