Worst Church Ever

Kevin Max, Carl Sandburg, and Exvangelicals, oh my!  Also, the Oxford Comma.  

Published in 1916, this poem is at once a meditation on Jesus and Sandburg's "statement of faith" against sham religion.  Aimed at prosperity-preaching fundamentalists in general (and Billy Sunday specifically), Sandburg contrasts the wealth and "work" of these hucksters against the extreme poverty of their target audience and the true "free as air and sunlight" message of Christ.

In today's episode, we look at the first call of Abram/Abraham and begin to consider what the content of these stories says about the the circumstances of their composition, how that relates to competing (or complimentary?) agendas and needs, the codification of the Torah, and more.  

"My fundamentalist neighbor needs me to believe a tradition about what the Bible is before I get to meet Jesus.  I just don’t think that’s how Jesus works..."

"Hello and Welcome to Worst Church Ever, the show that rolls its sleeves up to play in the mud with Yahweh, even though our fundamentalist neighbor thinks we ought to keep the Holy action at a distance and call God Elohim..."

"Everyone born downstream of Los Alamos, Nagasaki and Hiroshima are children of the atom, that’s not just some cool turn of phrase Stan Lee used to launch the X-Men.  Everyone born downstream of Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, are children of that same revolution.  We’ve got all the good things Neil Young talks about on Free World, and I’d add things like pasteurized milk, modern medicine, and yes, friends, vaccinations..."

"I said listen, brother, you’re a smart guy, you know this so-called liberal view of scripture isn’t new, I didn’t make it up, it’s the balance of the Christian tradition..."

"The cross of Jesus Christ upends the story of empire, it lifts up the true story that our highest calling is not our status or success in the eyes of Jerusalem or Rome or Madison Avenue, but in solidarity with and support of people on the margins..."

"I know all the moves," I said.  "I grew up in that circus..."