From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
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I love the book’s chapter titles. Fugelsang is playing with the Bible’s Ten Commandments.
Thou Shalt Not Hate Femenists
Thou Shalt Not Hate the Gays
Thou Shalt Not Hate “Illegals”
Thou Shalt Not Hate on Poor People
Thou Shalt Not Kill People Who Kill People To Prove Killing People is Wrong
Thou Shalt Not Hate Gun Control or Worship Bro-Dude Jesus
Thou Shalt Not Hate Jews, Muslims or Even Atheists
From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
Today, Fugelsang writes:
“Jesus was a nonprofit prophet, but was he really a socialist? The short answer’s no, because socialism didn’t exist yet. But let’s point out:
He never owned property.
He said, ‘It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’
He told people to pay their taxes.
He never healed the blind and then billed them.
He never gave anyone a mandatory drug test before dispensing some loaves and fishes.
I’ll never say Jesus was a socialist. But I will say if he were alive now and preaching the exact same message, right-wing Christians would call him one.” p. 190
“We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in CIVILITY” J.D. Vance
Really?
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“Trump defends reaction to Rob Reiner killing despite GOP criticism.”
“President Donald Trump on Monday blamed Rob Reiner’s outspoken opposition to the president for the actor-director’s killing, delivering the unsubstantiated claim in a shocking post that seemed intent on decrying his opponents even in the face of a tragedy.”
“Trump, in a post on his social media network, said Reiner and his wife were killed ‘reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.’”
“He said Reiner ‘was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness.’” pbs
He’s talking about himself in the THIRD person.
“Narcissists often refer to themselves in the third person (a behavior called illeism) as a tactic to inflate their grand self-image, create distance from accountability, and present themselves as a larger-than-life figure, like a character in a story, rather than a flawed human, sometimes to self-soothe or control perception. It’s a way to build an idealized persona, separate from mistakes, and reinforce their perceived superiority or importance.” Google AI
From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
I love this humorous point the author makes at the beginning of his preface:
“I’ve come to view Jesus the way I’ve come to view Elvis.
I love the guy, but some of the fan clubs terrify me.”
From December 1-25, I’m sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
In the same chapter from yesterday, “Thou Shalt Not Take All of This Too Literally,” Fugelsang examines the fallacy of folks who want to take the Bible (or any “holy” book) as God-breathed, literal instructions on how to live:
“Faith does not require literalism; many Christians [and non-Christians] find profound meaning in the Bible without taking every word as fact. As author and theologian Keith Giles reminds us, ‘Many things are Biblical, like genocide, patriarchy, slavery, polygamy. When I say these things are Biblical, I mean that people have in the past-and even today-used the Bible to justify all of those things. So, yes, those things are Biblical. But none of those things are Christlike.’”
“’And that’s the point. We’re called to follow Christ, not the Bible. In fact, please understand this: the Bible does not tell us to follow the Bible. The Bible tells us to follow Christ’” p. 77
Fugelsang continues;
“The Bible often uses figurative language to express truth. Jesus described himself as the ‘bread of life’ in John 6:35, but it’s not interpreted literally. The man was a poet; he wasn’t actually made of flour and yeast.” p.72
The author then quotes one of today’s most intelligent and insightful clergy, Pastor John Pavlovitz.
“The people who most stridently contend they believe in a literal application of the Bible have simply not read the majority of it. They have been selectively armed with the verses that seem to reflect their prejudices, confirm their theology, ratify their politics, and echo the story they believe about God. The moment you give them a verse or a section that confronts their worldview, you take the pressure off of yourself by having them argue with God and not you?” p. 75
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My understanding of today’s post: What’s most important in any faith’s “book” or any person’s “core belief” is the Love it directs us toward. The kindness, the compassion, the inclusion, the joy. Not the dogma and sense of exclusive superiority.
Marveling this 15th Day of Advent, remembering our FASCINATING few hours last week at Philadelphia’s uniquely beautiful Barnes Foundation.
Have you heard of this incredible art museum? I hadn’t.
“Philadelphia art collector Albert C. Barnes (1872–1951) chartered the Barnes in 1922 to teach people from all walks of life how to look at art. Over three decades, he collected some of the world’s most important impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern paintings, including works by Renoir, Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso. He displayed them alongside African masks, native American jewelry, Greek antiquities, and decorative metalwork.” Barnesfoundation.org
I’ve never seen a museum like this!
The exhibition rooms are arranged in what is referred to as “ensembles,” mixing paintings with decorative objects like door hinges and metalwork to create visual dialogues across cultures and time periods. There are no explanatory notes beside each piece. Barnes did not want to tell the observer what to think about the art. (Today you can download an app which will give you info, if you choose to do so.)
Vincent van Gogh’s The Smoker (Le Fumeur)
After a bit, HR and I went our separate ways exploring and discovering.
Then I turned a corner and … saw my … my … Joy.
Wait, no, not Robert.
The colorful painting to the right of HR’s bald and shining pate.
I walked quickly past the interfering, albeit smooth, head and stood mesmerized in front of the painting which had so captured my consciousness.
The blue, or blues, drew me closer and had me standing, at peace, at calm.
The over-plenty of fruit spread across the table reminded me that my table never lacks bounty.
The painting shouted loudly that diversity of color, of shape, of direction and intent is a good thing. That colorful difference should be celebrated and displayed. Should be framed as masterful.
I stood entranced by art’s aim.
And I hope that Matisse somehow sensed, back in the warm summer of 1907 when he completed this scrumptious still life, that he was painting it specifically for an old fellow in the cold of 2025.
“This painting belongs to a remarkable group of still lifes made between 1906 and 1908 in which Matisse explores arabesques—designs of intertwined, flowing lines that function to move the viewer’s eye around the canvas. Matisse had been studying the works of Cézanne, who had died in 1906, and Cézanne’s influence can be seen in the tension here between two and three dimensions. To create the illusion of depth, Matisse constructs a series of horizontals and verticals that recede like a staircase.” Barnes Foundation
From December 1-25, I’ll be sharing a quote and its truth from John Fugelsang’s Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists and Flock-Fleecing Frauds, the book Robert and I are currently and fascinatingly reading.
An odd Advent Calendar, of sorts.
In a fascinating chapter titled, “Thou Shalt Not Take All of This Too Literally,” author Fugelsang again uses a bit of humor to make a point:
“Ever notice how some folks take the Bible very literally when they want to put down LGBTQ people or restrict the power of women, but not so much when Jesus tells them to give away all their stuff to the poor?” p. 63
NealEnJoy 