Hey! TOL gave me a red square! Get it? A RED SQUARE! A red SQUARE! As in Moscow, Russia. Get it?
Actually, the first thing that comes to my mind is when they used to make lepers, untouchables and other examples of human debris pitch their tents in an area far from the main camp. You know--just to keep them separated so the rest of the tribe could remain, uh, pure.
That was just the way it was in those days. Clean and dirty, good and evil, black and white. A real comforting epistemological myth to be embedded in. At least you knew who your friends were and what the rules were. And you knew YOU were righteous. I mean, hey, didn't Yaweh Himself write all this stuff down for us to follow? It MUST be right then! (Don't tell me I stoned my son to death for talking back to me just because I wanted to!) Some things just have to be done. And we've always done it that way. Ask Abraham. Any God that suggests we axe our own son to appease Him is good enough for me.
So I guess I can deal with being a "red square" in the tribe's rating scale. In the meantime, I guess I can wander to and fro in this legalistic wilderness. I can wait for eventual deliverance, I guess.
Hey-- Maybe some cool guy will come along some day and show me that--red sqare or not--I am still loved by the grace of a God more awsomely loving than any human being could ever realize!