#religious left

[com3150project]

[intelligentchristianlady]

Is There a Religious Left?

Why progressive activism rooted in faith is so often misconstrued.

Another long article. I found it very interesting; your mileage may vary.

[milkboydotnet]

Corey Mohler, aka Existential Comics, joins Breht to discuss the amazing and fascinating life of Simone Weil.

[locusimperium]

Not only are claims that the religious left is “on the rise” as old as the contemporary religious right itself, but the framing of the religious left may actually further enable the religious right.

I didn’t think this article was particularly well-written, but there’s a really key point in it that I want to pull out:

Unfortunately, some of the calls for a renewed religious left use the putative “public image” problem to construct their own version of a victim narrative, which then serves as a rallying cry for the mobilization of a countermovement... If the “religious left” is to be a vital force in the current landscape, it should resist such framing. The future of liberal Christianity and the religious left more generally won’t be found with the Gagas and Ocasio-Cortezes, but rather in the unglamorous work that often can’t be encapsulated in a catchy countermovement. For the victims found there are the real victims: the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed.

Which is to say: I suppose -- and I’m aware that I’m writing this as an adult convert to Christianity, which gives me a particular, non-universal perspective -- that I’ve always been annoyed by attempts to center progressive Christians as the real victims here, which aside from being patently untrue, is quite against what we ought to be doing as Christians. 

Do we engage in public acts of witness because we want to defend our reputation as Christians? We aren’t called to defend our reputations as followers of Jesus; we’re called to share the Gospel. We are called to engage in good works as a thanksgiving to the God who saves us -- and good works are not the burnishing of the Church, but what our neighbor needs. 

 Defense of our religion is not the gospel. Our religion’s potential accommodation to liberal (or even leftist) politics is not the gospel. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ has come, died, risen, and will come again to reconcile all things. 

[k-wame]

he about to be poisoned lmao

[thecapitolradar]

From the article:

So, "Shut up, Religious Left"?

Guess again, extremist podcast loons. We WILL continue to live out our faiths, to spend money and make company policy in accordance with the values instilled in us by our faiths.

And there is NOTHING you can do about it.

[milkboydotnet]

“in john 2, jesus cleanses the temple of those who would profit off of the sacred. what does this story mean? what does it suggest we do?”

[americantea]

There's a lecture I like on YouTube about American politics and religion. The speakers talks about this Christian organization that tried to create a relief effort to help a Latin American country under a dictatorship. Over time the organization had to water down the religious aspect to get more members. One early leader was quoted "When you're being shot at, the last thing you want to think about is whether your prayer will offend someone." And I think about that a lot.