It will forever baffle me at how someone could look at Jesus laying down his life out of love for the world rather than forcing it to conform to his will, then somehow conclude that political and theological authoritarianism is how his followers should represent him in the world.
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If we can’t see the hypocrisy of claiming to be “pro life,” while also being pro assault rifles, pro war, pro death penalty, pro cutting healthcare, pro cutting food assistance, pro science denialism, and pro rolling back environmental protections now, I don’t think we ever will.
Jesus’ harshest words in the gospels wasn’t towards prostitutes, other religions, or undocumented immigrants.
Jesus’ harshest words were towards the rich and religious who used God’s words to justify exploitation and oppression.
Yet many want us to believe the opposite.
A god that needs violent men in order to succeed is a god invented by violent men.
“I was hungry and you…”
…spent a billion dollars on lobster tail, king crab, and ice cream machines for yourselves, and millions on bombs, all while cutting food assistance for me and millions of others.
“…whatever you do for the least of these, you do unto me.” -Jesus
Imagine calling Islamic fundamentalists who want to legislate their brand of religion over everyone else "extremists," all while calling Christian fundamentalists who want to do the exact same thing in our country "patriots” and somehow not see the blatant hypocrisy.
One of the biggest problems with the sanitized way far too many Americans understand history is that we do not believe our country has ever done anything wrong. So we never even arrive at considering how we have directly harmed those who see us as enemies today.
He’s the children being bombed right now.
A nation that calls itself a “Christian nation” cuts healthcare and food assistance for millions of people, yet instantly funds wars without question.
Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, and told Peter to put his sword away.
May we understand the hypocrisy.
The rapture is not in the Bible.
The rapture is not present in Christianity before the 19th century.
The rapture makes for dangerous theology and foreign policy.
The rapture needs to become a resoundingly opposed sentiment.
In my recent article, I explore the context of Revelation 16:16, where a lot of modern ideas of the “battle of Armageddon” come from and share the importance of noticing how the battle is no battle at all.
Read here: open.substack.com/pub/benjamin...
Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God's wrath but never a source of God's charity, mercy, or compassion.
Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbors to be loved.
In my recent article, I wrote about a theological perspective shaping a lot of discourse about the recent strikes in Iran.
Read the whole article here: open.substack.com/pub/benjamin...
When I say that dispensational theology (rapture theology) is dangerous, this is what I mean. Bad theology kills.
I'm not concerned about those who question God or even doubt God. That’s just a natural part of faith.
My concern are those who claim to know the mind of God better than anyone and act as though they have the right to impose their beliefs on everyone else.
When Israel and America claim that this war is God’s will, remember that Jesus said that peacemakers are the children of God, not the warmongers.
It’s important to remember in this time that the theology of the Left Behind series is fiction.
The rapture, unwavering support of modern Israel, war in the Middle East as ushering in the end times. All of it.
And it’s allowed to shape international policy.
You can oppose authoritarianism in Iran and the United States at the same time.
Notice how it’s somehow the government’s job to legislate a few Bible verses on human sexuality over our entire country, but it’s suddenly “not the government’s job” when it comes to the +2,500 Bible verses calling for a generous use of wealth that prioritizes the poor.
It takes a great deal of arrogance to live in the U.S. with over 200 different sects of Christianity, all with their own unique theology, yet insist that only your sect has the authority to speak, not only for all Christians, but for every person in our country.
What’s Happening to Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nursing Women in ICE Custody?
Read full article here: reproductiverights.org/news/pregnan...
My newsletter tomorrow is called, “Wilderness and The War of Identity.”
In it, I invite us to ponder the temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness in Matthew 4:1-11 and how his response helps us to respond to Christian Nationalism.
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One of the greatest deceptions of our time is the false narrative that tells us we should be more concerned about a poor person misusing the welfare system or an immigrant being here illegally than we are about the ultra wealthy abusing the system and cruel people having unchecked power over us all.
When you insist on seeing God in the face of the emperor, no matter how corrupt they are, and refuse to see God in the face of the immigrant being arrested after being falsely accused of being a criminal, you have yet to understand the gospel of Jesus.
“The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I am beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing this may be incapable of morality.” -James Baldwin
If you’re okay with human beings and their children suffering in inhumane conditions, fearing the future, and having their right to due process ignored, you don’t have to tell me your religious beliefs.
The fact that you’re okay with those things tells me everything about your religious beliefs.
