The People's Pope

“The Pope welcomes everyone: people who are disfigured or sick, people who are young and old. Pope Francis is able to express joy and radiate compassion and empathy for others. This may be due to his experiences of pain and weariness. He rose quickly within the ranks of the Society of Jesus and this caused tensions which caused enough Jesuits to despise his leadership. As a result, when he was just 50 years old, his Jesuit community stripped him of all responsibility and he was exiled to Cordoba, Argentina. That experience was humiliating and also humbling. It eventually made him more merciful and kind as he experienced what is sometimes called a “dark night of the soul.” Because he knows deep pain and despair too well, Pope Francis is able to emulate and embody the compassion and love that Jesus showed. We are all broken and in need of compassion, understanding and love. This draws thousands to listen to and meet the Pope as he stands in solidarity with those who suffer and are in need of hope, mercy and grace." The People’s Pope: Our Attraction and Fascination with the Pope ☀

Romans 1:26-7 - The Bible Says That Homosexuality Is A Sin?

"The bible says” is often the excuse employed by homophobic Christians who believe scripture requires a condemnation of homosexuality. The bible is a neutral object. It only “says” something when we act upon it. This is why we as actors must use this prop in a Shakespearean manner and not improv it as so many do today.


 In the last several decades, the use of classical rhetoric as a tool to examine the Pauline epistles has become something of an institution among New Testament scholars. Because of this, we are able to wield scripture more effectively. Equally so, there is push back from fundamentalists and conservatives who would read scripture as if they were the ones writing it, divorced from its first century Greco-Roman-Hellenistic context. It is because of this insistence we read scripture as a modern how-to guide that those who use it are likely to do so not only in error but to the harm of others as well.


 A case in point is the often (mis)used passage, Romans 1.18-32. It does not take long in a discussion on scripture and homosexuality for the more traditional defender to take this out of his or her arsenal, as if it is the “nuclear option.” Jesus may not have spoken directly about homosexuality, but Paul did, we are assured. However, and I relish this role as the bearer of bad news, this passage is not about condemning homosexuality, but about condemning those who condemn others."


 Romans 1:26-7 - The Bible Says That Homosexuality Is A Sin? Via azspot.net
 I strongly agree with this.

"The Bible is not a self-help book. While it contains a lot of advice about life it isn’t primarily a book designed to help people live well or be healthy. Plenty of the advice is terrible, like when it’s acceptable to sell your daughter into slavery. Some of the advice only works in certain contexts and the vast majority of it is not aimed at individuals, but at communities." What the Bible is NOT ☀

Manifest Destiny Is Unbiblical, Unjust

“Manifest Destiny became a commonly held ideology in the early 19th century and was the belief that the United States had a God-given right to aggressively spread values of white civilization across the land mass of the North American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It wreaked havoc on creation and entire communities of indigenous Americans including the Five Civilized Tribes, who were forcibly removed or annihilated based on the assumption that they were an impediment to God’s purposes being realized. Manifest Destiny justified the conquering of the indigenous peoples of Texas, New Mexico, California, and other parts of the Southwest; and the inclusion of the Oregon territory in the United States. Christians must confess the many ways we have contributed to this tragic history by acknowledging and repenting of our sins. We need to repent of our attitudes about the divine right of conquest, white supremacy, ethnic superiority, Manifest Destiny, the pursuit of wealth, and the brutalization, domination, and murder of thousands of Native people who have lived before us." Mae Elise Cannon ☀

America Is Not A Christian Nation

“Instead of preaching a gospel of self-sacrifice and generosity, right-wing Christians support the mega-wealthy who yearn to stifle democracy and move us further toward plutocracy: Keep the riffraff from voting. Keep alternative views out. Live in the bubble of like-minded people, not the marketplace of ideas and diversity where Jesus lived. Instead of proclaiming confidence in God’s care, they push fear: fear of immigrants, fear of the dark-skinned, fear of Islam, fear of Ebola, fear of education, fear of honesty, fear of the poor, fear of gays and lesbians, fear of women, fear of the gospel that Jesus actually proclaimed."


America Isn’t a ‘Christian Nation,’ and Never Has Been ☀