This is not the Christianity I knew while growing up

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2026/05/this-is-not-christianity-i-knew-while.html

Most Evangelicals believe that all parts of the Bible are equally inspired, which undermines the Christian gospel and leads to the kind of literalist fundamentalism that has produced the pseudo-Christian nationalism that has led Evangelical churches into apostasy. But what they call liberal is actually the Christian gospel that was revealed in the teaching and preaching of Jesus, beginning with the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. It's actually a lifestyle, not merely a legalistic intellectual assent to a set of doctrines.

The Christian gospel is the interpretive criterion for every other part of the Bible. And there isn't even full agreement on what actually constitutes "the Bible." Understanding it requires knowing what its 40 different authors intended to convey to their original audiences, and understanding that the circumstances to which that meaning applied are long gone and no longer exist. In Christian doctrine, the gospel as revealed by Jesus is where the values and principles that establish the practice of the faith are found.

Human existence is considered sacred. In Christian theology, humans are created in the image of God, a reflection of divine existence, and supported by Jesus' stating that the greatest commandment consists of two concepts. One is true worship of God. The other is that the evidence of being a Christian is seen in those who love their "neighbor," their fellow human beings, as they love themselves.

What this means is that almost everything I was taught, and believe to be Christian is completely inconsistent with the rhetoric of conservative Evangelicalism into which political ideology incompatible with Christian principles has intruded. If the Christian gospel is a system of life-enhancing values and principles, lived out as love for one's neighbor, defined by Jesus as any other human being, then it is impossible to call any war "just."

It is also not possible to claim that God's spiritual annointing is on a leader whose lifestyle shows zero consistency with any principle of the Christian gospel. Old Testament leadership examples do not apply, since there is no longer any nation which exists as a theocracy under the direct control of religious leadership. And while there are historical examples of "flawed men" God appeared to use in achieving his ends in governing ancient Israel, they also demonstrated full spiritual conviction when it came to their flawed character, depending on God for forgiveness. That's not what we see in the American political leadership misled conservative Evangelicals accord to their political idol.

The idea that an unrepentant, morally bankrupt, narcissistic, convicted felon and adulterer would be chosen by God as a political leader would have been considered absolute heresy by the people in that small town church in which I grew up, if that idea had surfaced back in the 70's. Now? It's hard to say. At any rate, such an idea is inconsistent with authentic Christian faith and practice, which is built on a foundation of grace.

[Midnight Writer]

1. I was raised in a strict, conservative, Southern Baptist home, and even I don't recognize this MAGA Christianity.

The Jesus I learned about taught us to love one another, to help each other out, to care for the poor, the sick, the disadvantaged, to treat others the way we would want to be treated if we were in their shoes.

[lees1975]

2. There were some exceptions to that in the small, Southern Baptist church in which I grew up.

We had some neighbors who were hispanic, native American and a few who were black. The church's restrictions on any of these individuals holding full membership were not rescinded until I was a sophomore in high school, in 1973. I had a hard time reconciling this with what was being taught, because in the secular environment of the public school I attended, they were accepted and included by almost everyone, except the Mormons. But not in my church that preached "love your neighbor as yourself."

[JustKay]

3. This is why I no longer consider myself a "Christian."

I go to church (United Church of Christ), but I won't call myself Christian anymore, because I don't want to be associated with these hateful fundamentalists.

[lees1975]

6. I don't self-identify as "Evangelical" any more.

That is more of a political identity now than having anything to do with authentic Christianity. The Christian nationalism, which can be broadly applied to virtually all of the mix of right wing extremism, including white supremacy, with conservative fundamentalism is pseudo-Christian.

I identify as a Quaker, though right now I don't live close enough to attend or belong to a meeting. But I think identity is clear. Christianity is the actual acceptance of and practice of the values of Jesus as a lifestyle. If the lifestyle isn't visible, then it's not Christian. And with loving your neighbor as yourself at the top of the list of visible expressions of Christianity, and being a peacemaker as the value that identifies one as a child of God, it's pretty obvious that a national leader who wants to use his power to wipe an entire "civilization" off the face of the earth is the exact opposite of Christian.

[pat_k]

4. We MUST distinguish between Faith/Christianity and Religious Nationalism/Christian Nationalism.

It's pretty f-ing simple.

One question:
Do you want to pass laws that impose your PERSONAL religious beliefs on others who DO NOT SHARE those beliefs?

If YES, you are a Religious Nationalist / Christian Nationalist, and I will work like hell to oppose and stop you from accomplishing your Un-American and Un-Christian goals

If NO, i could care less what you believe or do. If you don't want to pass laws imposing your personal beliefs on anyone else, I may be curious about what your beliefs are, and I may hold diametrically opposed views, but your beliefs are your business, not mine. Just as my beliefs are my business, not yours.

[msongs]

5. xtians have a 2000 year track record nt