Make America Great Again? Make America Affordable Again?
Author: Neal Saye
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Twelve 12/12/25
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.
Fugelsang offers a bit of humor today, alongside a truthful point about anti-gay thought. He asks:
- “Best of all, do the homophobes kiss each other whenever they meet?
- Because they must, according to Romans 16:16. That’s where Paul instructs all real Christians to greet one another with a custom reflecting the familial nature of early Christian communities: ‘Greet one another with a holy kiss.’
- The holy kiss was a greeting in many cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world, signifying peace, respect, and community.
For Paul, this must have been a very important custom of his time, because he writes about it much more than he writes about gay people. - So every Christian man who uses Romans to justify homophobia is biblically obliged to start kissing every Christian dude he knows, every time they meet.
- Pucker up.” p. 133
Five Friday Happy Bringers 12/12/25
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
Robert and I have been up in Philadelphia this week for an anniversary getaway, so most of my Happy Bringers are found within our travel.
1. First, a few photographic mistakes I made during the week. Which are actually sort of cool.
2. Delicious and messy Philly Cheesesteak at Pat’s King of Steaks (who supposedly created the iconic sandwich).
3. The Joy of being able to travel a bit. Everybody certainly doesn’t have the luxury.
4. Well, …
5. Unbeknown to HR and me while planning our Philadelphia trek … landing smack dab in the center of Philly’s Gayborhood.
Iconic gay bookstore, Giovanni’s Room, a short walk away.
May you have a Grand and Gay Weekend ahead!
P.S. As I write this post, Robert and I are on the Midnight Train to Georgia. (We arrive in Atlanta early morn.)
“[We’re] leaving (leaving)
On that midnight train to Georgia (leaving on a midnight train)
Hmm, yeah
Said [we’re] going back (going back to find)
To a simpler place and time (and when [we take] that ride)
Oh yes, [we are]”
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Eleven 12/11/25
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.
I love Fugelsang’s simple truth in today’s post:
“Jesus’s wisdom is in the principles that cut across religious and secular boundaries: calls to love your enemies, to care for the poor and marginalized. Those teachings don’t require belief in supernatural events to be meaningful. Any skeptic can still recognize the wisdom in ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ or the revolutionary ethic behind ‘Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.’” p. 22-23
He continues: “By prioritizing Jesus’s teachings, Christianity can emphasize principles that unite, without relying on coerced belief in two-thousand-year-old supernatural accounts to win people over.
- He asked people to freely share everything they had and turn the other cheek, to deliberately break all ancient cycles of hate and suffering.
- He broke social and religious taboos by associating with outcasts and sinners, like tax collectors, prostitutes, and despised foreign Samaritans. He treated them all with compassion, directing his anger instead toward economic injustice and exploitation (Luke 4:18-19, Luke 6:20-21).
- In Mark 12:17, he supports paying taxes for the government to re-distribute.
- In Matthew 26:52, he forbids his disciples from using their weap-ons.
- In John 8, he opposes the legal death penalty.
- And if any politician called for what Jesus commands in Matthew 25 (The Sheep and the Goats aka The Judgment of the Nations) he’d be labeled an open-borders socialist.
- Jesus disdained wealth and earthly power, and challenged traditional laws of his own faith. He rejected earthly materialism, renounced the idea of revenge, and commanded us to welcome the stranger.” p. 23
Wow.
Sometimes the teachings of Jesus are as clear as black and white.
One-Word Wednesday 12/10/25
Spectacular!
I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but when the guards weren’t looking, HR somehow managed to “confiscate” Van Gogh’s spectacular masterpiece (on the day of our ninth anniversary, no less). Then with his uncanny abilities, dastardly reduce the treasure to pin/brooch size!
He obviously didn’t think I would notice his new “pin” (he has a zillion).
But I did.
Here we are this morn at our hotel’s breakfast, Robert so casually enjoying his coffee, watching the news, not realizing I was documenting evidence.
Now I must decide what to do about all his travel shenanigans.
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Ten 12/10/25
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.
If you are interested, you can see the introduction to this new blog category here:
Today Fugelsang is being both serious and playful:
“A loving God welcomes people of all genders and sexual identities.”
“And if you believe in the Trinity, then God identifies as “they.’” p. 142
We’re Happy-ing Our Anniversary!
Today, December 9, marks the 9th Anniversary of … Us.
Nine years ago today …
*********************
We’re now on a week Anniversary Getaway that started with a busy weekend in Atlanta and continued on to the neatest little boutique hotel in downtown Philadelphia.
Today, HR and I are taking the Amtrak …
… an hour away to a cold New York City for an Anniversary Day Trip.
First stop …
Then the subway to a NYC museum we have never visited …
Fascinating!
On to our Anniversary Meal at Del Frisco’s Grille, Rockerfeller Plaza.
Indeed, a Happy Anniversary.
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Nine 12/9/25
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.
If you are interested, you can see the introduction to this new blog category here:
Fugelsang:
“It is understood that long ago, Christianity began as a nondiscriminatory movement that ostracized no one.” p. 142
No One
“Because the early church was established in diversity, equity, and inclusion.” p. 143
Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 12/8/25
Definitely Marveling this Monday!
This Monday morn finds Robert and me in Philadelphia (via an overnight Amtrak sleeper car!) after a delightful and holiday-ish weekend in our beloved Atlanta.
We’re from Savannah, and love its stunning beauty and unique and storied history, but the ATL is like our quirky, always-welcoming but busy younger sister who managed to marry up and simply has SO MUCH to show us and (if truth be told) to BRAG loudly about.
Here’s one of our sister’s sweatshirts:
Enough family drama.
On Friday night HR and I had evening reservations for the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s annual “Garden Lights, Holiday Nights” display.
Oh My Goodness!
This is what I was watching through the special glasses:
Then on Saturday afternoon we attended the absolutely incredible 45th Anniversary Holiday Concert of the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus.
And look, here’s the choristers. (I just learned that word.)
Wait, no, that’s just Robert and me.
The event was held in the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Philip on Peachtree Street in Atlanta..
Here they are!
Such Holiday Fun and Joy!
We have a full day planned in downtown Philadelphia today. I’ll tell you all about it soon. Now you have something to look forward to.
NealEnJoy 