Snarky Faith

Last week, Brett Kavanaugh became the new poster boy for white privilege. He raged and cried his way through the Senate hearings and will most likely be confirmed in a week. In America, there's always one axiom that will always ring true: the aristocracy always wins. It's a disgusting display that reminds us that the playing field of justice in America isn't level.

While, it's expected to see Republicans fawning over Kavanaugh and turning a blind eye to the accusations, it's a different story watching the response from conservative Christians. It just makes me sick.

How can it continue to ignore the cries from victims of abuse? How can it protect its own interests while ignoring the ways and teaching of Jesus? It's just business as usual for American Christianity.

Don't believe me? It was recently found that 48% of white evangelicals say that Kavanaugh should be confirmed to the Supreme Court even if the allegations of sexual assault against him are true. That's 48% support if it's TRUE!Conservatives want power and don't care how they get it. This sounds more Machiavellian and a little less like Jesus. Sorry, let me rephrase that. It looks nothing like Jesus.

Join us as we examine the Christian response to Brett Kavanaugh and how it mirrors similar situations inside the church where white men of power are accused of sexual assault and/or predatory behavior. We see the same denials and the same deflections. The men continue on in positions of power while the women and children suffer as accusations are swept under the rug. It's happened before and history will repeat itself again if the church fails to change. It must change for the victims, past and future. It must change for our sons and daughters who are watching us and how we respond. It must change for the sake of Jesus and the ways of love and grace.

But that might not matter anymore Christians. Time will tell.

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Trump is terrible. I mean he's beyond your wildest dreams terrible. There are times where I am literally impressed with the depths of his awfulness. If you're a listener of this show, none of this should surprise you.

So, today, let's talk about Vice President Mike Pence. Is he any better than his boss? He's the so-called adult in the room. He's the stalwart pillar of bland virtue to the Conservatives. He may seem like a mother-loving Buster Bluth, but Mike Pence is a wolf in sheep's clothing.

The term 'impeachment' has become commonplace fodder and become the go-to for envisioning a way out of this nightmarish hellscape of American politics. I totally understand the rationale for wanting impeachment, but it's also a cheat. You get rid of one big orange problem and are left with another misogynist, bigoted one except Pence knows the game. He's measured and is far more conservative than Trump.

I hate to break it to you, but Mike Pence is just as bad as Donald Trump.

How bad is Pence? It's like if the Billy Graham rule was also racist. The evangelicals choose to see Pence as a virtuous altar boy of the faith when he's actually closer to being that predator priest. He's misguided, complicit, and waiting for his shot. Christians may rejoice about this supposed man of God, but the rest of us should be worried. He's the religious right's wet dream and also their plan B. Let's not be fooled by the urgency of the now. We must also keep our eyes open for the evil in waiting.

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When you stand back and look at American Christianity as it stands today, it's not hard to see the cracks. There are fundamental flaws that plague American Christianity. We'll journey through the week's news to see how Christianity is missing the point. Not only are they missing the point, they may not even be on the same page with Jesus anymore. Christendom is broken in America. Can we fix it?

Of course, we can fix it. The bigger question is, do we want to fix it? Just because something is broken, it doesn't mean that the owners are willing to do the work to fix it. That's a problem. Who really owns Christianity anymore? Jesus? Oh, hell no. As the faith marches forward, it looks less and less like its founder and God. Again, I'll say it. This is a big problem. WTF church?

This week, we look through the lens of faith and culture to point out some of the major cracks. We'll go through the Bill Hybels scandal, Greg Laurie, and the SoCal Harvest Festival. We'll even look into the pedo that founded the Christian "rock festival" Creationfest. A show about why Christian rock is not really rock will possibly happen in the future but not today. That's not the point. We'll talk through our issues with pastor worship and commercialization of the church in general. WTF church?

The church is fundamentally broken. The problem is fixable, but those in power are unwilling to right the ship. The ship looks nothing like Jesus and neither do the Christian leaders navigating it, so why is the Church in America messed up? Well, for starters, it looks more like a business model and less like a movement. The church has learned over decades to care more about itself than about those in our communities that are hurting and in need of help, compassion, and grace. Seriously, WTF church?!?

If Jesus left the church, would you leave as well?

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With the newly established Religious Liberty Task Force, Jeff Sessions is once again rolling back time and progress in an effort to pacify the Evangelical Right. It's a simple knee-jerk reaction to the cries of persecution from Trump's conservative religious base and also Jeff Session's naughty, bigoted wet dream.

Privilege is defined as "a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group." Those that have privilege don't want to give it up, and for those that live with privileges, when other people outside the group get equal standing, it may seem like there has been a loss. Equality for all is not the problem. Hate and bigotry are. This is just another symptom of white, privileged evangelicals wanting to keep their protections under the law exclusive to themselves. This isn't about liberty at all. It's about discrimination.

When establishing this new task force, Sessions says that, “We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law, where ministers are fearful to affirm, as they understand it, holy writ from the pulpit, and where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a ‘hate group’ on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs.” This should be scary enough for the nonbeliever. Those inside the congregation should also be appalled by the hijacking of faith in such an overtly political, power-hungry manner, though, I doubt that they'll think beyond their own comfort and pleasure. As you may know, comfort, preference, and pleasure were all things Jesus highly valued. 🙄(sarcasm implied)

What does religious freedom look like in an egalitarian age? If Trump, Sessions, and Conservative Christians have their way, we'll never know. It's too bad that Jesus never gets a say in this or are we just not listening?

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With Christianity in America, we have a white-man problem; more specifically, a white Jesus problem. The problem with white Jesus is that it gives us an excuse to worship a white (or orange) Trump. Christianity was never meant to be tribalistic in nature because, at its core, it's meant to be inclusive. Christianity should not be about dividing people; it should be about uniting them. If we look at the Bible, all of this is more about God's ethics and not our preference. When the faith becomes all about division, we can know for certain that it has been hijacked... for centuries.

If Christianity is only seen through the powerbrokers, the white men of power and faith, it becomes an ugly abomination that looks a little like its founder and savior. It's problematic when the faith orientations only see others in terms of how different they are. Things have gone awry. Thinking like this is what sets up the white-savior mentality.

When it comes to following Jesus, Christians are called to love, sacrifice, and give to others for no other reason than "Jesus said so."

Sorry, white, American church. You've forgotten why you exist. The church of Christ is only supposed to be about people and for the good of people as we mold ourselves closer to God's image. Anything else is just wrong. To preach Jesus and not preach love is not Jesus. To preach Jesus and not preach inclusion is not Jesus. To preach Jesus and not preach grace and compassion is not Jesus. If the American church has too many "not Jesus" moments, I'm pretty sure it's not God's church anymore. It's just cosplay Christianity. There has to be a better way.

Come along for the ride as we skewer through, life, culture, and spirituality in the face of a changing world.

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