[one of an occasional series on political correctness in church anthems…]
Today’s travesty: the anonymous Renaissance anthem Rejoice in the Lord Alway, which contains the line "let your softness be known unto all men", now corrected to "…be known to all the world".My wife, who directs the children’s choir, last year had a song about "fishers of men", and asked the children what it meant, and they all, without exception, understood "men" to mean "human beings", regardless of gender. So it’s really kind of condescending to our audiences, assuming they’re not smart enough to realize it’s intended to be inclusive. Although we’re pretending we’re accommodating our audiences, we’re really insulting them by dumbing it down. And what about:
- Thou sitteth at the right hand of God (Te Deum) (and other references to God’s right hand): what about left-handed people? Don’t want them to feel left out. We need to change this to "ambidextrous God" wherever this appears.
- Husbands and wives, referred to repeatedly in the Bible, such as in Joseph-and-Mary stories: offensive to newly-minted gay couples. We’ll have to remove all references to the gender of married couples in the future.
- Dazzling white (as in the Transfiguration) — obviously offensive to dark-skinned people, since it implies that whiter is better. Replace with "distinctive color".
Once we’ve excised all the words out of the Bible, what will be left?
Edward Palmer says
Nicholas Klemetson says
Teresa Mingus says