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:
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.
Happy 15th Day of Advent.
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
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.
Today Fugelsang reminds us that “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.
Cruelty to immigrants, while deeply popular today, violates those tedious woke themes of compassion, justice, and inclusivity in both Old and New Testaments.
And before our conservative friends get upset, I acknowledge that societies need to have restrictions on who can enter. I’m not calling for open borders or amnesty; that was Ronald Reagan. But people can support restrictions on immigration without weaponizing the Bible to smear refugees or asylum seekers as criminals.
Humans don’t need to hate or scapegoat immigrants, and Christ followers aren’t technically allowed to.” p. 165
Thank you, John Fugelsang. Very True!
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.
Wow.
Sometimes the teachings of Jesus are as clear as black and white.
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:
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, Insightful Fugelsang reminds us yet again of one of God’s great instructions:
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31 and Luke 10:27)
“This 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.” p. 140
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I used to cringe a bit when I saw those “Free Hugs” folks with their little pro bono posters and offerings, but I have come to appreciate their kindness and all-inclusive acceptance.
Here are a Few Hugs:
Lesson to self: We need to spread our hugs out further.
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 reminds us that “Jesus tells his followers to feed the hungry and care for the sick—not to pray that someone else will do it. Offering ‘thoughts and prayers’ for the poor is … a convenient substitute for tangible help or systemic solutions. Prayer is supposed to be a way to seek guidance, not an excuse for inaction.” p. 199
Ouch!
Fugelsang goes on: “Jesus’s brother nails why faith without works doesn’t work in James 2:15-17: ‘Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.” p. 199
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 expounds: “If God loves men and women equally, then God’s a feminist.” p. 83
Yes, of course, that has to be true.
The author continues: “Feminism is, quite simply, the controversial (he’s joking!) belief that women deserve the same rights and access as men. Conservative men in power have historically tried to control women’s sexuality, education, participation in society, and bodily autonomy.” p. 83
“In addition to the twelve male apostles—whom Jesus repeatedly calls out for getting things wrong, by the way — women accompanied his journeys as part of his ministry. When Jesus was arrested and the apostles all scattered, it was the women who never abandoned him, who never hid, who never denied knowing him. In the Resurrection story, Jesus reveals himself to the women before any of his male disciples.”
“We know that Mary Magdalene, along with Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, were fellow travelers. To a sane person in the twenty-first century it might seem obvious that there were actually fifteen apostles, at least.”
“Wrong, says the church. Those women might have always been with JC and the twelve, but they didn’t have full apostle passes. They just followed Jesus from gig to gig, working the merch tables like it was a boy band tour The church continues to treat these women as secondary figures rather than leaders.” p. 106
OK, then, I agree with God! I too aim to be a feminist!
NealEnJoy 