Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/28/sectarian-critique.html
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Just the self-identified evangelicals who have a selective memory when it comes to the Bible. Sadly, most of them are very vocal. Most real Christians are far to the left of them.
I’m not a Christian any more, but I can usually find common ground with Quakers, Anglicans/Episcopalians, liberation theologians, and other more mainstream Christians (there will always be exceptions, but I find that this is generally true). Right wing evangelicals? Rarely, if ever.
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While I was raised in a fairly progressive, social-justice-oriented Christian parish, and definitely believe that their positions are much closer to those of Jesus (and the parts of the Bible Jesus emphasized, especially when looked at in more accurate, non-Medieval translations), I would not by any means describe them as “mainstream,” particularly in the U.S.
“Mainstream” Christianity in the U.S. is the Satanic pseudo-Christianity De La Torre describes: a perverse blend of Manichean spiritual warfare nonsense, golden-calf Prosperity Gospel horseshit, narcissistic and soft-headed Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, Pagan beliefs in heaven, hell, and the immortal soul (and the attendant dismissal of engaging with injustice in the temporal world), all mixed with healthy doses of xenophobia and racism.
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My take is simply that many (if not most) ‘Christians’ aren’t. This would probably extrapolate to many (it not all) other religions having the same problem.
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He certainly isn’t wrong; but it seems really weird to describe fusing white supremacy with salvation as though it were some sort of recent aberration among southern baptists; rather than the major reason we’ve had ‘southern baptists’ as distinct from ‘baptists’ for ~150 years.
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i love the line in Silicon Valley, when erlich is approached by some christian tech startup:
" christianity is borderline illegal in northern california "
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Jesus hung out with the poor, a prostitute, and outright gave food to people who had none.
Dude also took a fucking bullwhip to the moneylenders in front of temple. So when someone goes ‘what would jesus do’ taking a bullwhip after people isn’t off the table.
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That is, like, the femmeiest Jesus pic evar! Looks like a scrubbed-white Conchita Wurst.
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That’s the Jesus I grew up with.
From “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it all for You”
The sister does Q&A
Q: “Was Jesus effeminate?”
A: “Yes”
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Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it all for You
(link added)
OMG, thank you for that reference! Off my radar, but now firmly on. Also: I love the cognitive dissonance of toxic-masculinity hulk Jesus smashing the cross. That would be quite the alternative interpretation of Calvary indeed. 
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I toyed with becoming christian a few years ago. I really put a lot of thought into it being a real thing.
But in the end it seemed like a system for controlling slaves and nothing more. Out of all the worlds’ religions I think Zoroastrianism is the most interesting and appealing to me, but that doesnt mean im going to start worshipping fire and going to weird temples.
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While I was raised extremely christian (lutheran), I’ve always been grateful that it was strictly personal, not political. In 18 years, abortion was brought up in our household only once (“wrong, but that’s between a woman and god”, and it was never mentioned again), and never in church. I can only say one election that my dad said who he was voting for (and my mom never); they considered that an extremely private matter. They subscribed to the concept that mixing politics and religion sullied religion without ennobling politics. Sermons in church were always about relating personal anecdotes to the bible and god, or something biblically esoteric. Judging wasn’t the emphasis, what I recall most was:
and
[quote]We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each one’s dignity and save each one’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love[/quote]
and
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They would probably dismiss it for being catholic and too “cult of the saints” to be truly christian, but I think evangelicals would do well to watch this fantastic movie. At least the first 10 minutes, which illustrate the logical conclusion of christian teaching:
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Amen.
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I’m sorry to hear that and it sucks - but if that person had been black or gay or a woman, would you say that entire group is responsible? I’d assume not. That’s not the entire story of Christians in the world. You’re not holding them all to the same standard, you’re holding them all to the same account for what someone else did to you. I’m unsure how that’s fair. Religion is like any other political tool - it can be used for good or ill, for suppression or freedom.
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did a bunch of posts just disappear?
