Humans had been loving one another in all manner of ways for thousands of years before the Christian churches showed up and announced that henceforth they would be making the rules and would decide what constitutes love. I’m sick to death of people whose belief systems are based entirely on magical thinking and special pleading demanding to be deferred to at all times.
Jesus spent his 3-year ministry traveling, eating, sleeping, boating, presumably drinking, etc. exclusively in the company of a dozen other guys, wherever they went, and nobody even raises a tiny little eyebrow over what THAT might imply?
I like bright lights and loud music, but not that much and not together. I was wearing sunglasses and earplugs and that wasn't enough.
I love Vegas. I have sat in front of big amp stacks numerous times (incl. The Who). This was too much for me. I couldn't even make out the lyrics for the bombast. Came home and twitched.
For sure. Like this is definitely a feel good story and I know that some people have an overwhelming desire to be part of a religion for various reasons, but Christianity is literally antithetical if you are a member of the LGBTQ community. The Bible and most churches are pretty clear about the rules they believe in. Even if I believe it is all bull.
What touched me was the commenter who said the loss of community was harder to process than leaving the belief system. If I didn’t already know how toxic religion is, that would have been a huge clue.
The purposeful shunning practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses is an extreme example of the dependency members have on an insular group, and why someone might be more than hesitant to express alternative viewpoints. Michael stands out in his bravery to be who he is, without apology, in the midst of all that.
I have a bunch of thoughts about this, because of course I do.
Congratulations to everyone involved for becoming better people. I’m not going to minimize that. Yet at the same time, there is a difference between:
1) I’m going to ignore that particular gospel bit of gospel conservative Christianity because I know people and it shouldn’t apply to them. It hurts and harms them, and I don’t like that.”
And…
2) the Bible might possibly have something to say about something that might possibly be homosexuality, at least as it might possibly have been understood a few thousand years ago by people thousands of miles and a universe away from us and thought, culture, knowledge, history, morality, philosophy, law, and understanding. Over time, Social prejudice has been transformed into bedrock belief. That was wrong.
So good on them that they have transformed themselves. But bad on them that they’re not denouncing the whole structure, merely claiming to be an exception to it.
I think it’s instructive to compare what happened to Passon, and what happened to Michael Tate. Passon decided to live his life in truth and he paid a price for it, but he was willing to pay it. Tate and the entire Christian music industry simply denied what they knew was going on and there has been a great deal of cost to a lot of people: Tate, the news boys, that guy who is a big wig in the Christian music industry, the victims of Tate, and on and on and on.
Passon chose to love himself. Eventually, his fellow travelers decided that he was worth loving as well. Tate chose to hate himself, hurt a lot of people, and drag them down with him. The Christian music bigwig is suing the people who exposed him. All the kinds of coverups we saw in the Catholic Church occurred with Tate. People knew about him, yet kept silent because of their own greed and desire for fame.
My point, and I do have one: the differences between love and corruption. And as I’ve said many times on these very pages, we can define corruption as becoming that which you hate. And these people are corrupt in spades, just like the church structures that cover-up child molestation, the religious people that excuse it, the religious people that try to blame it on people that are not committing all the child molestation. This corruption has spread so far that it has corrupted the Republican Party as well as professional Christianity. And that is why we have someone like Temussolini and his cohorts running this country…
I think despise and fear comes before hate, especially if they have their own issues. And the more virulentthey are, the more likely they are to have their own issues with it…
Christian love comes with an asterisk. It isn't just that only some people are worthy of love, to their thinking only some people are worthy. At all. Especially of care by their 'loving god.' What a damaging message to send to young people just coming to grips with their own identities and learning how to be in this world. That damage also applies to the wounded hearts of those who love their gay friends and family members but felt pressured to disavow them.
I'm glad that Michael Passons has healed and is sharing the true meaning of love with others who need healing, too.
What he needs to do is watch his back. The christains will be gunning for him even more now. If he can salvage his career, Good for him. Personally I won't be listening to it. I don't care to waste my time with the substandard drek that passes for culture in the evilgenital petri dish.
Never heard of Avalon the xtian drek band, but I am a long time fan of the Roxy Music album "Avalon". I listened to as much as that song above as I could stand, and musically it is....crap (YMMV), and the singers look like zombie creepy Jesusbots.
As for the reactions cited, they're so close. They realize what utter shitty xtian weasels do to people, even their fellow travellers, but they're still in the cult, just a slightly less toxic version. C'mon guys, come to the side of reason and reality. We have cookies!
Folks are so caught up in tradition and prejudices they were taught, they end up perpetuating the pain that past generations inflicted on others or them.
The more people who get liberated from this mindset, the better the world will be for everyone.
You've got to be taught before it's too late / Before you're six or seven or eight / To hate all the people your relatives hate / You've got to be carefully taught.
As a counterpunch to xtian music, today is World Goth Day. Bring on Samhain, The Cure, Joy Divison, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Alien Sex Fiend, Wolf Parade, Killing Joke and more (especially bands like Paradise Lost, Lords of the New Church, The Last Days of Jesus and Christian Death.
I remember the xtian hair metal band Stryper being criticized by fanatigelicals for "playing the Devil's music." Stryper was so incensed by this knuckleheaded criticism, they made their next LP completely secular. Not a mention of religion.
Setting aside the important issues of Christian toxicity about homosexuality and community, it always creeps me out when I accidentally blunder onto a radio station playing contemporary Christian music. The lyrics are so weird.
Had an evangelical church move in opposite us during the pandemic. The noise they’ve made for the last 5 years (moved to bigger place round the corner at end of last year) has been dreadful several times a week, but especially in summer with the doors (and our windows) open! Yes, lyrics are very weird!
There's no hate like Christian love. I am concerned about the backlash from the fundies, and how many lawsuits this music reclamation will produce. Basically, who holds the copyrights and how many copyright holders are still deep in the bigotry.
This is a good trend, but it's going to take time.
Sometimes, it takes a while for others to catch up to a person who is out ahead of them. Michael Passons clearly had and has no problem in being both Christian and gay, but apparently, the rest of Avalon wasn't up to his level, at least not initially. This is par for the evangelical Christian course entirely too often. What is both surprising and pleasing is that Melissa Greene and Ty Herndon did indeed finally recognize the problem with their own attitudes and made amends.
This is not something we see very often in that community. It IS, however, very welcome.
Greene's statement, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑝, demonstrates how real the change is for them. Evangelicals rarely truly own up to their mistakes. Usually they have to come out of evangelicalism to even accept that they made a mistake.
The question now is what the reaction will be from the evangelical Christian community. Greene and Herndon may be facing some blowback for their progressive and inclusive attitudes, but they sound more than strong enough to stand up to the noise.
I don't know about "unconditional." I mean, when Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26), never mind that bit in Matthew: "I come not to bring peace, but a sword."
Proving once again that any and all arguments can be found in the Bible when you take things out of context. Is Jesus a man of peace, as he states in Matthew 25:31 "How you treat the least of us you treat me?" Or in Matthew 5:39 where he commands his followers to turn the other cheek? Or is he a man of violence when he says he does not come to bring peace but a sword?
But read the entire chapter. It's clear Jesus is talking about the persecution his followers would receive, some from the very family members he describes in the next verse:
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
When taken in context it becomes obvious that Jesus is not talking about literal swords but metaphorical and spiritual swords. In the context of the Orthodoxy that was prevalent at the time, he knew very well that anyone who rejected the Orthodoxy and followed the rabble rouser from Judea would become enemies in their own family.
See, this is the problem with cherry-picking the Bible. You can literally justify anything. And that is why I think the whole thing is nothing but a collection of fables not to be taken literally. The Gospels weren't even written during Jesus' life but over a HUNDRED YEARS LATER, and from people passing down stories through the generations and adding their own flavor.
But I didn't take a full year of Religious Studies in college to become religious, but to understand the context of religion on our society.
I really hate when people use the phrase "when you take things out of context" for anything concerning the Bible. The people who want to crush other people by using parts of the Bible against them never seem to worry if they are taking those parts out of context.
It's ALL Christians. Every single one. Because it is literally impossible to follow every verse and chapter of the Bible without going completely insane.
Humans had been loving one another in all manner of ways for thousands of years before the Christian churches showed up and announced that henceforth they would be making the rules and would decide what constitutes love. I’m sick to death of people whose belief systems are based entirely on magical thinking and special pleading demanding to be deferred to at all times.
And good Ol’ Apostle Paul was likely gay… 2000+ years of hypocritical BS!
Jesus spent his 3-year ministry traveling, eating, sleeping, boating, presumably drinking, etc. exclusively in the company of a dozen other guys, wherever they went, and nobody even raises a tiny little eyebrow over what THAT might imply?
The funniest part of that is that the best argument against it is Mary Magdalene, and they won't use it!
To make matters worse, there is no independent corroboration for any of it.
💯
Remember when DG claimed that Christians invented civilization? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Yeah, xtianity is antithetical to existence as a gay person.
Also
https://preview.redd.it/hank-hill-spreading-divine-truth-v0-ngh3nem4p6531.png?auto=webp&s=5856524fedec880b28fdfcd9e31b866689e4322f
Two things that should NEVER ever mix: Christianity and rock & roll 🤮
I was dragged to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert once and it was like a torture chamber. Never again
I'm generally a chill person and extremely neurotypical. I like how shiny Vegas is.
TSO had me wanting a welding helmet, the highest rated ear protection, and a dark soundproof chamber.
Yes! 🤣
I like bright lights and loud music, but not that much and not together. I was wearing sunglasses and earplugs and that wasn't enough.
I love Vegas. I have sat in front of big amp stacks numerous times (incl. The Who). This was too much for me. I couldn't even make out the lyrics for the bombast. Came home and twitched.
Something about Xmas music/choirs with mixed in guitar riffs/solos is also off-putting…I prefer them separately. Like a Christmas heart attack? 🫠
For sure. Like this is definitely a feel good story and I know that some people have an overwhelming desire to be part of a religion for various reasons, but Christianity is literally antithetical if you are a member of the LGBTQ community. The Bible and most churches are pretty clear about the rules they believe in. Even if I believe it is all bull.
The Hank Hill meme is amazing 😂
The guy who gave us "King of the Hill" also gave us "Idiocracy,"
Mike Judge might be prescient.
Not all Christianity is antithetical to Gays - but Conservative Christianity sure is.
What touched me was the commenter who said the loss of community was harder to process than leaving the belief system. If I didn’t already know how toxic religion is, that would have been a huge clue.
The purposeful shunning practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses is an extreme example of the dependency members have on an insular group, and why someone might be more than hesitant to express alternative viewpoints. Michael stands out in his bravery to be who he is, without apology, in the midst of all that.
And the JWs have a huge attrition rate. Why they are out proselytizing on our doorsteps unendingly.
Gee whiz! Just WHAT do you suppose could be fueling that attrition rate? 🤔
𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜’𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.
God's unconditional love (conditions apply).
"𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝐼 𝑎𝑚. 𝐼'𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑦," ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑. "𝐼 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑠ℎ 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑟."
Welcome, Michael, to the real world, where love is love, and not the poor evangelical facsimile.
I have a bunch of thoughts about this, because of course I do.
Congratulations to everyone involved for becoming better people. I’m not going to minimize that. Yet at the same time, there is a difference between:
1) I’m going to ignore that particular gospel bit of gospel conservative Christianity because I know people and it shouldn’t apply to them. It hurts and harms them, and I don’t like that.”
And…
2) the Bible might possibly have something to say about something that might possibly be homosexuality, at least as it might possibly have been understood a few thousand years ago by people thousands of miles and a universe away from us and thought, culture, knowledge, history, morality, philosophy, law, and understanding. Over time, Social prejudice has been transformed into bedrock belief. That was wrong.
So good on them that they have transformed themselves. But bad on them that they’re not denouncing the whole structure, merely claiming to be an exception to it.
I think it’s instructive to compare what happened to Passon, and what happened to Michael Tate. Passon decided to live his life in truth and he paid a price for it, but he was willing to pay it. Tate and the entire Christian music industry simply denied what they knew was going on and there has been a great deal of cost to a lot of people: Tate, the news boys, that guy who is a big wig in the Christian music industry, the victims of Tate, and on and on and on.
Passon chose to love himself. Eventually, his fellow travelers decided that he was worth loving as well. Tate chose to hate himself, hurt a lot of people, and drag them down with him. The Christian music bigwig is suing the people who exposed him. All the kinds of coverups we saw in the Catholic Church occurred with Tate. People knew about him, yet kept silent because of their own greed and desire for fame.
My point, and I do have one: the differences between love and corruption. And as I’ve said many times on these very pages, we can define corruption as becoming that which you hate. And these people are corrupt in spades, just like the church structures that cover-up child molestation, the religious people that excuse it, the religious people that try to blame it on people that are not committing all the child molestation. This corruption has spread so far that it has corrupted the Republican Party as well as professional Christianity. And that is why we have someone like Temussolini and his cohorts running this country…
…into the ground
Well said and extra props for Temussolini
I didn’t make it up, but I did steal it fair and square. So, I hereby grant you full usage of it.
You may praise me for my magnanimity.
So praised!
Some people just hate gays -- and conservative Christianity is a good place for them to hate.
I think despise and fear comes before hate, especially if they have their own issues. And the more virulentthey are, the more likely they are to have their own issues with it…
If you know what I mean and I think you do.
Christian love comes with an asterisk. It isn't just that only some people are worthy of love, to their thinking only some people are worthy. At all. Especially of care by their 'loving god.' What a damaging message to send to young people just coming to grips with their own identities and learning how to be in this world. That damage also applies to the wounded hearts of those who love their gay friends and family members but felt pressured to disavow them.
I'm glad that Michael Passons has healed and is sharing the true meaning of love with others who need healing, too.
What he needs to do is watch his back. The christains will be gunning for him even more now. If he can salvage his career, Good for him. Personally I won't be listening to it. I don't care to waste my time with the substandard drek that passes for culture in the evilgenital petri dish.
“evilgenital”
Outstanding!
Never heard of Avalon the xtian drek band, but I am a long time fan of the Roxy Music album "Avalon". I listened to as much as that song above as I could stand, and musically it is....crap (YMMV), and the singers look like zombie creepy Jesusbots.
As for the reactions cited, they're so close. They realize what utter shitty xtian weasels do to people, even their fellow travellers, but they're still in the cult, just a slightly less toxic version. C'mon guys, come to the side of reason and reality. We have cookies!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6D_l6xQ0zU&list=RDm6D_l6xQ0zU&start_radio=1
The only Avalon I know of is Frankie. I only know about him because of the movie Grease.
I know about him because I was a teenager in the 60's. lol
It's a tropical isle.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MELWoiVGTTs
The one in England used to be considered an island, now it is a hill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avalon
Ahh, I know him from The Vaccines song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFUKrsDDChE&list=RDbFUKrsDDChE&start_radio=1 Teenage Icon
https://youtu.be/njSQVLDl3-s
How could you have missed the Avalon Funicello beach movies?
Slightly before my time although I'm a big fan of Annette from reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club.
Folks are so caught up in tradition and prejudices they were taught, they end up perpetuating the pain that past generations inflicted on others or them.
The more people who get liberated from this mindset, the better the world will be for everyone.
You've got to be taught before it's too late / Before you're six or seven or eight / To hate all the people your relatives hate / You've got to be carefully taught.
“Give me the child until he is seven and I’ll give you the man”. - Ignatius of Loyola
youtu.be/VPf6ITsjsgk
As a counterpunch to xtian music, today is World Goth Day. Bring on Samhain, The Cure, Joy Divison, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees. Alien Sex Fiend, Wolf Parade, Killing Joke and more (especially bands like Paradise Lost, Lords of the New Church, The Last Days of Jesus and Christian Death.
Magnificent darkness!
https://youtu.be/PudybhN0gmM
I'll stick with Black Sabbath for my darkness.
I am the god of Hellfire
And I bring you... FIRE!!!
For myself, my go-to continues to be Oregon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR7w-EUbLyI
I remember the xtian hair metal band Stryper being criticized by fanatigelicals for "playing the Devil's music." Stryper was so incensed by this knuckleheaded criticism, they made their next LP completely secular. Not a mention of religion.
Sometimes you just have to exercise that middle finger at a clueless audience! 🖕
Not to mention, bands gotta eat
Setting aside the important issues of Christian toxicity about homosexuality and community, it always creeps me out when I accidentally blunder onto a radio station playing contemporary Christian music. The lyrics are so weird.
On our drives across Nebraska, there are about 3-4 safe radio stations. The rest is a christian minefield.
Which is why FSM invented Sirius-XM and thumb drives loaded up with music!
One wonders if NPR has a pied-a-terre in the Cornhusker State.
Had an evangelical church move in opposite us during the pandemic. The noise they’ve made for the last 5 years (moved to bigger place round the corner at end of last year) has been dreadful several times a week, but especially in summer with the doors (and our windows) open! Yes, lyrics are very weird!
Never borrow David Puddy's car.
https://youtu.be/yE0nenGeW5A
Down here in North Fla, that's roughly every other station on a weekday, and three out of four on a Sunday.
Would love to see an all-LGBTQ Christian vocal quartet/quintet make evangelical heads explode.
Wouldn't surprise me if such a group were already out there.
I saw a drag queen "beauty shop quartet" in Palm Springs once, they were great. Still have the CD somewhere.
𝐽𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ, 𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑥𝑡. “𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 (𝑀𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑒𝑙’𝑠 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛)” 𝑤𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒’𝑠 𝑎 ℎ𝑢𝑔𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑡.
There's no hate like Christian love. I am concerned about the backlash from the fundies, and how many lawsuits this music reclamation will produce. Basically, who holds the copyrights and how many copyright holders are still deep in the bigotry.
This is a good trend, but it's going to take time.
Sometimes, it takes a while for others to catch up to a person who is out ahead of them. Michael Passons clearly had and has no problem in being both Christian and gay, but apparently, the rest of Avalon wasn't up to his level, at least not initially. This is par for the evangelical Christian course entirely too often. What is both surprising and pleasing is that Melissa Greene and Ty Herndon did indeed finally recognize the problem with their own attitudes and made amends.
This is not something we see very often in that community. It IS, however, very welcome.
Greene's statement, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼’𝑚 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑢𝑝, demonstrates how real the change is for them. Evangelicals rarely truly own up to their mistakes. Usually they have to come out of evangelicalism to even accept that they made a mistake.
The question now is what the reaction will be from the evangelical Christian community. Greene and Herndon may be facing some blowback for their progressive and inclusive attitudes, but they sound more than strong enough to stand up to the noise.
💯even if they come out of it, the not taking accountability part of it lingers on it seems (it can).
Those Evangelicals who hate on queer people forget that Jesus' core message was UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
They ALL failed the Jesus test. And that is why their religion is so toxic.
I don't know about "unconditional." I mean, when Jesus says, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26), never mind that bit in Matthew: "I come not to bring peace, but a sword."
Doesn't sound much like love to me.
Proving once again that any and all arguments can be found in the Bible when you take things out of context. Is Jesus a man of peace, as he states in Matthew 25:31 "How you treat the least of us you treat me?" Or in Matthew 5:39 where he commands his followers to turn the other cheek? Or is he a man of violence when he says he does not come to bring peace but a sword?
But read the entire chapter. It's clear Jesus is talking about the persecution his followers would receive, some from the very family members he describes in the next verse:
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
When taken in context it becomes obvious that Jesus is not talking about literal swords but metaphorical and spiritual swords. In the context of the Orthodoxy that was prevalent at the time, he knew very well that anyone who rejected the Orthodoxy and followed the rabble rouser from Judea would become enemies in their own family.
See, this is the problem with cherry-picking the Bible. You can literally justify anything. And that is why I think the whole thing is nothing but a collection of fables not to be taken literally. The Gospels weren't even written during Jesus' life but over a HUNDRED YEARS LATER, and from people passing down stories through the generations and adding their own flavor.
But I didn't take a full year of Religious Studies in college to become religious, but to understand the context of religion on our society.
The use of language still sucks, as does the overall attitude, never mind the MASSIVE hubris in insisting on being loved more than ANYONE.
Jesus blows chunks, insofar as I'm concerned.
I really hate when people use the phrase "when you take things out of context" for anything concerning the Bible. The people who want to crush other people by using parts of the Bible against them never seem to worry if they are taking those parts out of context.
That's why I call them "Cafeteria Christians".
In my experience that is about 99.9999999% of Christians.
It's ALL Christians. Every single one. Because it is literally impossible to follow every verse and chapter of the Bible without going completely insane.
"All religion is cafeteria religion."
-- David Silverman
Swords are also used to divide the booty, in this case: souls!
I love swords!
The bigger, the better.
Is there such a thing as too big?
https://youtu.be/wgjyXhNFVbI?t=348
That's what she said?
Ahhh, much bigger than mine. Mine is called a Mameluke. That won't mean anything to most but jarheads will know it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mameluke_sword