My studies of history indicate we humans may be divided into two general groups, the In-group and the Outgroup. The In-group is in power and does what it feels is necessary to keep that status. The Out-group is composed of those who are secondary and do what they believe is necessary to gain some measure of inclusion and control over their environment (sociology.institute/ introduction-to-sociology/sociology- in-groups-out-groups-analysis.
This article is designed to give some historical evidence that supports my findings of what sociologists have revealed. Roman history is well documented, and it can help us see how the In-groups of Emperors sought to keep their power.
Caligula (12-41AD) ordered the execution of many aristocrats and relatives he suspected of disloyalty (historycooperative. org/worst-roman-emperors).
Nero (37-68 AD), Vitellius (15-69 AD), Domitian (51-96 AD), and Commodious (161192 AD), are remembered for the same brutal ways they stayed in dominance (historycooperative).
Another historical source records how King Jehoiakim did something that was less physical than killing opponents, but was still effective in maintaining his power. Jeremiah dictated the word of the Lord to the scribe Baruch, who then read it to the people. News of this reading came to King Jehoiakim. He wanted to hear what the scroll said. After three or four columns were read to him, Jehoiakim used a knife to cut out the parts he did not like and threw them in the fire. He did this until finally the entire scroll was burned (the Bible, Jeremiah 36:1-26).
If you think Jehoiakim’s action of cutting out unwanted portions of the scroll was terrible, another one is also blatantly evil. Among my collection of Bible translations is one unfamiliar to most people. It is a reprint of The Negro Bible, also known as the Slave Bible, published in 1807. It eliminated any portion of the Bible that might encourage slaves to rebel and seek freedom.
The entire book of Exodus is missing, except for the last two chapters, which simply detail how the Israelites set up the tabernacle. The passages in Galatians that contain teachings about freedom for all in Christ are also deleted. Many entire books of the Bible are gone. The Slave Bible did, however, include any passages that seemed to support slaves being obedient and loyal to their masters.
The Dedication page of the reprint edition states the following: “The Slave Bible represented a false and controlled narrative based on religion. It was published for the purpose of limiting education and information and maintaining control of a population [emphasis mine]. Even now, we are all unwilling recipients of a narrative controlled and disseminated by a few powerful people to further their own agendas. Let us understand and avoid the dangers this time. Let us keep digging for the truth until we hit the rock.”
These examples of how those in power try to keep control are typical. Some politicians and some religious leaders are prime examples of In-groups who try to exert control.
In my previous published articles about the dangers of Christian Nationalism, I demonstrated how some Evangelical Christians emphasize Old Testament teachings while ignoring teachings of Jesus.
The well-known writer on religion Jim Wallis relates how he experienced a crisis in his faith while in college. He decided to start reading Matthew, the first book of the New Testament. He studied the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered his central message (Jim Walis, The False White Gospel, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2024, page 122).
Wallis then writes, “I soon realized that in a ‘young’ lifetime of faithfully attending my white evangelical church in Detroit, I had never once heard these Beatitudes of Jesus preached. This foundational sermon, the one which tells us how we are to live and what it means to be Jesus’ disciples, had somehow been skipped over in my Christian upbringing.”
In my view, the practice of “cherry picking,” by choosing what part of the Bible to accept and rejecting the unwanted portion, is the same as what King Jehoiakim did with his knife and burning the scroll.
President Trump signed many executive orders on the day of his inauguration, January 20, 2025. Millions of us saw him hold up the signed order canceling the Constitution’s Amendment XIV, which guarantees that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. While his order is clearly illegal and unconstitutional, President Trump did the same as did Jehoiakim. He symbolically cut out the part of our Constitution he did not like.
Another executive order President Trump signed granted pardon for the 1,500 people convicted for crimes committed on January 6, 2021. Those offenses involved brutal assaults on police officers, destroying and stealing government and private property, and causing millions of dollars in damage. The rioters also wanted to hang Vice President Pence.
Jehoiakim used a knife to abolish what he did not like. President Trump used a felttip pen.
These are only a few examples of how authoritative Ingroups tend to use whatever methods they feel are necessary to keep their power.
“The big joke on democracy is that it gives its mortal enemies the means to its own destruction” (anonymous).
We must learn the lessons of the Slave Bible and Jehoiakim’s knife. In the same ways, the powerful In-group now is dismantling our democracy, integrity, and norms of decency.