Hate your mom and dad? No way… Jesus can’t be serious. But he is. This is one of those Bible passages that gives fits to folks who base their faith on a literal reading of scripture. But what if the word “hate” doesn’t mean what you think it does? What if Jesus means we should love God above all else, not that we should detest our parents? If “hate” really means “love less,” it doesn’t help the ultra-literal very much. In fact, it raises a bigger problem. If words are pliable. If they don’t mean what you think they do. If meanings can be modified in translation… what else in the Bible is not entirely literal?