holy cow! @lisamelton has boosted my post on what the pastor of my church had the audiacity to say about giving others basic and advanced human compassion. i'm glad because it really needs to have reach, signaling that liberal positions in #Christianity are not only allowed, but the norm given how the founder of the religion acted.
"Now the great obstacle to mutual understanding between Christianity and Buddhism lies in the Western tendency to focus not on the Buddhist experience, which is essential, but on the explanation, which is accidental and which indeed Zen often regards as completely trivial and even misleading.
“Buddhist meditation, but above all that of Zen, seeks not to explain but to pay attention, to become aware, to be mindful, in other words to develop a certain kind of consciousness that is above and beyond deception by verbal formulas–or by emotional excitement.”
Merton, Thomas. “A Christian Looks at Zen.” (1967) in Selected Essays. Edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2013, p. 346.
Demons and :explosions, punching, chair smashing, tank riding and sword swallowing"?
What in the holy hell is going on in the testosterone-addled world of toxic masculine "Christianity" in the US? Could it succeed in making itself look any sillier and any further from anything the Jesus of the gospels was about?
"I was just reading the story about the woman who left 1,000 dollars in tips at a #taco joint because she thought she was gonna be #raptured. [during the eclipse]
When she wasn't, she went back to the taco joint and demanded her money back accusing the servers of stealing it somehow.
And I'm really hard-pressed to think of a better analogy for the state of American #Christianity."
You may know well #Thor, the #Norse god of Thunder—but have you head about Perun?
He is often depicted as a powerful, bearded man wielding a hammer or axe. His domain included the sky, where he controlled the weather and protected the earthly realm from evil forces.
In #Slavic belief, thunder was thought to be the sound of Perun striking his enemies with his thunderbolts. As a deity associated with war, Perun was also considered a guardian of justice and order, punishing evildoers and upholding moral law. His cult was widespread among the early Slavic tribes, and he was one of the most important gods in their pantheon.
Perun's importance declined with the spread of #Christianity in Eastern #Europe, where he was often equated with Saint Elias due to their shared associations with thunder and lightning. Nonetheless, Perun remains a significant figure in Slavic folklore and cultural heritage, symbolizing strength, protection, and the forces of nature.
A new BOOK in my Visions and Voice series! Celebrating Christian FAITH. If you believe in loving yourself and loving your neighbor, then this book is for you! If you are a hateful person that uses Christianity to persecute other people, you won't like this book. It's about love, peace, comfort and Jesus.
Known for his improvised & volatile performances, #Trump is now ending many of his rallies w/ churchlike ritual & casting his prosecutions as persecution.
Taking essential #healthcare away from needy children on #Easter is incredibly fucked up. These #Republicans continue to claim exclusive ownership of #Christianity while behaving in a way that would have infuriated their #messiah. They're literally acting directly contrary to the foundational teachings of the man they claim to revere and follow.
If #Jesus came back today, #JamesComer and #GymJordan would subpoena him, and have him before their Congressional #impeachment committee tomorrow. The notion that they'd accept and embrace him is too absurd to even contemplate. Jesus, as described in their very own official #TrumpBible, is an unquestionable #liberal whose teachings are directly contrary to their professed beliefs. Jesus just doesn't understand #Christianity the way the #Republicans do.
@RememberUsAlways I can imagine the politicians of the era. "Make Palestine Pray Again." Herod the Younger has personally approved this copy of the Septuagint. Yours for only 60 pieces of silver.
Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox — which this year is on March 31. Here's a story from @TheConversationUS about the origin of the word "Easter," its connection to the Jewish festival of Passover, and why it changed from a day of heavy drinking and merrymaking (as it was until the 19th century) to a family occasion.
"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." -- Brennan Manning
Jesus then mentions the approach of a Samaritan. The Samaritans are a religious group (they still exist), and at the time of Jesus, the schism between Samaritans and Judeans was still very raw; but the important thing to know about the Samaritans is that the religiously-minded Jews of the time hated the Samaritans. A lot. Jesus' mention of a Samaritan to this religiously-minded man would've been like telling a MAGA that a socialist approached the man.
It's also worth noting that whether the person has done harm to you doesn't affect Jesus' conclusion that they're your neighbor: about a century and a half before Jesus tells this parable, the (Judean) Hasmonean King Hyrcanus had prosecuted a devastating "holy war" against the Samaritan people, destroying their lands and even their temple on Mount Gerizim, meaning that the Samaritan in this story was actually helping someone whose people had devastated his homeland.
Finally had to tell a formerly close friend who's now a #Trump "Christian" DudeBro that I'm no longer interested in hearing his propaganda and that he has absolutely destroyed any credibility he once had as a person who claimed to follow #Jesus.
As his own Bible has said, "No one can follow two masters," and he has traded Jesus for Trump.
Our friendship will never be the same. Sadz. 🤷🏼♂️
