Christianity is as Christianity does.

according to the exit polls.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls

Those numbers represent a majority.

The Venn diagram doesn't completely overlap. Some people voted for Trump for reasons having nothing to do with religion but might still have identified as some form of Christian. There is a strong correlation between voting for Trump and identifying as evangelical, but nowhere near all Christians are evangelicals, and nowhere near all Christians of any denomination voted for Trump.

Of course you can select out this or that group of Christians and point to their voting numbers, but that doesn't change the fact that the majority of Christian voters cast their ballots for Trump.

of those who voted supported the felon. There are no statistics on those who did not vote.

We need to be crystal clear. While we embrace all religions, including Christianity, we vehemently oppose Christian Nationalism. We believe it is both Un-Christian and Un-American to pass laws that impose religious beliefs on people who do not share those beliefs.

We believe in the four freedoms as core American aspirational values.



** According to a February 2025 survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), about two-thirds of Americans (66%) oppose Christian nationalism.

n/t

I have a huge problem with the words and actions of so many people who claim to be his followers. I think he would be appalled at much of what is said and done in his name.

Gandhi nailed it - “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Was from an "spiritual advisor" formerly devout Christian who quit religion after studying religions depth.

She concluded that societies create religions to justify what they want and need, particularly in their power structure. Religion follows rather than leads.

Societies with few resources have religions that condemn materialism, societies where many are unhappy hold out hope for a better life after this one, societies bent on conquest have religions of entitlement, and so on.

The right wing's religion is that of a bully. My god is bigger and better than yours, I'm right and you're wrong, and I'm justified to steal or kill.

It's who they are.

I don't think of the rightwing version as a religion at all,
but rather a very sick cult pretending to be religious..

This has been especially true whenever they've had the political power to force their religion on populations. What's happening today isn't really surprising.

In fact, I consider colonialism to be at the root
of all our evils today.

Once a religion gets tangled up with the state, it becomes a means for the state to assert more power. Christianity started out as a small, often-persecuted Jewish sect based on principles of charity and altruism, but it attracted more and more Gentiles in Greek and Roman territories, until it finally landed a big-name convert, the Roman Emperor Constantine I. Once connected to the state, the new church became wealthy and could own land. Eventually, as was inevitable, once the church became powerful as an extension of the state it became the persecutor instead of the persecuted.

The founding fathers knew this. Practice whatever religion you like or none at all, but keep it out of government.

In the Book of Acts chapter 5, the story of Ananias and Sepphira describes how the Apostles used violence and fear from the very earliest days.

Most human groupings are not so bad. Until they manage to acquire some power. Im struggling to think of a counterexample.

And ask - "But why aren't you Jewish as I was?"

Sorry - my UU self can't help questioning the J.C. / PDR narrative. He was a Rabbi. I think it would be a fair question for him to ask.

response on this OP/thread! Thank you. The prophet Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi.

Fellow UU here. Well said!

This interview is really good, and his new book sounds like a must-read.

And, he would probably be arrested and deported to El Salvador for not being white enough and being a troublemaker.

The klan, Southern Baptists , the Methodist community splitting because of accepting the gay community and so many other ways in which Christianity has been used to oppress people. This is not new , it is the way it has been since the beginning.

Definitely heretical by any definition of Christianity, but see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grand_Inquisitor

The NAR guys at least are in so deep that there's no backing out now.
They'd have to figure out how to burn themselves at the stake if they recanted Trump.

Many of them are more on the side of The Grand Inquisitor than Jesus Christ.

Some even view empathy as a sin.

Or think Sermon on the Mount is too woke.

I tried to tell this story of The Grand Inquisitor to a MAGA family member, their response was "Was the writer a liberal?"

Dostoevsky not only had the gift of psychological insights but ability to show how the smallest of moments can have ripple effects.

I often wonder if the evangelicals are more connected to the Old Testament, while Catholics and many of the Protestant denominations are predominantly New Testament-oriented.

It would account for why evangelicals think our lot in life is to suffer, while the rest of the Christian faith are more aligned with Christ and his actual teachings.

him from being a Christian is other Christians? That Christians are so unlike Christ. A very astute observation from such a holy man.

The older I get (and I am very old), it seems that all evangelical religions, whatever the denomination or whatever they call themselves) are off shoots of tribalism, which has been in existence as long as humans have inhabited the earth. There's not much to commend a species which chooses division and power over a humanistic view of all peoples' right to exist in peace.

yes, that's exactly where we are

Widespread healthy and loving xtianity is a very rare thing.

away from conservative Repuglicans. Republicans are now the party of moral repugnancy.

This is all Dominance Disorder.
Dominance is the original Original Sin. All Evil originates there.
Get Thee To The Shrink.

head to deportation camp.

Allred is great, but Talarico is exceptional and is precisely what is needed in our party at this horrific juncture.

Oh man. I can just see Cruz's face as Junior Texas U.S. Senator James Talarico is introduced.

meaning the self righteous hatred of anyone "other" so they don't have to focus on their own massive shortcomings. Besides, there's always a sick little thrill that comes with self righteous hate, it's hard wired into the most primitive parts of our brains, all of us.

At its best, religion provides cohesion, community, positive reinforcement for treating each other decently, and an override to the hate-reward circuitry. At its worst, it's what we're seeing on the loony right, especially those totally out of control bunches who think they really do speak for god (who can't speak for himself, oh well) and have a perfect right to dictate to non believers in their shit and kill anyone they don't like because apparently god makes a lot of mistakes that only they are wise enough to correct.

Know your enemy and make sure people around you know who they are, too, and maybe they'll find fewer suckers avaailable to them in the future.

Just look at the parable of the Good Samaritan — he was an “other” with a good heart. It's not the religion you profess that matters, and definitely not your nationality; it's how you treat the less fortunate.

By their works, we know them, and they fall woefully short — and even directly contradict their own teachings.