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Let’s talk about Evangelical Christianity! I’m the son and grandson of Church of Christ preachers, and I have something to say.
The Church of Christ, if you’re not aware, has its roots in the Stone-Campbell movement and was recognized around 1906. The CoC became prominent in the build-up to WW2, when they/we were one of the first denominations to denounce Hitler. That was a good call. HOWEVER:
During WW2 the Church of Christ abandoned pacifism in favor of patriotism, putting the CoC in the firm grasp of Southern towns’ Main Street. That’s a different thread.
There is a very blatant need for Evangelicals to be persecuted in order to validate Their Faith.
Peep Luke 6:26: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
Peep Luke 6:26: “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.”
Or Acts 5:41: “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”
(And Acts 8:1-4, if you’re interested in diving further into the Good Book)
(And Acts 8:1-4, if you’re interested in diving further into the Good Book)
The problem for Evangelicals is that this is actually a pretty welcoming society (provided you stick to the “mainstream”.) If you go to church in the South...it’s very normal. Even living in Upstate NY, it wasn’t out of the ordinary, no one said crap to us.
So there’s no real persecution.
But therein lies the problem: Evangelicals aren’t persecuted for their beliefs, because it’s basically mainstream down here. The solution? Find persecution, literally anywhere you can find it.
But therein lies the problem: Evangelicals aren’t persecuted for their beliefs, because it’s basically mainstream down here. The solution? Find persecution, literally anywhere you can find it.
If you think that you have been persecuted? That’s your golden ticket to Heaven, even if it means turning your back on literally what Jesus teaches on how to treat the poor, the immigrants, the marginalized by society just so you can feel like you’ve been oppressed.
This isn’t an excuse, it’s not a crutch, it’s just how my experiences with Evangelical Christianity have shaped my worldview.
My wife and kid are immuno-compromised, and I know I can’t trust the people I go to church with to be careful and wear a mask (aforementioned Persecution Complex), so we haven’t physically been to church since March.
We listen to our preacher’s sermons every week because he’s awesome and is also sympathetic.
But you have to know, when you’re dealing with the “If I Get Hammered For My Bad Takes Then It Means I’m Gettin’ Persecuted” crowd, that’s exactly what they’re looking for.
It’s Masks, it’s Guns, it’s Not Selling A Cake To An LGBTQ Couple, it’s “we should absolutely storm the Capitol and try to overturn the election.”
The fact is: the government absolutely had the ability to follow the lead of the countries who had successfully navigated COVID-19 (we had the blueprint from the Spanish Flu - which originated in Kansas but that’s not the point right now)
But they instead appealed to the “any restrictions are a form of oppression” mentality, because that costs money, and the Prosperity Gospel is a rotten perversion of Christianity that has taken hold of this side of religion.
So it feels good to dunk on these Chuds, and I do it, too. But it only emboldens their worldview. I know it, because I went to middle school and high school and to college (ACU, founded: 1906) with them. They’re utterly wrong, but they delight in their wrongness.
Christian Nationalism has turned churches/followers into lapdogs for unrestricted capitalism and the military industrial complex. Speaking out against capitalism or the military is the line at which evangelicals *will* eat their own. It’s fake-persecution and they thrive on it
/fin
Anyway, another reliever signed with the Astros?
