But religious people have been covering up obscene language in the Bible for years. Jewish scribes in the middle ages, who copied the Hebrew Old Testament used as the base for all English translations, edited out some vulgar words and replaced them with nicer ones. For instance, God originally prophesied through Zechariah that women in Israel would be raped by wicked, invading armies. The word God inspired is shagel, and according to Hebrew linguists, shagel is an obscene word that describes a sexual act.

In my previous post I argued—or rather, observed—that from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible unambiguously presents the Christian faith as one which welcomes the foreigner. Christianity is an immigrant-oriented religion. 

Ask any Christian what they think about immigrants coming to America, and you’ll probably get a quick opinion. Ask them again what they think about foreigners hopping a fence without the proper documentation, and you’re bound to get a passionate response. 

I want to follow up with another more general point regarding my article for Relevant Magazine on alcohol in the Bible. Over all, it’s been well received. I’ve had numerous comments, messages, emails, and texts from people saying that they found the article helpful.