Dear Jesus, Please save us from your followers

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
—- Mahatma Gandhi

“Jesus was a socialist.”

The title of this post and the two above quotes come from the comments section of this piece in today’s NYT:

What Would Jesus Do About Inequality?
The faith and work movement wants to bend the gospel back toward economic justice.

Here’s the comment I posted:

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In my view, evangelicals are the biggest threat to civilization, freedom, and democracy. 81% of evangelicals voted for Trump. Evangelicals believe in end times. Therefore what motivation do they have to save the planet, stop wars, or the threat of nuclear proliferation?

I’m a Deadhead, I think the story of Jesus is super cool. He was the original hippie. But I think if he came back today he’d look at you all and say, “Nah man, that’s not what I was about.”

Religious leaders such as the Reverend William Barber are doing great work. But he’s the exception I see.

Evangelicals believe in religious freedom, but they don’t believe in freedom from religion.

There’s so many examples. Read Katherine Stewart’s book, The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children. Ms. Stewart clearly illustrates evangelicals’ desire to eviscerate public education. I have her new book on order, The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. The new film Same God, looks to be yet another example of evangelicals preaching from the corner of their mouths.

My family would love to join hands in a church of community. Where we could share a hug, sing and dance, have a meal with others. We just don’t want to be judged. We want to be free.

We see you all as a threat. So we send money to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Americans United For Separation Of Church And State, we support authors such as Katherine Stewart.

I’m an entrepreneur. You may fool some, with this piece. Not us. We know what you’re about, it’s right there in plain sight.
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There’s a great new documentary coming out, Same God. Here’s the trailer:
https://samegodfilm.com/assets/video/same-god-film-trailer.mp4

I wrote the director a note to tell her we’re not against religion. What we’re against, is what religion and in particular evangelicals, are doing to our country. I wrote to let her know Renee and I believe in religious freedom. But we also believe in freedom from religion.

She was kind enough to write back. Here’s what she wrote:

“Paul,

“Wow. The editorial was very interesting, your response was fantastic. If you’re afraid of white evangelicals and Christian nationalists, you’re going to love this film. It won’t make you less afraid of them, as you might anticipate. But I do think that Larycia Hawkins’ story is one that you’re going to really appreciate and be inspired by. Her example of sacrificial love is one that transcends religion, it’s a call to our highest humanity, and I suspect it will speak to you and your family.

“I’m blown away that you’re making a donation before even seeing the film. I worked on this film for years without paying myself and have fundraised for a long time. We are working to pull enough money together for a theatrical release in February, so every donation is tremendously valued and goes to further the work of the film. So thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ll put you on the newsletter list and that will be a good way for you to stay informed about further developments.”

If you believe in religious freedom as well as freedom from religion, please make a donation to help support this film. Here’s the link:
Same God donation link

Peace and love,