Just sent an Amazon package to the Immigrant pantry. It’s very easy. I’m appalled by the ICE raids and the dismantling of our democracy, and wish I were younger and stronger so I could be more physically involved. Not violently physical as I was never much of a fighter.
My dad was a huge fan of Jack Chick (of Chick Tract infamy, for anyone who doesn't know), and we as a family had to follow Chick's prescribed Bible-reading schedule. I've read that blasted book cover-to-cover multiple times, and I know EXACTLY what story in Judges you're referencing.
We only read the KJV, as modern translations 'perverted the word of God', and in a book rife with undiluted violence against women, that story manages to stand out for its horror.
My suspicion is that the Gibeah story is the original, and derives from a true incident, while the Sodom story is derived from it as a just-so-story to explain why Sodom was destroyed in whatever kind of natural disaster it was (these were written in the days when it was assumed that if people were drowned in a flood or died in a plague or whatever, they must have done something to deserve it).
I've heard theories about a meteor or comet strike, but you think they'd play that up as God literally throwing fire from the sky. Not about greedy tourist-rapers.
I mean, it's a great story, they'd use that. Literal smiting!
The "angels in Sodom" story reads just like the story of Baucis and Philemon, in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Zeus and Hermes disguise themselves as beggars and wander through the town, and everyone turns them away except B and P. They are the kindly older couple who welcome the beggars into their hovel and share with them what little they have. In return, Zeus levels the whole rest of the town, and the moral is the Sacred Law of Hospitality.
The story ends very sweetly, btw: After Zeus offered them any boon as reward for their hospitality, they asked only that when their time came, they might die at the same moment, so they would never have to be apart in this world or the next. When that time came, they were sitting outside and were turned into trees, but managed to have one last embrace. The tree, they say, is still there - a linden tree emerging from, and joined to, an oak.
Theologically, Evan, I'm with you 100% on questioning whether hatred towards the stranger is a ticket to heaven for those who worship at the white christian (lowercase intentional) nationalist altar. Psychologically not so much, though, when it comes to instilling doubt being a way to open a chink in the armor of their pseudo-religious thinking.
The problem is, they don't think; they feel. And what they feel (and have felt for years) is anxiety, hopelessness, loss and, yes, doubt ... about their finances, their health, their futures, and their place in the world. MAGA's strategy has been not to address the causes of that state of mind, but instead to harness it by channeling it into grievance, anger and hatred. It's an appeal to emotion and not to the intellect, and it's effective.
So planting another seed of doubt might not work. Instead, it might just add more fuel to the emotional fire. And as much as I'd like to hope that fire consumes them, there's a good chance we'll all get scorched in the process.
Still, it's pretty satisfying to poke them with their own biblical stick. :)
Well that's the thing, and I'd be interested in what you think about the Combat Theology booklet. (it's only like 24 pages long.)
Because the whole point is that this is 100% a psychological/emotional tactic. It's not about their biblical understand. It's about their claimed certainty in their own salvation, and picking at the doubts that pretty much all evangelicals have about it -- deep fears and anxiety -- but rarely speak out loud because part of the scam of conservative evangelical Christianity is a fiction that if you're feeling those doubts, it's your fault, it must be something wrong with you, because nobody else is feeling those things. It's part of how they use fear to keep people in line.
So this planting a seed of doubt at the very core of who they are. I don't think this is one that easily translates into MAGA-style resentment. It's turning the tables on them and doing to them as they've done to countless others for eons.
Hiya! As a Christian, I look forward to your Bible studies. No, I'm not being sarcastic. I mean every word - especially when it comes to, "This is the sin of your sister, Sodom." It's one of my favorite "soap box" rants. Perhaps not as much as much of the Gospel of Matthew, but close.
I don't judge anyone's eternal salvation; it's not my job. But, as a believer, I fear that many of those who say, "Of course I'm going to heaven, I'm a child of God, so it doesn't matter what I do to other people, especially THOSE people, and who IS my neighbor, anyway," might choose Outer Darkness for themselves, when they see who is inside the holy city, where there is no night, and the gates are never closed.
Thanks for another good one! Glad to have you back.
Trump is doubling down — waging war on our communities, silencing voters, and handing billionaires giveaways while American families struggle. This isn’t just politics. It’s democracy versus dictatorship. And together, we’re choosing democracy.
Tomorrow, October 18th, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.
Right on brother. God doesn't view sin on a sliding scale as we see bad things down here in lawlaw land. So many people don't understand sim, salvation, substitutionary atonement (cause what a phrase) - and instead of following Jesus they follow a listing hypocrite (often pedophile as you've made very apparent) pastor. Ive never understood the majority of the Bible belt christians and their hatred at some sin but not all sin & the willingness towards blind/bland self righteousness - which is what the whole Bible explains is really the whole point - we can self righteous therefore Jesus. Those words just tipety tapped right out for a long ass comment ... Thanks and sorry about that.
I continue to marvel at the level of hateful depravity these so-called Christians sink to. Being in the country "illegally" (interpreted to mean whatever they want it to) is considered a crime worthy of any conceivable punishment, from savage beatings to incarceration and sleep deprivation to a slow death from starvation. And yet even mass murderers are given due process (if they're white). It's appalling.
Thanks for this, Evan, because we absolutely are not seeing it covered in the media. And Memphis needs covering.
Here in war-torn Portland, the ICE Gestapo goons have been trying *really hard* to provoke protestors into a violent response, which resulted in lots more animal costumes. But I'm more than a little worried about what shit they'll try to pull at No Kings.
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
Personally I think the Sodomites saying "that we may have sex with them" was a very stilted rendition of "we're gonna FUCK THEM UP!!", ie knock them to the ground, pile on by at least three and zip-tie them until their hands turn black.
Of course there's considerable masculine gender play there, erotic overtones no doubt, but I don't see butt sex as the main issue. Personally.
Thank you Evan. Up in my area of the country, the NE, where people of all stripes may be found, including white christain bigots, the medical folks have noticed that while many adults are getting the vaccines for flu and covid this fall, two groups--kids and the undocumented--are not. The number of children getting their childhood immunizations and their vaccines for flu and covid have had a disturbing drop! This is not just the homeless and the working poor we're talking about. Why?
Could it be that the fear tactics against immunizations (your child will develop autisms!!) and covid shots (myocarditis!) are working? Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD) rule the media! More people need to look at older graves in their cemetery walks. Lots of kids and others died from diseases that we thought we'd conquered through modern medical science. Generations of people now no longer know the truth about measles, dyphtheria, and others. Yes, this will hurt immigrants and the poor. However, your ignorance and fear will not protect your kids or yourselves, either.
If I still attended a bible study, I'd want you as the leader, Evan. Just donated to The Collective Good's immigrant pantry. Thank you for providing me with that opportunity. Peace.
Just sent an Amazon package to the Immigrant pantry. It’s very easy. I’m appalled by the ICE raids and the dismantling of our democracy, and wish I were younger and stronger so I could be more physically involved. Not violently physical as I was never much of a fighter.
Thank you on their behalf!
My dad was a huge fan of Jack Chick (of Chick Tract infamy, for anyone who doesn't know), and we as a family had to follow Chick's prescribed Bible-reading schedule. I've read that blasted book cover-to-cover multiple times, and I know EXACTLY what story in Judges you're referencing.
We only read the KJV, as modern translations 'perverted the word of God', and in a book rife with undiluted violence against women, that story manages to stand out for its horror.
My suspicion is that the Gibeah story is the original, and derives from a true incident, while the Sodom story is derived from it as a just-so-story to explain why Sodom was destroyed in whatever kind of natural disaster it was (these were written in the days when it was assumed that if people were drowned in a flood or died in a plague or whatever, they must have done something to deserve it).
I've heard theories about a meteor or comet strike, but you think they'd play that up as God literally throwing fire from the sky. Not about greedy tourist-rapers.
I mean, it's a great story, they'd use that. Literal smiting!
That would make a lot of sense! They are too similar to be coincidental.
The "angels in Sodom" story reads just like the story of Baucis and Philemon, in Ovid's Metamorphoses. Zeus and Hermes disguise themselves as beggars and wander through the town, and everyone turns them away except B and P. They are the kindly older couple who welcome the beggars into their hovel and share with them what little they have. In return, Zeus levels the whole rest of the town, and the moral is the Sacred Law of Hospitality.
The story ends very sweetly, btw: After Zeus offered them any boon as reward for their hospitality, they asked only that when their time came, they might die at the same moment, so they would never have to be apart in this world or the next. When that time came, they were sitting outside and were turned into trees, but managed to have one last embrace. The tree, they say, is still there - a linden tree emerging from, and joined to, an oak.
Theologically, Evan, I'm with you 100% on questioning whether hatred towards the stranger is a ticket to heaven for those who worship at the white christian (lowercase intentional) nationalist altar. Psychologically not so much, though, when it comes to instilling doubt being a way to open a chink in the armor of their pseudo-religious thinking.
The problem is, they don't think; they feel. And what they feel (and have felt for years) is anxiety, hopelessness, loss and, yes, doubt ... about their finances, their health, their futures, and their place in the world. MAGA's strategy has been not to address the causes of that state of mind, but instead to harness it by channeling it into grievance, anger and hatred. It's an appeal to emotion and not to the intellect, and it's effective.
So planting another seed of doubt might not work. Instead, it might just add more fuel to the emotional fire. And as much as I'd like to hope that fire consumes them, there's a good chance we'll all get scorched in the process.
Still, it's pretty satisfying to poke them with their own biblical stick. :)
Well that's the thing, and I'd be interested in what you think about the Combat Theology booklet. (it's only like 24 pages long.)
Because the whole point is that this is 100% a psychological/emotional tactic. It's not about their biblical understand. It's about their claimed certainty in their own salvation, and picking at the doubts that pretty much all evangelicals have about it -- deep fears and anxiety -- but rarely speak out loud because part of the scam of conservative evangelical Christianity is a fiction that if you're feeling those doubts, it's your fault, it must be something wrong with you, because nobody else is feeling those things. It's part of how they use fear to keep people in line.
So this planting a seed of doubt at the very core of who they are. I don't think this is one that easily translates into MAGA-style resentment. It's turning the tables on them and doing to them as they've done to countless others for eons.
Hiya! As a Christian, I look forward to your Bible studies. No, I'm not being sarcastic. I mean every word - especially when it comes to, "This is the sin of your sister, Sodom." It's one of my favorite "soap box" rants. Perhaps not as much as much of the Gospel of Matthew, but close.
I don't judge anyone's eternal salvation; it's not my job. But, as a believer, I fear that many of those who say, "Of course I'm going to heaven, I'm a child of God, so it doesn't matter what I do to other people, especially THOSE people, and who IS my neighbor, anyway," might choose Outer Darkness for themselves, when they see who is inside the holy city, where there is no night, and the gates are never closed.
Thanks for another good one! Glad to have you back.
Thanks for this, I will donate to the pantry as soon as possible.
OT (sorry, Mr. Evan):
𝗡𝗢 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦. 𝗡𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦. 𝗡𝗢 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦.
𝗡𝗼 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗰𝘁 𝟭𝟴
Trump is doubling down — waging war on our communities, silencing voters, and handing billionaires giveaways while American families struggle. This isn’t just politics. It’s democracy versus dictatorship. And together, we’re choosing democracy.
Tomorrow, October 18th, millions of us are rising again to show the world: America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.
https://www.nokings.org/
Can't protest - can continue to email my congresscon and speak to anyone who will listen, and be with all the protesters in spirit. Stay safe!
We must all do what we can. America is at stake!
(And bless you for your contribution to American freedom!)
𝗧𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗡𝗢 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦! 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝟭𝟴𝘁𝗵.
𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘣𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭!
https://bsky.app/profile/tizzywoman.bsky.social/post/3m3f5sq6ct227
Right on brother. God doesn't view sin on a sliding scale as we see bad things down here in lawlaw land. So many people don't understand sim, salvation, substitutionary atonement (cause what a phrase) - and instead of following Jesus they follow a listing hypocrite (often pedophile as you've made very apparent) pastor. Ive never understood the majority of the Bible belt christians and their hatred at some sin but not all sin & the willingness towards blind/bland self righteousness - which is what the whole Bible explains is really the whole point - we can self righteous therefore Jesus. Those words just tipety tapped right out for a long ass comment ... Thanks and sorry about that.
I continue to marvel at the level of hateful depravity these so-called Christians sink to. Being in the country "illegally" (interpreted to mean whatever they want it to) is considered a crime worthy of any conceivable punishment, from savage beatings to incarceration and sleep deprivation to a slow death from starvation. And yet even mass murderers are given due process (if they're white). It's appalling.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks for this, Evan, because we absolutely are not seeing it covered in the media. And Memphis needs covering.
Here in war-torn Portland, the ICE Gestapo goons have been trying *really hard* to provoke protestors into a violent response, which resulted in lots more animal costumes. But I'm more than a little worried about what shit they'll try to pull at No Kings.
1 Samuel 18 has my fave homo story:
As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
Personally I think the Sodomites saying "that we may have sex with them" was a very stilted rendition of "we're gonna FUCK THEM UP!!", ie knock them to the ground, pile on by at least three and zip-tie them until their hands turn black.
Of course there's considerable masculine gender play there, erotic overtones no doubt, but I don't see butt sex as the main issue. Personally.
Thank you Evan. Up in my area of the country, the NE, where people of all stripes may be found, including white christain bigots, the medical folks have noticed that while many adults are getting the vaccines for flu and covid this fall, two groups--kids and the undocumented--are not. The number of children getting their childhood immunizations and their vaccines for flu and covid have had a disturbing drop! This is not just the homeless and the working poor we're talking about. Why?
Could it be that the fear tactics against immunizations (your child will develop autisms!!) and covid shots (myocarditis!) are working? Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD) rule the media! More people need to look at older graves in their cemetery walks. Lots of kids and others died from diseases that we thought we'd conquered through modern medical science. Generations of people now no longer know the truth about measles, dyphtheria, and others. Yes, this will hurt immigrants and the poor. However, your ignorance and fear will not protect your kids or yourselves, either.
If I still attended a bible study, I'd want you as the leader, Evan. Just donated to The Collective Good's immigrant pantry. Thank you for providing me with that opportunity. Peace.
Venmo'd a little $ to the Collective Pantry
This is literally the first I've heard of it. Definitely not enough coverage!
I hope a Gestapo copter crashes into Bitsy and Beau's house. No injuries, but so much insurance paperwork and hiring people to rebuild.