Unfortunately, this is how Christians acquired much, if not most, of this country. You would think we would have learned by now. What was not taken by force was purchased under duress. Christians did make up the majority of the population then, as they likely still do now, in one form or another. But the nation itself was not shaped primarily by Christian doctrine. It was shaped by deists and by those deeply influenced by the Enlightenment. Their restraint, skepticism, and moral humility are what have held this country together for nearly 250 years.
They set us on the right path and, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. observed, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We have taken detours, sometimes long and destructive ones, but we have managed to correct our course.
This may ruffle feathers, and it is not meant to indict decent people who identify as Christian, but many of those detours were fueled by the Church itself. While individual Christians were often involved in the corrections, the institutional Church frequently was not. More often than not, it was society that had to temper Church dogma in order to restore justice and human dignity.
The catastrophe we are living through was not caused by Donald Trump. He is the result. He is a mirror, reflecting back to us what we have become. If we refuse to look, if we refuse to stand up and shake off what the evangelical Church has turned into, then the Church will not merely lose influence. It will forfeit its moral right to exist.
Forget the dogma you were taught. Much of it is false, propagated by figures like Jeffress and many others who have twisted faith into power and grievance. A Church that follows someone like Trump, that sees him as virtuous, divinely chosen, or as an instrument of God’s will, is already lost.
There is still a choice. Change course. Make a clean break, a decisive one. Or accept that this path ends with ruin, not just for the Church, but for all of us.
Robert Jeffress does not preach the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps he did at one time, but not since he came across my radar, some years ago. He isn't new or unusual. Jesus has been used as an excuse to conquer, steal, rape, torture, murder, and enslave others for 2000 years.
The Christian Nationalists will not care what the people of Greenland want, not the least because they aren't white Europeans.
America is a country populated by many Christians; that has never made it a Christian nation, and in fact, if it hadn't been for one Jew, we would most likely have lost the Revolutionary War.
I have been pessimistic since the GOP first chose the short-fingered vulgarian over all other (some perfectly reasonable) candidates.
Thank you, Professor. Well said and well written as usual.
If it would be purchased with the permission of the people of Greenland, that would be a different scenario than the hard way Trump described. That would be a purchase not theft.
What I am talking about is theft, taking it against the wishes of the people.
A vote of the people or a body elected to represent them. Denmark would also need to agree. Try to imagine Canada deciding that it needs Alaska, and saying that it will take it the easy way or the hard way. And then imagine Canada had the military might of the US and the US was Canada.
Our elected officials are offering a price but the other side has said under no circumstances is Greenland for sale. Maybe they will change their mind but they have made it clear they don't like being threatened.
In any case, my post related to the hypothetical of Trump annexing Greenland against their will -- the hard way. You do realize that, right?
Well said. Unfortunately.
Unfortunately, this is how Christians acquired much, if not most, of this country. You would think we would have learned by now. What was not taken by force was purchased under duress. Christians did make up the majority of the population then, as they likely still do now, in one form or another. But the nation itself was not shaped primarily by Christian doctrine. It was shaped by deists and by those deeply influenced by the Enlightenment. Their restraint, skepticism, and moral humility are what have held this country together for nearly 250 years.
They set us on the right path and, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. observed, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” We have taken detours, sometimes long and destructive ones, but we have managed to correct our course.
This may ruffle feathers, and it is not meant to indict decent people who identify as Christian, but many of those detours were fueled by the Church itself. While individual Christians were often involved in the corrections, the institutional Church frequently was not. More often than not, it was society that had to temper Church dogma in order to restore justice and human dignity.
The catastrophe we are living through was not caused by Donald Trump. He is the result. He is a mirror, reflecting back to us what we have become. If we refuse to look, if we refuse to stand up and shake off what the evangelical Church has turned into, then the Church will not merely lose influence. It will forfeit its moral right to exist.
Forget the dogma you were taught. Much of it is false, propagated by figures like Jeffress and many others who have twisted faith into power and grievance. A Church that follows someone like Trump, that sees him as virtuous, divinely chosen, or as an instrument of God’s will, is already lost.
There is still a choice. Change course. Make a clean break, a decisive one. Or accept that this path ends with ruin, not just for the Church, but for all of us.
Absolutely true and absolutely reprehensible.
Robert Jeffress does not preach the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps he did at one time, but not since he came across my radar, some years ago. He isn't new or unusual. Jesus has been used as an excuse to conquer, steal, rape, torture, murder, and enslave others for 2000 years.
The Christian Nationalists will not care what the people of Greenland want, not the least because they aren't white Europeans.
America is a country populated by many Christians; that has never made it a Christian nation, and in fact, if it hadn't been for one Jew, we would most likely have lost the Revolutionary War.
I have been pessimistic since the GOP first chose the short-fingered vulgarian over all other (some perfectly reasonable) candidates.
Thank you, Professor. Well said and well written as usual.
But of course it would not be stolen. It would be purchased. You might even see it as decolonizing!
If it would be purchased with the permission of the people of Greenland, that would be a different scenario than the hard way Trump described. That would be a purchase not theft.
What I am talking about is theft, taking it against the wishes of the people.
What might be evidence of "permission" in this instance?
A vote of the people or a body elected to represent them. Denmark would also need to agree. Try to imagine Canada deciding that it needs Alaska, and saying that it will take it the easy way or the hard way. And then imagine Canada had the military might of the US and the US was Canada.
I mean it sounds like that is exactly how it’s going down. The elected officials are negotiating a sale price.
Our elected officials are offering a price but the other side has said under no circumstances is Greenland for sale. Maybe they will change their mind but they have made it clear they don't like being threatened.
In any case, my post related to the hypothetical of Trump annexing Greenland against their will -- the hard way. You do realize that, right?