{"id":31160,"date":"2015-07-29T06:05:26","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T10:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=31160"},"modified":"2015-07-29T06:05:26","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T10:05:26","slug":"thom-stark-quote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2015\/07\/thom-stark-quote.html","title":{"rendered":"To be Christian is to be Self-Critical"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Thom<\/p>\n

Thom Stark wrote the words below on Facebook, and it seemed not just worthwhile but important to share them with a wider audience.<\/p>\n

Some Americhristians really, really don\u2019t like it when you point out that slavery and polygamy are endorsed by the Bible. Some Americhristians really, really don\u2019t like it when you point out that America\u2019s wealth was generated by slave-labor over hundreds of years. Some Americhristians really don\u2019t like it when you hold up a mirror. Lots of hissing. Lots of scratching. Lots of turning away. Not a lot of Jesusy stuff though. How can you be a Christian and not be, first and foremost, self-critical? How can you be a Christian and not understand that the Golden Rule is a command for you to obey, not a Bill of Rights to protect you? How can you be a Christian and care more about your own special privileges than the basic human rights of the Other? How can you be a Christian and stand with the executioner against the executed? The answer is: you cannot. You are not a Christian. You are not a Christian. You are an American who wields a book that says \u201cLove your enemies\u201d as a weapon of social domination. You do not belong to Jesus, and he does not belong to you. Jesus does not live in your heart. Look closer. Closer. Do you see Jesus in there? Well, none of us do.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thom Stark wrote the words below on Facebook, and it seemed not just worthwhile but important to share them with a wider audience. Some Americhristians really, really don\u2019t like it when you point out that slavery and polygamy are endorsed by the Bible. Some Americhristians really, really don\u2019t like it when you point out that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":31161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[551,564,565,4044,9546,9854,12540],"class_list":["post-31160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-progressive-christianity-religion","tag-american","tag-americhrist","tag-americhristian","tag-golden-rule","tag-privilege","tag-quote","tag-thom-stark"],"yoast_head":"\nTo be Christian is to be Self-Critical<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thom Stark wrote the words below on Facebook, and it seemed not just worthwhile but important to share them with a wider audience. 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