Watching Vice President JD Vance, a professed Christian, stand before our nation this week and repeatedly lie about the Trump Administration’s illegal and immoral assaults on our America and its people, I’m reminded again that White, self-identified Christians have caused all of this.
Nowadays, I’m afraid “Christian” is a dirty word. I’m not asked hardly at all, but if I am, I hope I’ll remember to say, “No. I’m a follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth,” and see if that keeps people from thinking I’m a “White Christian. In the sense of this post.
Most of the time these days I used a descriptor like "alleged" or "self-identified" or "so-called" before the word when speaking or writing of those with the loudest mouths and widest platforms. "8th commandment-ignorers?"
Sadly true. Having been raised (steeped?) in fundamental Southern Baptist thinking (hypocrisy, dogma, abuse), I long ago stepped away from this type of self-proclaimed Christians. It was so unaligned with the principles that my mom taught us -- and ironically, why she made sure that our church and that community were so prominent in my upbringing. Now, some days I can only think when watching Vance and his ilk that if I said or did anything remotely like that ongoing spew of lies and hypocrisy, my mom would have slapped me into next week for such blasphemy, for such unChristian behavior, for failing to follow the teachings of Jesus. The phrase "sold his soul to the devil" is no longer just abstract. I think we can see such people everywhere we look, and they are running the country - smug, self-righteous, cruel and utterly divorced from the teachings of Jesus Christ. How quaint it must seem to them, the story of the good Samaritan. Imagine helping a sworn enemy! when you can just attack your own neighbors. Thank you, John, for the love, anguish, and dedication you pour into your work. We are listening and this broken heart recognizes it is not alone in this wild, grieving futility of the moment.
J. D Vance is a professional Christian. He really doesn't give a flying fig about doing the right thing. He just spouts platitudes when it is convenient to him.
Jd vance became a Catholic about four years ago because it worked for him and his political aspirations. The us Catholic Church currently embraces the likes of jd
He also became a Trump supporter at around the same time, iirc, having 'repented' of having dissed Trump publically. And so have others in his now-close circle. What a set of tosspots; I have never seen a more incompetent set of idiots in government, let alone in the government of such a great country as America is. Or maybe was...
Only some groups of Catholics. Have you not heard about the archbishops and cardinals who've called him out, especially since ICE abuse exploded in Minnesota? Google it.
I have read about the archbishops and cardinals — three I believe. It will take a long time to turn the this ship around because the us bishops have been working along time to tear down Vatican II. I would love to have my church back but not until the church gets it nose out of politics and starts teaching social justice as it is supposed to do.
I've got a history with the Catholic church and finally chose to step away from it for various reasons. I'm still glad to see them stand up for what's right, especially the higher ups. Some folks who won't listen to other lay people might listen to the ordained ones.
A human with humanity, that is. Our nation seems overrun by humans with no humanity -- BUT WE STILL OUTNUMBER THOSE, so take good heart and mush on and RESIST.
I subscribe to 4 online commentators, you being one of them. I have not been able to keep up with the many editions each day. Some I avoid because of the titles that speak the message and cause me great sadness. I am reeling each day under the sheer mass of news, commentaries and updates. I feel so weighted down some days, I can barely function. I just can't read it all or digest and comment on it all. I repost a lot however. OK, I agree with your estimation of the White Evangelical Church. I have been calling them out since before Obama was president. I do not hate them but I can't be silent or just be PC about everything that I witness these days. The hypocrisy and arrogance is off the charts as displayed every day when the so called Christians are offended by those who call them out but no offended by ICE and it's cruel policies and the way they treat people they grab and those protesting. Sometimes I can't believe my eyes. I grow very sad at times wondering what is next and how we people of faith who get it can stem the rising tides of authoritarianism,, fascism and the Trump machine which is running rough shod over our constitution and people. Yes, people! I grieve every day, I pray, I read, I comment, I post, sing protest songs and attend local protest rallies. But...the clamor and dim of lies and more illegal activity just seem overwhelming. And....the White Evangelicals lead the way in their arrogance and pride, their self assigned superior status above the rest of us who do not hold to their beliefs, dogma or doctrines. I witness their dismissiveness, and bloated pride. They are complicit in every cruel and illegal act committed by the Trump Administration and ICE. They are silent therefore they approve and are all in. You can 't say you follow "Jesus" and be silent on the brutal why the Trump MAGA administration is operating. They are by their approval and silence, guilty. The people in Minneapolis taking the brunt force of ICE are the real heroes and patriots and are in their resistance they are embracing the message of Jesus, that being supporting those who are marginalized, the vilified, the slandered and the strangers at our door and our neighbor in our midst. During the AIDS crisis people acted up and laid in the street to protest the government's lack of leadership and seer distancing from the AIDS Issue that was taking so many lives. My partner was one of those who laid in the street to get the attention of our government. Eventually progress was made and the crisis was addressed and acknowledged. Still ww needed to keep acting up and getting the attention of the leaders in government, business and the culture at large. I am so glad that there is video chronicling these events as they unfold. Silence = Death. We must not be silent as corrupt criminals ransack and diminish our freedoms and system of Democracy. The white evangelicals like trump are arrogant and drunk with power and bloated with hubris right now. They envision that they will rule and be able to install their doctrines and beliefs as federal Law. Their perverted vision of a paradise where they rule and control everything in the name of Jesus is in really controlling everything where they are god and declare absolute authority because they have God's final word on everything in the Bible. Any other faith tradition or path would be second class or outlawed all together. This is their version of liberty and freedom, that is where they get the freedom rule and decide what if right for all of us because they are gods special chosen. This displayed often sickens me. I have an evangelical background and was even a missionary and never envisioned such a digression from the teachings of Jesus by people who claim to follow him. I have studied the bible all my life and sought to go deeper and apply the teachings of Jesus into my everyday life and emulate him ministry. Love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, kindness and a gentle spirit and all that WOKE stuff are central to the message of Jesus. But I hear a different very militant message coming from the white evangelical right as they declare that might is right. Jesus seems to be a mere mascot for them, something to put on a flag or bumper sticker. Their so called christian nationalism is a code words for religious tyranny not unlike the oppressive Taliban rule in some countries. Where oh where will we be tomorrow?
And BRAVO! Very well-written and thoughtful, and excellent points made. Thank you, Dano.
Over 100 faith leaders were just arrested in Minneapolis for standing against ICE along with that vast crowd of 1000s and 1000s in the freezing subzero cold standing their ground and demanding "ICE OUT!!!" These are good Christians in action!!! They are examples to...
All those malignant faux "christians" out there who approve kidnapping little children and deporting them away from their parents, as well as funding ICE with $75 billion more to continue their reign of terror, which includes shooting people in the face, snatching people off the streets and out of their own homes, brutalizing and torturing people, raping women and CHILDREN held in their custody, and other abuses of power gone unchecked and allowed by these ratfuckers. Shame on them!!! SHAME!!!
I understand completely your sorrow, grief, disappointment, disillusionment and anger. I've been through much the same, felt much the same. Once was part of a "cult" of born-again "Christians" who turned out to be not so very Christian. Not exactly parallel, but similar enough that I do get it. And boy does it hurt. I grieve, my daughter is enraged and outraged. We both feel betrayed. And now with the havoc and mayhem and ugliness faux "christians" are wreaking... OMG, OMG... But ya gotta move on... And I think the best we can do is allow a new perspective and understanding to organically grow from what once was and keep on keeping on. Like you, we try to keep metta at the forefront and let everything branch from that. (Metta is the Buddhist term for loving-kindness, from which all good stems - compassion, empathy, mercy, generosity, benevolence, tolerance, warmth and welcome, peace, all-around goodness of heart and spirit, the wokeness to strive to do right by the planet and all we encounter, to caretake, be it helping a suffering dog or choosing to eat organic when you can and use much less one-use plastics, and so on and so on...) Simple but not easy. Especially when so few others seem to give a damn. But still, we gotta keep on keeping on, cuz the alternative is what? Riding the WAAAHmbulance? Boo-hooing in a corner? Facing the world with a perpetual frown and pout? Nah, the proof that we're better than that is that we're here on this substack, appreciating John and his invaluable words, meaning well, trying to understand better, and wishing to do good.
AMEN! Love will win. The Beatitudes were spoken for a reason. Jesus is indeed mourning and my heart breaks with His. Let Peace reign in those of us who are NOT them and may God’s will be done with them.
Well they don’t abide by them either, so it’s all for show. Jesus will say on judgment day “get thee behind Me I never knew you.” I’m convinced, unless a person genuinely repents association with all this demonic deceptive activity.
Agreed. I've never considered it my job to call out other people for how they are or aren't living out their faith, but when they start braying lies in public and committing violence in the name of Jesus, I will not stay quiet.
Exactly. I am also very open minded, try to love everyone like Jesus did. But He would not stand for this and we cannot enable them by staying quiet. ICE OUT protest Friday
Completely agree! Someone at a Hanukkah celebration in December asked if I was Jewish. I said I was a Christian but not ‘those’ kind of Christian. They immediately knew what I meant.
I'm definitely not a high-tech person, but what is it that's happening when you try either of those? And yes, I would try each of them again. Delete cookies, refresh your browser, all the basic stuff that rarely helps.
"If not for them, there are no stomach-turning photo ops of opportunistic phony religious sycophants laying hands on him." I noted when they did this in his first term, how there was a convenient gap in front of the pillock so that the cameras could see him.
No, when there's a real 'laying on of hands', people crowd right round. Every inch of space is taken so that as many people as possible can get to touch their victim. There is no camera gap. Phony indeed!
Please include the US Catholic Church in this. As a life long Catholic and lay minister (deacon training but I’m not a man so there you have it), I watched as the Catholic Church threw out the teachings of Vatican II. They did it because it was inclusive, by welcoming women and lay people and people of other faiths. This so called christian movement (campus crusade for Christ among many others) has poisoned so many people. The infiltration of this poison into the huge money making sports business is repugnant. It disgusts me when I see a football player with black crosses etched on his cheeks. I want to scream, ‘you are being used, you fool!” It’s time to throw the tables in the air; we must do this for Jesus.
Nowadays, I’m afraid “Christian” is a dirty word. I’m not asked hardly at all, but if I am, I hope I’ll remember to say, “No. I’m a follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth,” and see if that keeps people from thinking I’m a “White Christian. In the sense of this post.
Most of the time these days I used a descriptor like "alleged" or "self-identified" or "so-called" before the word when speaking or writing of those with the loudest mouths and widest platforms. "8th commandment-ignorers?"
A crucial distinction, to be sure!
Sadly true. Having been raised (steeped?) in fundamental Southern Baptist thinking (hypocrisy, dogma, abuse), I long ago stepped away from this type of self-proclaimed Christians. It was so unaligned with the principles that my mom taught us -- and ironically, why she made sure that our church and that community were so prominent in my upbringing. Now, some days I can only think when watching Vance and his ilk that if I said or did anything remotely like that ongoing spew of lies and hypocrisy, my mom would have slapped me into next week for such blasphemy, for such unChristian behavior, for failing to follow the teachings of Jesus. The phrase "sold his soul to the devil" is no longer just abstract. I think we can see such people everywhere we look, and they are running the country - smug, self-righteous, cruel and utterly divorced from the teachings of Jesus Christ. How quaint it must seem to them, the story of the good Samaritan. Imagine helping a sworn enemy! when you can just attack your own neighbors. Thank you, John, for the love, anguish, and dedication you pour into your work. We are listening and this broken heart recognizes it is not alone in this wild, grieving futility of the moment.
Excellent, Suzanne! Thank you for your strong & true words!!! Couldn't agree more!
They have soiled the word “Christian.”. They would not have hesitated to shoot Jesus when He preached in public.
J. D Vance is a professional Christian. He really doesn't give a flying fig about doing the right thing. He just spouts platitudes when it is convenient to him.
Jd vance became a Catholic about four years ago because it worked for him and his political aspirations. The us Catholic Church currently embraces the likes of jd
He also became a Trump supporter at around the same time, iirc, having 'repented' of having dissed Trump publically. And so have others in his now-close circle. What a set of tosspots; I have never seen a more incompetent set of idiots in government, let alone in the government of such a great country as America is. Or maybe was...
Jd vance is a punk using any means to move his way up the ladder. He just doesn’t realize the ladder is starting to lean
Only some groups of Catholics. Have you not heard about the archbishops and cardinals who've called him out, especially since ICE abuse exploded in Minnesota? Google it.
I have read about the archbishops and cardinals — three I believe. It will take a long time to turn the this ship around because the us bishops have been working along time to tear down Vatican II. I would love to have my church back but not until the church gets it nose out of politics and starts teaching social justice as it is supposed to do.
I've got a history with the Catholic church and finally chose to step away from it for various reasons. I'm still glad to see them stand up for what's right, especially the higher ups. Some folks who won't listen to other lay people might listen to the ordained ones.
I’m an atheist, but I agree with what you wrote.
You don't need to be a 'believer' to agree with truth and justice. You just need to be human :D
A human with humanity, that is. Our nation seems overrun by humans with no humanity -- BUT WE STILL OUTNUMBER THOSE, so take good heart and mush on and RESIST.
I have a friend who is also atheist and likes both what John writes here and what he hears from James Talarico in Texas.
I subscribe to 4 online commentators, you being one of them. I have not been able to keep up with the many editions each day. Some I avoid because of the titles that speak the message and cause me great sadness. I am reeling each day under the sheer mass of news, commentaries and updates. I feel so weighted down some days, I can barely function. I just can't read it all or digest and comment on it all. I repost a lot however. OK, I agree with your estimation of the White Evangelical Church. I have been calling them out since before Obama was president. I do not hate them but I can't be silent or just be PC about everything that I witness these days. The hypocrisy and arrogance is off the charts as displayed every day when the so called Christians are offended by those who call them out but no offended by ICE and it's cruel policies and the way they treat people they grab and those protesting. Sometimes I can't believe my eyes. I grow very sad at times wondering what is next and how we people of faith who get it can stem the rising tides of authoritarianism,, fascism and the Trump machine which is running rough shod over our constitution and people. Yes, people! I grieve every day, I pray, I read, I comment, I post, sing protest songs and attend local protest rallies. But...the clamor and dim of lies and more illegal activity just seem overwhelming. And....the White Evangelicals lead the way in their arrogance and pride, their self assigned superior status above the rest of us who do not hold to their beliefs, dogma or doctrines. I witness their dismissiveness, and bloated pride. They are complicit in every cruel and illegal act committed by the Trump Administration and ICE. They are silent therefore they approve and are all in. You can 't say you follow "Jesus" and be silent on the brutal why the Trump MAGA administration is operating. They are by their approval and silence, guilty. The people in Minneapolis taking the brunt force of ICE are the real heroes and patriots and are in their resistance they are embracing the message of Jesus, that being supporting those who are marginalized, the vilified, the slandered and the strangers at our door and our neighbor in our midst. During the AIDS crisis people acted up and laid in the street to protest the government's lack of leadership and seer distancing from the AIDS Issue that was taking so many lives. My partner was one of those who laid in the street to get the attention of our government. Eventually progress was made and the crisis was addressed and acknowledged. Still ww needed to keep acting up and getting the attention of the leaders in government, business and the culture at large. I am so glad that there is video chronicling these events as they unfold. Silence = Death. We must not be silent as corrupt criminals ransack and diminish our freedoms and system of Democracy. The white evangelicals like trump are arrogant and drunk with power and bloated with hubris right now. They envision that they will rule and be able to install their doctrines and beliefs as federal Law. Their perverted vision of a paradise where they rule and control everything in the name of Jesus is in really controlling everything where they are god and declare absolute authority because they have God's final word on everything in the Bible. Any other faith tradition or path would be second class or outlawed all together. This is their version of liberty and freedom, that is where they get the freedom rule and decide what if right for all of us because they are gods special chosen. This displayed often sickens me. I have an evangelical background and was even a missionary and never envisioned such a digression from the teachings of Jesus by people who claim to follow him. I have studied the bible all my life and sought to go deeper and apply the teachings of Jesus into my everyday life and emulate him ministry. Love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, kindness and a gentle spirit and all that WOKE stuff are central to the message of Jesus. But I hear a different very militant message coming from the white evangelical right as they declare that might is right. Jesus seems to be a mere mascot for them, something to put on a flag or bumper sticker. Their so called christian nationalism is a code words for religious tyranny not unlike the oppressive Taliban rule in some countries. Where oh where will we be tomorrow?
And BRAVO! Very well-written and thoughtful, and excellent points made. Thank you, Dano.
Over 100 faith leaders were just arrested in Minneapolis for standing against ICE along with that vast crowd of 1000s and 1000s in the freezing subzero cold standing their ground and demanding "ICE OUT!!!" These are good Christians in action!!! They are examples to...
All those malignant faux "christians" out there who approve kidnapping little children and deporting them away from their parents, as well as funding ICE with $75 billion more to continue their reign of terror, which includes shooting people in the face, snatching people off the streets and out of their own homes, brutalizing and torturing people, raping women and CHILDREN held in their custody, and other abuses of power gone unchecked and allowed by these ratfuckers. Shame on them!!! SHAME!!!
I understand completely your sorrow, grief, disappointment, disillusionment and anger. I've been through much the same, felt much the same. Once was part of a "cult" of born-again "Christians" who turned out to be not so very Christian. Not exactly parallel, but similar enough that I do get it. And boy does it hurt. I grieve, my daughter is enraged and outraged. We both feel betrayed. And now with the havoc and mayhem and ugliness faux "christians" are wreaking... OMG, OMG... But ya gotta move on... And I think the best we can do is allow a new perspective and understanding to organically grow from what once was and keep on keeping on. Like you, we try to keep metta at the forefront and let everything branch from that. (Metta is the Buddhist term for loving-kindness, from which all good stems - compassion, empathy, mercy, generosity, benevolence, tolerance, warmth and welcome, peace, all-around goodness of heart and spirit, the wokeness to strive to do right by the planet and all we encounter, to caretake, be it helping a suffering dog or choosing to eat organic when you can and use much less one-use plastics, and so on and so on...) Simple but not easy. Especially when so few others seem to give a damn. But still, we gotta keep on keeping on, cuz the alternative is what? Riding the WAAAHmbulance? Boo-hooing in a corner? Facing the world with a perpetual frown and pout? Nah, the proof that we're better than that is that we're here on this substack, appreciating John and his invaluable words, meaning well, trying to understand better, and wishing to do good.
AMEN! Love will win. The Beatitudes were spoken for a reason. Jesus is indeed mourning and my heart breaks with His. Let Peace reign in those of us who are NOT them and may God’s will be done with them.
Funny how these people want to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms but never the Beatitudes, isn't it?
Well they don’t abide by them either, so it’s all for show. Jesus will say on judgment day “get thee behind Me I never knew you.” I’m convinced, unless a person genuinely repents association with all this demonic deceptive activity.
Agreed. I've never considered it my job to call out other people for how they are or aren't living out their faith, but when they start braying lies in public and committing violence in the name of Jesus, I will not stay quiet.
Exactly. I am also very open minded, try to love everyone like Jesus did. But He would not stand for this and we cannot enable them by staying quiet. ICE OUT protest Friday
Don’t hold back John. Tell us what you really think.🤭 Seriously though, thank you. Brilliantly written and absolutely correct.
Yes, I stopped "turning the other cheek" after the first slap. They knew better, and they chose not to do better.
Completely agree! Someone at a Hanukkah celebration in December asked if I was Jewish. I said I was a Christian but not ‘those’ kind of Christian. They immediately knew what I meant.
Absolutely agree with this 👌. Thank you for brilliantly writing this prose!
Substack won’t let me share but as usual, brilliantly and tragically right.
Are you using the "share" option or copying and pasting the url?
Both. What do you suggest? Try again? Thank you.
I'm definitely not a high-tech person, but what is it that's happening when you try either of those? And yes, I would try each of them again. Delete cookies, refresh your browser, all the basic stuff that rarely helps.
Let's try out some acronyms. Hang with me a minute. How about:
CINO, Christian in name only
CINO, RV, Christian in name only, Racist Version
CINO, IV, Christian in name only, Immigrant Version
CINO, PV, Christian in name only, Politics Version
These have potential in signage as in CINO's want to destroy our Constitution!
CINO, RV's are White Power Only advocates!
Now, if we venture in another version:
ChINO
ChINOR
ChINOI
ChINOP
ChINOT (Christian in name only, Trumper)
I see potential here in protest chants. Having relevant signage would enhance the comprehension of the chants.
Anyone else have some ideas?
🤣I love these!
Actually, I think CINOT pretty much covers all the other bases...
CINO, RH: xtians (I do make that distinction ordinarily--x v c--but for this exercise I will join in), Raging Homophobes.
"If not for them, there are no stomach-turning photo ops of opportunistic phony religious sycophants laying hands on him." I noted when they did this in his first term, how there was a convenient gap in front of the pillock so that the cameras could see him.
No, when there's a real 'laying on of hands', people crowd right round. Every inch of space is taken so that as many people as possible can get to touch their victim. There is no camera gap. Phony indeed!
"For what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?"
Mark 8:36
...or woman, of course.
Will be putting that on postcards to my red senators once we (and half the country) have dug out from under Fern.
Please include the US Catholic Church in this. As a life long Catholic and lay minister (deacon training but I’m not a man so there you have it), I watched as the Catholic Church threw out the teachings of Vatican II. They did it because it was inclusive, by welcoming women and lay people and people of other faiths. This so called christian movement (campus crusade for Christ among many others) has poisoned so many people. The infiltration of this poison into the huge money making sports business is repugnant. It disgusts me when I see a football player with black crosses etched on his cheeks. I want to scream, ‘you are being used, you fool!” It’s time to throw the tables in the air; we must do this for Jesus.