“Thou shalt not covet” is the theme of our final commandment (or commandments, if you’re Lutheran), and it has some major implications – for those willing to think deeply. Those of you who have been with me from the beginning of this Ten Commandments series know that we are investigating the Christian nationalist idea that if we’d only build our country on our founding documents plus Christian texts like the Ten Commandments (which, curiously, is found in the Hebrew/Old Testament),... Read more
We’ve been making our way through the Ten Commandments (full series here) to see whether Christian nationalists are correct in their hypothesis that a nation built on America’s founding documents and ruled by the Ten Commandments would make us great again. Last time, we looked at some of the lies that our founding fathers, Abraham Lincoln, and white Southerners told themselves about Black people. These were not harmless, little white lies (pun intended), but lies designed to rob Black people of... Read more
Christian nationalism calls us to merge our national founding documents with Christianity’s “key” documents. The Declaration of Independence (et al) meets the Ten Commandments (et al). Christian nationalists claim that America, ruled effectively by both sets of documents in combination, would make America great again. We’ve been making our way through the Ten Commandments (full series here) to see whether they are compatible, and whether a Ten Commandments-based country would really be a Christian nationalist’s dream come true. We’re almost... Read more
Today, we boldly go where few Americans have willingly gone before: a discussion of white supremacy and slavery. More precisely, we’ll be talking about reparations. Take a deep breath. (The following words challenge me, as I imagine they will challenge you.) Not sure Christianity was complicit in the enslavement of human beings? Read The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby. He will give you all the background you need. But today, I will be referencing Reparations: a Christian Call for... Read more
For the past few days, we’ve been discussing issues related to “thou shalt not commit adultery,” covering some of the more conservative beliefs and practices around marriage (here) and the question of divorce (here). Today we will look at gay marriage, a right that, much like women’s hard-earned right to choose abortion, could easily disappear if conservative Christians get their way. Not just conservatives, but also many progressive Christians struggle with the issue of same-sex marriage, as we’ve been taught... Read more
In this second installment of Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery vs. U.S. Constitution, we will look at one popular conservative website, and how it approaches the topic of divorce, and then consider the subtext of some of Jesus’ teachings. If you missed my last post, Toxic Masculinity Discusses Marriage, you might want to start there, as today’s post builds on that content. Modern Western Christianity is much different from Bible times, to say the least. Everything has changed – some... Read more
It’s time for the topic you’ve all been waiting for: “thou shalt not commit adultery.” It just so happens that in the last few days, I binge- (and cringe-) watched “Shiny Happy People: Duggar family secrets.” It’s an important miniseries (available on Amazon Prime) about the Duggars (of “19 Kids and Counting” fame), their pal (disgraced) Bill Gothard, and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). My upbringing was conservative, but not that conservative. However, much of the show’s content... Read more
We interrupt the Christian Nation/Ten Commandments series to bring you news on Christianity in the Holy Land – specifically, about the persecution of Palestinian Christians. If you’ve been with Grace Colored Glasses for long, you know I have a strong connection to the Palestine-Israel issue. I’ve written often about the situation, usually to point out the Israeli government’s human rights abuses against the Palestinian people (read a partial list of human rights reports here). This is (or ought to be)... Read more
Christian Nationalism insists that Christianity is baked into our national identity, and that the combined wisdom of Americanism and Christianity would make America a kind of heaven on earth. Imagine a land in which “thou shalt not kill” was really the law of the land! But are the foundational documents of America (Declaration of Independence and Constitution) and Christianity (here, the Ten Commandments) even compatible? Today we will finish up “thou shalt not kill” in our Ten Commandments series (go... Read more
Christian Nationalism, the belief that America is (or should be) a Christian nation, is at times in love with “thou shalt not kill.” At other times, killing is not only tolerated, but commanded. Is this part of our founders’ vision for America? In this series (go here to read the series in full), we’ve been addressing the compatibility of Christian Nationalism’s love affair with biblical documents – specifically, the Ten Commandments – and America’s founding documents. Author Andrew Seidel, constitutional... Read more
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