Today's Sermon: Ecclesiastical Abstention

The last time I looked, Ecclesiastes was an Old Testament book.
GENESIS
EXODUS
LEVITICUS
NUMBERS
DEUTERONOMY
JOSHUA
JUDGES
RUTH
1 SAMUEL
2 SAMUEL
1 KINGS
2 KINGS
1 CHRONICLES
2 CHRONICLES
EZRA
NEHEMIAH
ESTHER
JOB
PSALMS
PROVERBS
ECCLESIASTES
SONG OF SOLOMON
ISAIAH
JEREMIAH
LAMENTATIONS
EZEKIEL
DANIEL
HOSEA
JOEL
AMOS
OBADIAH
JONAH
MICAH
NAHUM
HABAKKUK
ZEPHANIAH
HAGGAI
ZECHARIAH
MALACHI

So why is a Christian Academy citing Ecclesiates as its basis for expelling Jessica Bradley?

Did Jesus say that Christian schools could go all Old Testament on its students? I don't think so. In fact, I don't think Jesus ever said anything about girls kissing girls at slumber parties.

And of course, that's why the More Righteous Than Thou Brigade has cited Ecclesiastes in its defense.

School defends expulsion over kiss
Academy faces student lawsuit

By LATEEF MUNGIN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A private Christian academy is defending its right to expel a female student for kissing another girl off campus.

In court documents filed Jan. 4, attorneys for Covenant Christian Academy in Loganville say the school has a constitutional right to expel students for "sexual immorality." --snip--

The school cited a defense of "ecclesiastical abstention," which prohibits courts from interfering in the internal politics of a church.

Hm. What would Jesus say about this? Do Christians believe that Jesus's church is merely a branch of Judaism and not a separate religion?

Or do their self-proclaimed learned Buckle on the Bible Belt school leaders simply pull Old Testament citations out of their asses, secure in the knowledge that most lay Christians don't know the difference between the New Testament and the Old Testament?

I'm just asking.

Meanwhile, Jessica Bradley is caught in the middle of an ugly struggle. I'm glad her parents are fighting for her right to privacy. But what were they thinking when they enrolled her in a private Christian academy in the first place?

Thus Endeth Today's Sermon.

Go forth today and research exactly why Jesus felt compelled to start a new religion ("Upon this rock-- Peter-- I will build my church").

And contemplate the future of kids like Jessica Bradley, who will probably figure out at some point that their religion and their biological make up are like oil and water.

I mean it, damn it!


File this under: The more things change, the more they remain the same.