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Which is why I would eventually turn to stand-up comedy, as I could never afford the therapy I so deeply required.
have also been known as the “Bible Belt.” And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that nobody hates like a Christian who’s just been told their hate isn’t Christian.
Human hate has been around a lot longer than religion. It’s natural and at times we all fall prey to it, but religion didn’t create hate—hate found voice in religion.
And remember—if your church isn’t telling you to love your enemies but keeps telling you who your enemies are, you’re not really in a church.
Years later I saw the film Cocaine Bear and instantly remembered 2 Kings. “Hey, do you think two cocaine bears could get so high they could massacre forty-two kids all at once?” I asked my wife, who quietly inched just a little bit farther away from me on the couch.
If anything, Paul (of all people) gives Christians the best reason to drop their transphobia in Galatians 3:28, when he makes it clear that Jesus doesn’t discriminate against any type of person: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Evangelicals had never collectively opposed abortion rights prior to Roe v. Wade. In 1968, Billy Graham’s newspaper Christianity Today held a symposium which affirmed that there were instances in which abortion was appropriate. They even noted that Christians need to be sensitive to the conditions many impoverished children might be brought up in.
Only in America can you be pro death penalty, pro war, pro drone bombs, pro torture, pro cutting services for the poor, pro for-profit privatized healthcare, pro dismantling USAID, and still call yourself “pro-life.”
Number of times the Bible forbids or demands penalties for abortion: 0 Number of times the Bible justifies keeping out immigrants: 0 Number of times Jesus condemned homosexuality: 0 Number of times the Bible addresses poverty, justice, and compassion for the poor: over 2,000
Proverbs 14:31: “Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Proverbs 31:8–9: “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 22:22–23 warns, “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life.” Proverbs 19:17: “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
James, brother of Jesus, 5:1–6: “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you…. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.”
Now, this may shock you, but everybody’s favorite radical long-haired nonviolent homeless revolutionary Jew never said, “Forgive us our trespasses as we lethally inject those who trespass against us.”
The deeply silly portrayal of Christ as a warrior figure has always been a product of male insecurity and/or political agendas; it’s designed to ruggedly sidestep those tough-sell commandments of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Also, if you need an AR-15 for hunting, you’re not a Second Amendment champion; you’re a guy who sucks at hunting.
“We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition, and that every person here may worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened Age and in this Land of equal liberty it is our boast that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, nor deprive him of the right of attaining and holding the highest Offices that are known in the United States.” George Washington, who owned people
Defending monuments and flags that celebrate white supremacists who slaughtered US troops to keep innocent people enslaved isn’t really covered by Jesus, either.
“Christians should strive to be like Daryl Davis, the Black man who befriends KKK members and gets them to leave the Klan behind. That is radical. That is Christlike. I hope that one day soon I can be more like Daryl Davis than I currently am because I do struggle to find love and compassion for people who espouse hatred towards others.”
When the Wampanoag fed the Pilgrims on that first mythic Thanksgiving, they had no idea they’d just invented a social safety net for undocumented immigrants. But without ever hearing of Jesus, they welcomed the stranger and fed the hungry. You tell me who was closer to Christ—those Indigenous people, or the Christians who took their land?
“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” G. K. Chesterton
Lots of great symphonies and gospel music, sure, but also a pestilence of Christian rock bands violating the commandment “Thou shalt not suck.”
Imagine a news culture where fundamentalist preachers and politicians are asked follow-up questions about what their holy books actually say.
This struggle against hypocrisy and spiritual thuggery won’t be fought by politicians. It’ll be won by ordinary people, calmly proving that hate is not a Christian value—at their jobs, over the family dinner table, and on social media. If you want to trigger and enrage Christian nationalists, Jesus will show the way. Stand up for the oppressed, welcome the stranger, love your enemy, fight poverty and injustice, resist violence, and choose compassion. Or just ask them which Jesus teachings justify their politics.
But religious authorities don’t own God, they don’t own Jesus, they don’t own the Bible, they don’t own America, and they don’t own you.
Sometimes, changing your mind about religion is the most spiritual thing you can do. My parents chose love over religion, because love is the only religion that always works.
