This anti-myth Christian position is so misguided. Myths are good things. Myths tell us who we are, and what we value. Myths don't traffic in minor truths; they show us Truth.

And they brought Jesus to Golgotha, which means, “the place of the skull.”

And they shot him. 39 times. The trumped-up charges against him read, “This is a Black man who dared to live in white America.”

There’s no way we can go back to anything resembling “normal” post-quarantine (assuming there will be only one, with a novel virus that we know desperately little about) — this apocalypse is simply drawing back the curtains and showing us how unsustainable this all is. I think, on some level, more and more of us are realizing that. It won’t magically be normal on May 1. Or August 1. Or beyond. This is going to change things.

Christofascism is bowing down to a flag of empire while holding a bible that is chock-full of radical hope in the face of such empire. Christofascism is baptizing policies that harm women and jeopardize their health in the name of “life.”

“
16 April 1963
My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities 'unwise and untimely.’ "Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas.

If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work.

I’m no expert on Iran & my poly sci degree was all the way back in undergrad, but I do know a fair amount about U.S. Christianity — particularly its obsession w/ bullshit apocalyptic **interpretations** of the bible, so let’s be real:

Tr*mp’s evangelical coalition *loves this*. There are two ways to go with this — the present and the prelude.

The present is clear. Just look at the walking christofascist’s wet dream that is Mike Pompeo.

THIS IS THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, everyone

Advent is radical precisely because it’s not Christmas, and yet it does serve as a prelude.

And that prelude is full of firebrands like Isaiah and John the Baptist, their screams for justice piercing the ancient Middle Eastern skies. “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Subversive prophetic witness is a prelude to a baby being born under oppression and on the run as a refugee — a child who would end up changing the world.

This is #Advent.

It was a hot and sultry day, the humidity moving through the weeping willows, covering everything in its tracks — slowing everything down. If you were quiet, you might be able to hear faint, hushed tones down the dusty country road.

“Jason, I know you’re liberal and that’s fine, but Christianity isn’t political. You need to stop forcing your values on to sacred Scripture.”

Sacred scripture: Inhospitality is a grave sin, bringing God’s judgment and wrath. (Gen 19:1–29; Eze 16:49; Matt 10:15; Luke 10:12)

The freedom Jesus talks about ain’t **nothing** like the freedom we peddle through this scared-shitless hyper-individualistic thing we call “American values” —

and it’s high time we differentiate the two. God commands human beings to take care and responsibility in being stewards of that creation, to free the earth from the bonds of destructive human activity. (Genesis 2:15)

The Bible isn’t a rule-book, and the more we pretend it is, the more we don’t take those 66+ books seriously.

It’s just…it’s really immature — and embarrassing — to treat it this way.

Too many Christians still operate with a Sunday school mentality of their faith. Nothing against Sunday school at all, PS. Or children in the faith tradition. Jesus says children get it more than adults do sometimes. Fully.

And also. Still looking at the faith tradition and encountering the bible at 39 in exactly the way you did at 13 is…not great.

I went to live in Namibia (not Nambia as the current racist fuck in the White House says). I was 20.

A lot of things changed then. One of the major ones was borne from reading a shit-ton of books. Pre-social media, with an old Dell to send emails...yea, books were where it’s at.

A Peoples’ History of the United States and Mandela’s biography were the first two.

That year was a fucking EDUCATION, y’all.

It’s that time when Christian churches around the world look at the well-known –– but oft misunderstood — story of Mary and Martha.

When we look at Luke’s overall narrative, when we recognize the context, I think we see this story in a new light. I would like to quote from my friend and colleague, the Rev. @micahkrey:

“The Gospel of Luke is always interrogating the system that creates oppression and unfair dynamics.”

Y’all.

So, when it comes to the Bible and profanity, it might not be what you think.

The Bible swears a lot. Like, a fucking ton.

Our translations just usually shy away from it. It’s not just about what words we see translated as things like “rubbish,” “sons of vipers,” etc…

It’s also about the ways in which the Bible is weaponized to keep people from saying what they mean and naming the fucking reality of our world.

In my mental health experience (in no way am i speaking for everyone), when I take the risk to say how fucking exhausting it is to not believe my brain when it tells me I’m

disgusting
pathetic
unfuckable
untalented
worthless
etc…

I *am nowhere near* fishing for compliments. For me, it’s been helpful just to have people say things like

“I believe you.”
“You’re not alone.”
“Your brain is lying.”
etc...

Y’all, we’re being a *bit* too hard on Christians being anti-immigrant.

It’s not like the God of the Bible specifically calls a 'wandering Aramean’ who lives and dies as an immigrant (Abraham). It’s not like there are entire sections of the Torah that spell out how to treat a foreigner/alien (the @CommonEngBible often translates as ‘immigrant') and come down hard on “no matter what you do make sure you NEVER mistreat them.”

So, I think it’s time for #ItalianJob (2003), not least because it’s the reason I drive a Mini to this day.

Also it’s a solid freaking remake to the 1969 original, so let’s give it its due. F. Gary Gray, one of *the* best-named directors in the history of film, nails it.

For all the ‘eh’ acting (lookin’ at you, Marky Mark), Gray makes up for it with simply delightful, engaging filmmaking.

I am more and more convinced that the obsession with abortion (especially when it comes to the Bible) is about one thing more than anything else: comfort in certainty. I’ll give evangelical Christians one thing, and one thing only — one of the greatest PR campaigns of all time was calling their position “pro-life,” thus anyone who disagreed was necessarily “anti-life” or “pro-death.”

Can we talk for a second about the pinnacle verse for fundamentalist Christianity when it comes to using Jesus to shit on other faith traditions?

Give it up for John 14:6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” I can almost hear Christo-fascists salivating now. Cut and dry, right? Other religious are FUCKED. Jesus wins. Let’s all go passive-aggressively pray for people we’ve never met who are going to hell, yea?

A thread on the Rapture in the Bible:

It’s not there. At all.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Although I will give two shoutouts, the unique verses that evangelicals love to twist to their liking on this subject:

Daniel 12:11-12, and I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Everyone’s a biblical literalist until they realize that the Bible recognizes abortion and doesn’t condemn it (Ex. 21:22-25) and doesn’t consider a fetus as having a right to life (Num. 5:11-31). (I have more receipts, by the by.)

The biblical narrative also routinely equates life with breath –– the major Genesis story tells us that the adam (human) formed from the adamah (earth) isn’t life until God breathes through them.