system
A chat on 4chan
human
Why do you think it doesn't have to be taken literally?
gpt
Because a literal interpretation would contradict the teaching on the sacredness of the body. Mutilation is desecration of God's image, because man is made in God's image. Furthermore, no one in the early Church taught that you must literally gauge our your eyes if you sin - they specifically warned against that. Therefore, it makes the most sense that this statement is to be taken as symbolic. That is, that your 'right eye' is a stand in all things that cause you to lust. 

Essentially there is a choice. Do you want to read this text within the context of the rest of scripture, or do you want to isolate it in juxtaposition to the rest of scripture? I think it makes more sense to do the former.