Benjamin L. Corey's Blog, page 40
July 30, 2014
A Few Things I’ve Learned As A Christian Outsider
The American Christian landscape in our current context seems to have a steady stream of people who feel like outsiders– out of place everywhere, at home nowhere. While many of the changes we’re seeing in American Christianity will be net positives in the end, the process of reforming and has left many exhausted, and on [Read More...]
July 29, 2014
Don’t Worry, The “Great Tribulation” Was In The Past
One of the most profoundly misunderstood passages in all the Bible is the Olivet Discourse found in Matthew 24. Those of us who grew up in a doom-and-gloom version of Christianity probably know parts of this passage well– it’s the one that talks about “earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars”, as a sign that the [Read More...]
July 26, 2014
Gun Training A Mandatory Part of School? (Yes, Gundamentalists Exist)
People wonder why I push back against gun culture so hard, and well, the guy in this NRA News video is my answer. The commentary argues from the standpoint that instead of anti-gun policies we need policies that assume people need guns and that “guns make life better”. In the perfect world he describes, people [Read More...]
July 24, 2014
So Listen– It’s Not Religious Discrimination Just Because You Can’t Discriminate.
Earlier this week, the President signed an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. In a supposed civilized society with a separation of church and state, such a measure should be welcomed by all because anti-discrimination policies protect the rights of everyone. For me, anti-discrimination laws transcend theology and [Read More...]
July 22, 2014
Support Marriage Equality? You’re Part of Satan’s Church (Says MacArthur)
My old friend Johny Mac who not long ago told parents of adult children who are gay to shun them and “turn them over to Satan”, has now stepped up the game– this time, he’s defining “Satan’s church”. And well, you can probably guess the key issue he uses to define “Satan’s church”… yup, marriage [Read More...]
July 21, 2014
The Potential Beauty That Could Come From Dying For An Enemy
As I sit down to write this post I’m realizing that I’m probably going to get branded as “that guy who writes about nonviolence”, but I can think of no core aspect of the message of Jesus that I’d rather talk so much about. Nonviolence is one of those utterly insane ideas that becomes ridiculously [Read More...]
July 18, 2014
What Jesus Would Have To Say About The Current Immigration Crisis
Over the past few weeks, the current immigration crisis has boiled over in a way we’ve not seen before now. We’ve seen literally thousands of often unaccompanied children spilling over the southern US border fleeing poverty and violence in their Central American homelands. The children who have successfully made it into the US are being [Read More...]
July 16, 2014
No, Jesus Didn’t Command We Own Weapons
Perhaps one of the most abused passages in all of scripture these days is Luke 22:36. The issue comes up often, and is a predictable comment that ends up in any thread where I discuss nonviolent enemy love… “But didn’t Jesus command that his disciples carry swords?” To arrive at the position that Jesus endorses [Read More...]
July 14, 2014
5 Ways We Could Probably Be “Better Christians”
One of the key things I have attempted to do over the past year has been to build bridges with people who are often on the “outs” of Evangelical Christianity (ironically, this placed me on the “outs” as well). I realized over the course of time that there are many people who don’t give this [Read More...]
July 10, 2014
5 Ways You Can Spot A Jesus Follower
The word Christian may only be nine letters, but it’s a big ‘ole word. With the reformation underway in American Christianity, there’s been a lot of talk over what that word actually means and who gets to use it. Some people on both the left and right see themselves as gatekeepers and are busy declaring [Read More...]
