I think one of the tragic casualties in this current time of political and social distress that we exist in is the Christian faith.
A lot of alleged leaders of alleged Christian faith have done so much to align themselves with political ideology in the pursuit of power.
Jesus Christ, the dude who espoused "Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the weak", you know, THAT guy, would not regonize the religion named after him.
I recall the story of a preacher who did a sermon based on the Biblical text known as the Beatitudes and after the service was greeted by a parishioner who asked the minister why he was preaching such woke nonsense.
While Jesus Christ most pointedly did not assign any conditions on who deserved God's grace, the modern American conservative Christian would very much add some terms and conditions before you click like and subscribe.
A lot of this warping of the Christian faith towards decidedly unChristian goals has been particularly prominent during the last 10 years and the ascendancy of the MAGA and it's blobby orange hued savior who shall remained nameless for this post.*
*Since this person invaded my Saturday movie post, I have resolved for today's post, he shall NOT be named.
In case it's not clear who I am talking about, I will give you a little hint: He's a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, narcissistic, small-minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit.
I trust you can work it out from there.
I was reading an article written by Molly Wadzeck for Huff Post about MAGA Christianity and those who have escaped the unforgiving grasp of that movement.
Anna Rollins wrote that growing up Southern Baptist, Christianity was presented as nearly inseparable from Republican identity, with patriotic symbols and language woven throughout church life. “Faith and freedom were often talked about in the same breath. We often sang patriotic songs in church services, in addition to hymns. Nationalism was tightly woven in with Christianity.”
I too grew up in a Southern Baptist church and I likewise recall the conflation of Christian faith with American identity. In my narrow world, a good Christian was a good American. And a good American was a good Christian.
Although even that scope of "Christian" may be a bit broad. Southern Baptists understood what it meant to be a good Christian. As for Presbyterians and Methodists, who knows what the hell they're up to?
Conservative Christians for all their outsized influence with gospel radio stations and Christian TV channels are still a small slice of the religious pie. True power lies outside the venues of religion and in the halls of political power.
Which brings us to the toxic confluence of conservative Christians and the Republican Party.
Welcome to MAGA "Christianity", the religion of the rabble.
The article written by Molly Wadzeck references videos posted by a nurse named Jen Hamilton who generated a lot of buzz by posting online her reading from the Bible while repudiating MAGA talking points.
One of the comments she received was "Be careful now. I am happily MAGA and I love Jesus. We are exhausted from liberal nonsense.”
Reading Matthew 25 is liberal nonsense?
I will assert that being "happily MAGA" and "I love Jesus" is a contradiction.
This goes back to the preacher whose sermon on the Beatitudes was dismissed by a church goer as woke nonsense.
Attached is a video by Brandon, an avowed atheist (account under Mindshift) who talks about what Jen has done and the backlash she is encountering from the MAGA "Christian" community.
Not sure I'm on board with everything Brandon says but I do respect his thoughtful perspective.
But isn't it weird that it takes an atheist to come to the defense of a Christian woman who spoke to the idea that Jesus thought it was a good idea to help people?
A Christian woman being attacked by alleged Christians for the act of speaking about how Jesus thought it was a good idea to help people?
Jen said that “Some even reported me to the Board of Nursing to have my license taken away. As a nurse, I don’t know how you don’t fight for the rights of the vulnerable communities you care for.”
So Jen simply reading from the Bible earned her threats to her job and yes, even to her life.
A MAGA supporter posted a video that she wouldn't feel safe in Jen's care if Jen was her nurse.
Jen had to post a response that her responsibilites as a nurse requires her to help everyone equally.
So a MAGA "Christian" assumes she is not safe in the care of a Christian nurse who is not MAGA? A Christian nurse who is not MAGA is the enemy?
Gee, I wonder where a MAGA supporter got that idea from?
SIDE NOTE on he who shall not be named in this post but rememeber he is a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, yada yada yada,you know the drill: recent reports show cuts to programs to specific states were made because those states did not vote for the lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, yada yada yada in 2024. This blobby orange hued savior has a history of declaring those who are not MAGA as the enemy and not to be trusted.
So the obedient flock of MAGA "Christians" follow in kind. So by their "logic", nurse Jen Hamilton maybe a Christian but she is NOT a MAGA Christian so she is not to be trusted and is a danger.
So what's the deal with this dissonance between the ideals of Christian faith and the actual practices of MAGA "Christians"?
writes here about the concept of something called "Vertical Morality".
“Vertical morality teaches that authority, power and a moral code of right and wrong, or acceptable and unacceptable, come from ‘above’ ― an external superior who designates rules, systems and tenets that must be obeyed by those beneath."
Which is a nice intellectual dissertation of a concept that I will put more bluntly: MAGA "Christians" are fucking hypocrites who wouldn't know Jesus Christ if he walked into their kitchens and turned a class of a water into a nice pinot noir.
To be blunt, MAGA "Christians" have traded the ideals of Christ for worldly glory, for promises of easy wealth and power over those who are not them.
Jesus admonished us to be servants to those in need, even those who are not us. But the MAGA path to wealth and power is to regard those who are not them as an enemy to be feared, to be defeated, to be eradicated.
Maybe the cynical view is that MAGA Christianity is just what Christianity has been all along? And that people like nurse Jen Hamilton are outliers, the exception to the rule?
I have to admit to my own cynicism about Christianity but even I don't want that cynicism to be true. I want people like Jen Hamilton to be the true face of the Christian faith.
Sadly the most prominent face of that faith belongs to those who see Jen Hamilton as an enemy.
And see Jesus Christ as an epitome of liberal nonsense.
Which is what you get from a religion of the rabble.
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While working on this post, I reviewed some previous blog entries I've made on the subject of religion and I thought I would share this graphic from my blog post on March 11, 2016.
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