As someone christened 'the Christbearer' (Christopher), I knew by the age of 15 that all that I was experiencing by attending chapel and Sunday School each weekend was hypocritical and I refused to go any more. So, I stand with Bishop Budde's appeal for mercy, and against the perversion of high ideals, by politicians like Trump and his kin.
May we all be saved from their disingenuity in the days to come.
"And as for those who are attacking her, they are exactly how Jesus once described the Pharisees, ‘like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.’"
Wow. That's a phrase that should be spread far and wide. Maybe on Fox 'News' (I jest).
As a long lapsed Catholic I left belief in a magical all-powerful bearded man behind, and stopped believing in Santa too. There is nothing more nauseating than watching the very worst sort of sinners (as they would have been described) clothing themselves in a self-declared holiness and claiming that God has chosen them. As if any self-respecting God would not see straight through them and send them on their way to Hell without waiting for them to die. It only reinforces that there is no God, because if there were someone like Trump would be cleaning toilets with his own hair and all his MAGA acolytes would be reincarnated as destitute peasants in one of the many countries impoverished and de-democratized by US policy.
That it took a humane and simple plea from a woman of faith and conviction to cut through the noise and fury is a damning condemnation of much of the politics and most of the press over there.
Although it will change few of the minds that matter, it does act as a marker for what was before and what is to come.
Splendid post. BTW, there’s no doubt in my mind that Trump 2.0 is playing, entirely opportunistically, to his Christian Right supporters. In one way it’s unsurprising that this voter base is so influential in the US. In another way, it’s truly astonishing that those voters have so enthusiastically endorsed someone who is so plainly detached from even the most basic tenets of Christianity.
It’s very tangential, but watching Budde’s address reminded me of a wedding I went to decades ago. The bride was a great friend of mine. The groom was some guy who had made a fortune from some kind of Thatcher-era tax wheeze, and his best man was a partner in the business. At the ceremony, the (Catholic) Priest made some reference to the importance of things which could not be measured by wealth, and the groom and best man looked at each other and burst out in laughter. The marriage didn’t last, but I still see those two men, with their sneering, dismissive contempt, which they could not even contain for that one moment, and think of them as emblematic of all that corrupts and is corrupted.
Thanks Chris. That’s quite a story. Like a scene from a Jonathan Coe novel. The striking thing about a certain strand of American (mostly) evangelical Christianity, is how its modern adherents don’t see see the pursuit of wealth as remotely problematic. I remember being very conscious of that in 80s America, watching the likes of the Bakkers cheerfully grifting their followers and embracing the Reaganite creed.
As someone christened 'the Christbearer' (Christopher), I knew by the age of 15 that all that I was experiencing by attending chapel and Sunday School each weekend was hypocritical and I refused to go any more. So, I stand with Bishop Budde's appeal for mercy, and against the perversion of high ideals, by politicians like Trump and his kin.
May we all be saved from their disingenuity in the days to come.
Brilliant writing Matt
"And as for those who are attacking her, they are exactly how Jesus once described the Pharisees, ‘like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.’"
Wow. That's a phrase that should be spread far and wide. Maybe on Fox 'News' (I jest).
As a long lapsed Catholic I left belief in a magical all-powerful bearded man behind, and stopped believing in Santa too. There is nothing more nauseating than watching the very worst sort of sinners (as they would have been described) clothing themselves in a self-declared holiness and claiming that God has chosen them. As if any self-respecting God would not see straight through them and send them on their way to Hell without waiting for them to die. It only reinforces that there is no God, because if there were someone like Trump would be cleaning toilets with his own hair and all his MAGA acolytes would be reincarnated as destitute peasants in one of the many countries impoverished and de-democratized by US policy.
‘Washing toilets with his own hair’ does seem a pretty appropriate punishment for the man you describe.’
That it took a humane and simple plea from a woman of faith and conviction to cut through the noise and fury is a damning condemnation of much of the politics and most of the press over there.
Although it will change few of the minds that matter, it does act as a marker for what was before and what is to come.
That may be valuable in posterity.
Splendid post. BTW, there’s no doubt in my mind that Trump 2.0 is playing, entirely opportunistically, to his Christian Right supporters. In one way it’s unsurprising that this voter base is so influential in the US. In another way, it’s truly astonishing that those voters have so enthusiastically endorsed someone who is so plainly detached from even the most basic tenets of Christianity.
It’s very tangential, but watching Budde’s address reminded me of a wedding I went to decades ago. The bride was a great friend of mine. The groom was some guy who had made a fortune from some kind of Thatcher-era tax wheeze, and his best man was a partner in the business. At the ceremony, the (Catholic) Priest made some reference to the importance of things which could not be measured by wealth, and the groom and best man looked at each other and burst out in laughter. The marriage didn’t last, but I still see those two men, with their sneering, dismissive contempt, which they could not even contain for that one moment, and think of them as emblematic of all that corrupts and is corrupted.
Thanks Chris. That’s quite a story. Like a scene from a Jonathan Coe novel. The striking thing about a certain strand of American (mostly) evangelical Christianity, is how its modern adherents don’t see see the pursuit of wealth as remotely problematic. I remember being very conscious of that in 80s America, watching the likes of the Bakkers cheerfully grifting their followers and embracing the Reaganite creed.