Do I Stay Christian? Quotes

“They uncritically deploy verses like Romans 13:1–2 to squash dissent (“Submit to the governing authorities, for all authority is instituted by God and anyone who opposes authority is standing against what God has established”).”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“they continue to perpetuate patriarchy and proclaim a patriarchal universe.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“the supreme value of all authoritarians: winning, by concentrating power in the hands of their group and its supreme leader.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“Authoritarian followers favor centralizing power in a single individual, party, religion, and ideology. They use fear of a real or concocted enemy so that their strongman can present himself as their protector. They divide society based on a loyalty test to the strongman and his regime. They distort or distract from the truth to build and maintain unquestioning support for the strongman. And they suppress dissent by any means necessary. Any personal values that authoritarian followers previously held are sacrificed, one by one, for”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“Locate an evil, and you’ll find the love of money at or near the root of it.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“In each case, the answer is the same: we clergy (I speak as part of the problem) are caught in a tangled web of conflicts of interest, most (if not all) involving money. Because of my years in parish ministry, I feel the pain on all sides. I understand why a large percentage of our pastors become the kinds of company men we considered in the previous chapter. They must constantly negotiate among their own moral and spiritual instincts, the interests of their institutions, their personal concerns about their own salaries and retirement accounts, and professional and social status.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“My arguments with my Inner Fundamentalist tend to end like this … or not end. They just go on and on.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“Me: Jesus said”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“we pose a serious threat to the very existence of humanity.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“point is that we have some ugly skeletons in our closet that we don’t acknowledge,”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“Roman Empire had been weakened by political corruption and a series of invasions, mass migrations,”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned

“have no hope for the church reforming or renewing. My only hope is that it collapses and dies soon, before it does too much more harm, so something new can be resurrected.” Others had hope for renewal but talked in terms of centuries, not years or even decades. Latter-Day Saints, Adventists, Unitarians, and many others have reached out to me about their similar spiritual frustrations in their unique contexts.”
― Brian D. McLaren, Do I Stay Christian?: A Guide for the Doubters, the Disappointed, and the Disillusioned