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Christianity is under attack—but by divisive right-wing fundamentalists who publicly worship Jesus while fighting against, voting against, and legislating against his actual commandments.
Do Not Judge (Matthew 7:1–5): He cautions against hypocritical judgment, telling followers to first examine their own faults before pointing out the faults of others
That’s Jesus, calling out religious authorities who put man-made dogma over love for each other. He repeatedly points out how devotion to the letter of the law can overlook the spirit and intent of the law, bringing it back to love and compassion for all—especially the least of us.
Jesus asserts that his true followers are the people and societies who care for the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the immigrants, and the incarcerated. And he tells you who his fake followers are—the ones who are openly religious but indifferent to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the immigrants, and the incarcerated, the lowest of the low. How we treat them is how we treat him.
Many Christians passionately cling to the antigay parts of Leviticus, but they don’t exactly live by the rest of Leviticus, which also forbids tattoos, wearing mixed fabrics, working on Saturdays, and eating shellfish. These are Christians desperate to find a way around Jesus to discriminate. This is like the nuclear reactor core of Christian hypocrisy.
While the Gospel teachings emphasize love, compassion, and inclusivity, Paul’s personal opinions about women and sexuality just couldn’t help but bleed through in his writings. Which means that over the last two thousand years, many Christians have been taught to prioritize certain passages from Paul’s letters that suit their personal biases over Jesus’s irritating orders to love everyone.
Ever since, Paul’s letters have been cited by Christians as proof that it’s okay to be misogynist or homophobic, regardless of Jesus’s words. Because, hey—“it’s in the Bible.”
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” Susan B. Anthony
Science and biblical literalism don’t mix, but science and faith can and do coexist. Both can answer different questions: Science explores how the universe works, while the Bible addresses why it exists.
All four Gospel writers specifically cite Jesus rejecting the accepted cultural norms and treating women with respect. Not only did he break rabbinic laws of his day by teaching and talking to women, but he allowed women to touch him—including those considered “unclean” by the culture at large.
He doesn’t want his mother blessed for birthing and nursing; he wants her blessed for the choices she herself makes. In front of everyone, Jesus affirms that women are not to be reduced to being only mothers, but should also be praised for having agency and doing the right thing.
I think mediocre men hate sexually independent women because they can’t handle the truth. And the truth is that “slut” is
secretly an acronym for “Sexually Liberated, Unapologetic, and Truthful.”
What Jesus does is demand a radical love that transcends social boundaries and embraces all people, including those marginalized or rejected by society. Which is why antigay Christians have traditionally relied on their favorite Bible verse, “Anything but Jesus.”
There are less than ten references to homosexuality in the Bible, and most of them have been twisted to serve a prejudice that’s directly at odds with the teachings of Jesus.
But marriage equality was never about special rights, just equal rights. “Special rights” are for political churches that don’t have to pay taxes.
“Focusing on a couple of clobber verses here and there but ignoring the fact that the Torah commands us no less than 36 times to love and care for the stranger in our midst is an absolute desecration of the sacred,
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is a commandment, not an option. It’s an order that transcends social boundaries, identities, and comfort levels. Jesus goes out of his way to preach compassion for any outsiders a society has decided it’s allowed to hate.
So who are these right-wing Christians to say that being born intersex, or gay, or trans, or bi are sins, rather than being the work of God, that you might witness God’s works through them as well?
A loving God welcomes people of all genders and sexual identities. And if you believe in the Trinity, then God identifies as “they.”
This Ethiopian eunuch, despite his status and his fear that he’d be excluded due to his condition, is fully accepted and baptized. Because the early church was established in diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Number of times the Bible demands punishment for ending a pregnancy: 0
He opposes the death penalty, directs us to love and forgive each other, commands individuals and nations to care for the poor and welcome the stranger. He instructs his followers to pay their taxes and put away their swords. But Jesus never once gets around to condemning women who terminate pregnancies, or the individuals who help them.
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.”
If your devotion to the unborn justifies murdering the born, your concerns stopped being Christian a long time ago.
“It’s hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help.” Pope Francis, 2016
The God of the Bible consistently takes an unambiguously compassionate stance toward immigrants and strangers. Jesus commands individuals and nations to welcome the stranger and warns they’ll be judged by how well they do it.
Nowhere does Jesus ever promise wealth to anyone, for any reason. Jesus taught humility, self-denial, and service to others, often warning against the dangers of wealth and materialism:
Sex-positive Christians affirm that sexuality is a gift from God and an essential aspect of human identity and relationships. They reject the ancient hang-ups that equate sex with sin,
By announcing that only people who’ve never sinned have the moral authority to pass any kind of lethal judgment, Jesus proclaims the universality of sinning—and the need for humility and self-reflection when we judge others. He’s reforming it all into his new legal system that promotes mercy—and the possibility for redemption—over harsh punishment.
If you’re elevating yourself above others based on your belief in Jesus, then you don’t even believe Jesus. His movement’s 100 percent about humility.
Scapegoating is how prejudice and discrimination become normalized within societies. It’s very easy to get caught up in what your culture considers to be normal, and most of us raised subjectively within a cultural prejudice generally don’t realize it.
Belief in Jesus doesn’t mandate hatred or discrimination against different faiths; the teachings of Jesus forbid it.
Christians are called to witness and serve their faith, not to judge or condemn others for their beliefs or lack thereof.
Organized religion and individual spirituality are not the same. And there’s no way to measure the amount of good that has come through all kinds of spiritual and religious people.
The fundamentalists’ and nationalists’ Holy War has never been for Jesus, and it’s never been against Satan. It’s always just been a struggle for their own power.
Maybe we just need to acknowledge, as a culture, that there are “Christians,” and there are “Christ followers,” and that those two groups are not always necessarily the same.
Christian nationalists have always wielded faith as a tool of control and exclusion, prioritizing power and cultural preference over the words of Jesus. But Christ followers have always resisted these abuses and aligned themselves with the call to justice, mercy, and love.
Standing up for the marginalized, conserving the planet and its resources, fighting injustice and poverty, and not judging people’s private lives are all deeply popular ideas that align quite nicely with Jesus. Sure, they’d alienate some older bigoted demographics, and for many churches, they still fill the pews. But that demographic’s already going away.
