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Tag: Truth
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Five 12/5/25
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 remembers: “I was raised to believe that the opposite of faith is not doubt, as doubt is an essential part of any real faith journey.”
“The opposite of faith is certainity.” Separation of church and hate. p. 53.
I love Fugelsang’s brief declaration of truth, which reminds me of Shakespeare’s also-famous and truthful line: “Brevity is the soul of wit.”
Absolute Certainty can get us in all kinds of trouble!
Fugelsang continues: “Extremists of all faiths (or none) are raised in, and live with, supreme and absolute certainty. They don’t think they’re better than you; they know for a fact that God thinks they’re better than you.” p. 53
“Life’s pretty simple for the authoritarian Christian. Since most of their opinions happen to also be God’s opinions— and they believe that they’re the folks who get to speak for God—they generally feel divinely obliged to control whatever part of society they see fit. Y’ know, for God.”
“And if you’re one of the anointed who speaks for the Almighty, eventually you’re liable to believe that anyone who opposes you is, logically, on the side of Satan. And God’s true people are never going to sit down and negotiate things like school curriculum, women’s rights, or marriage equality with Lucifer. People who’ve been conditioned to think you’re on the side of the devil aren’t permitted to meet you halfway.” p. 54
Ouch!
May we all be willing to meet each other halfway this Holiday Season — and beyond.
We met them halfway!
Countdown to Christmas 2025: “Thou Shalt LOVE, Not Hate” — Day Four 12/4/25
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: Another part of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:3-12) commonly referred to as “The Beatitudes”
Author John Fugelsang writes: “And get a load of these BEATITUDES.
Jesus opens the Sermon with a series of blessings that represent his foundational teachings and core values. Each line begins with the word ‘blessed,’ which can also be translated as ‘happy,’ ‘fortunate,’ or even ‘lucky.’
Jesus pronounces his blessings upon specific groups of people. He focuses on the poor and marginalized; he praises nonviolence and peace-making, radical love, mercy, and inclusion; and he pretty much takes down the status quo.” Separation of Church and Hate p. 25
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
2. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
3. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
5. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
6. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
7. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
8. “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Fugelsang jokes: “Imagine the hecklers: ‘Meh, I didn’t trudge all the way up Mount of Beatitudes just to hear some virtue signaling from Woke Jesus.’” p. 25
“The Beatitudes are Jesus’s own guide for ethical conduct in Christian life.” p. 25
May we all be Harmonious and “Beatitude-ish Peacemakers” this Holiday Season — and beyond.
A few of my Photos of Peace:
There’s More Than One Way to Defy Gravity
So this afternoon, HR (Husband Robert, to the uninitiated), Ex-wife Donna and I went to see the current top-grossing film in the nation, Wicked: For Good.
We got our popcorn and headed for Auditorium One, when we decided we REALLY needed photo documentation (well, perhaps I alone decided that, but HR and Donna went along).
In a weird way, just the three of us out together on a movie date is … Defying Gravity.
“It’s time to try defying gravity
I think I’ll try defying gravity
And you can’t pull me down”
I Have Been.
Julia for President!
I love this short two-minute You Tube video from yesteryear’s Designing Women, as Julia, running for political office in the episode, passionately expresses her beliefs (and mine) on the subject of … well, just take a listen.
Repressive Evil Has Its Hold on the “United” States
I simply don’t understand our federal government’s Administration of Hatred.
WHY would these people take something born out of LOVE, the gay flag, and “recreate it” as … terrorism?
It makes NO sense.
Except perhaps in the twisted minds of authoritarian strongmen dictators and their blind-to-truth followers.
An excerpt from the disturbing article …
Here’s the link to the full disturbing article:
https://www.advocate.com/news/trump-considers-pride-flag-bans
And here’s the beautiful Progress Flag the article references, along with the meaning behind the colors …
Maybe I’m stupid, but I don’t quite get how …
LIFE
HEALING
SUNLIGHT
NATURE
HARMONY
SPIRIT
And inclusive Love directed toward Indigenous Peoples, People of Color and Transgender People …
… are terroristic threats.
This is fascist insanity beyond belief.
But this is my country too, and I call upon …
… all true patriots to condemn this cancerous Avalanche of Hatred that Trump and his cronies are unleashing upon our nation and its very soul.
Long Live Love
The “President” …
… of the United States is insane.
Surely everyone realizes that by now.
I try not to listen to him, but this short video is worth a few seconds of your time …
https://share.google/q3MTwb7oEp4umFWaM
I realize that many, perhaps most, bloggers don’t want to get into politics. But I believe my United States is at a crossroads, and our current President is steering us down a Deadly Drive, one that will destroy our Democracy. I call upon my fellow bloggers and citizens everywhere to speak out against this tyranny and authoritarianism. If we love our country, we must.
Speak Out!
My Saturday Evening Post: 8/2/25 “The Measure”
And that’s my Saturday Evening Post.
One-Word Wednesday 7/30/25
“Patriotism”
Browsing through the clearance section at Hobby Lobby today, I rsn across this …
“Robert!” I shrieked across several aisles where he was searching for dragonfly figurines in the garden gnome section (Don’t get me started). “Quick! Please! Come take my picture!”
Used to my impromptu requests, HR fairly quickly found me, put down his two garden figurines (which looked more like weird birds than dragonflies to me) and took this photo.
I love the Profound Truth of Twain’s Patriotic Proclamation!
In solidarity with many Americans, I am having a great deal of trouble supporting the current administration’s Dangerous Dismantling of Democracy.
And I wholeheartedly believe that we should and must make our dissatisfaction known.
Walking into our kitchen when we got home, I glanced at the fridge and thought to myself, “Yes, Mark Twain, I know you were being humorous, but you are also so very correct!”
And I make that … Refrigerated Proclamation as a Patriot of my Country, the United States of America.
NealEnJoy 