Cross & Heart 2023 Geoffrey Sutton and Bing AI Messing with Malevolent Metaphors Exploring the role of metaphors in Christian teaching about purity and sanctity. As a child I learned that sin made my heart black. I learned this lesson by means of small plastic hearts dangling from a chain. Hearts are red, white and black. You start with a black heart. All have sinned. Red hearts mean Jesus' blood cleanses, White hearts mean we're all cleaned up. For many Christians, white is good , pure, clean and holy. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Black is bad , evil, and linked to sin. We’ll never measure up—the good things we do are but filthy rags. Outer darkness is where you go if you die without Jesus. So what's the problem with such metaphors? Is it possible that metaphors, which glorify whiteness and link blackness to sin influence, racist attitudes? Do religious metaphors guide our thinking about people? Metaphors My task the week I wrote ...
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