here<\/b><\/a>.)<\/b><\/p>\nThis has helped me make sense much of why certain sectors of Christians today have embraced racist, fascist, authoritarian, and misogynistic elements in our society. Christians I have known all my life have embraced things over the last decade that have left me wondering if I really ever knew them. Things that should have been deal-breakers were instead glossed over, mitigated, or explained away. This makes sense because if a Christian\u2019s picture of God includes some of these evils and encourages relating to humanity through an aggressive, destructive, us-versus-them paradigm, then these evils become normalized and fail to evoke the repulsion they should. These evils are accepted as part of the moral fiber of a loving God when they should be a huge red flag instead. If these aren\u2019t a deal-breaker for\u00a0 <\/span>God, they aren\u2019t going to be deal-breakers for political leaders. This has desensitized a whole sector of Christianity to go along with a host of social evils rather than strenuously opposing them as harmful, horrendous, and destructive of vulnerable people. Beyond that, our own bigotries and prejudices can confirm us in normalizing destructive behaviors and worldviews.<\/p>\nHowever we hold, read, view, or interpret our sacred texts, we must do so in life-giving ways with a diverse community of others who experience life on this planet differently from us. This enables us to experience how others hear certain passages. It enables us become aware of the harm certain interpretations permit certian people to commit. And it offers us the opportunity to humbly listen to those unlike ourselves, believe their lived experience, and choose the kind of human being we want to be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOn the subject of slavery, I\u2019m thankful that certain Bible authors did see the evils of slavery and sought to move their audiences away from it. As much as I critique the gospel of John over its focus on the afterlife rather than this life, it does get some things right. It focuses its audience on love toward one another, and love is the root of justice. It affirms the equality of women and other communities marginalized within Christianity at that time. And it subtly betrays the evil of slavery when John\u2019s Jesus speaks to his disciples:<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not call you slaves any longer, because the slave does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends . . .\u201d (John 15:15)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s still a far cry from a robust rejection of slavery. But the fact that Jesus refused to relate to his disciples as slaves in John, whereas in Luke, he tells disciples to say \u201cWe are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!\u201d, sows a seed in the hearts of John\u2019s listeners that could germinate and grow into questions about the institution of slavery itself.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Are you receiving all of RHM\u2019s free resources each week?<\/p>\n
Begin each day being inspired toward love, compassion, justice and action. Free.<\/p>\n
Sign up at HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1222\/2024\/10\/RHM-SignUp25-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This explains how certain sectors of Christianity have embraced xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4129,"featured_media":11366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[729,702],"tags":[2952,52,2720,284,3806,1599],"class_list":["post-11363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-liberation-theology","category-racial-justice","tag-abolitionism","tag-gospel","tag-lectionary-reading","tag-liberation-theology","tag-normalize","tag-slavery"],"yoast_head":"\n
When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Jesus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HerbMontgomeryofRHM\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1222\/2025\/10\/SJ25867.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"580\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Herb Montgomery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HerbMontgomery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Herb Montgomery\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/\",\"name\":\"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/26e337fc68cc87d32a2927e9e42faca4\"},\"description\":\"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/\",\"name\":\"Social Jesus\",\"description\":\"What a first-century, Jewish prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of making our society a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/26e337fc68cc87d32a2927e9e42faca4\",\"name\":\"Herb Montgomery\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b010cbc5f6c9ea988c104f693dcc9ef?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b010cbc5f6c9ea988c104f693dcc9ef?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Herb Montgomery\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.renewedheartministries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HerbMontgomeryofRHM\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HerbMontgomery\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/author\/hmontgomery\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils","description":"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils","og_description":"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/","og_site_name":"Social Jesus","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HerbMontgomeryofRHM\/","article_published_time":"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":580,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1222\/2025\/10\/SJ25867.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Herb Montgomery","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HerbMontgomery","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Herb Montgomery","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/","name":"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-02T21:26:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/26e337fc68cc87d32a2927e9e42faca4"},"description":"This explains how certain sectors of Christianity normalize xenophobic, fascist, and authoritarian elements in our society, today.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/2025\/10\/christian-interpretations-normalize-social-evils\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Christian Interpretations Normalize Social Evils"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/","name":"Social Jesus","description":"What a first-century, Jewish prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of making our society a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/26e337fc68cc87d32a2927e9e42faca4","name":"Herb Montgomery","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b010cbc5f6c9ea988c104f693dcc9ef?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5b010cbc5f6c9ea988c104f693dcc9ef?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Herb Montgomery"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.renewedheartministries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HerbMontgomeryofRHM\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/HerbMontgomery"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/author\/hmontgomery\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/socialjesus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1222\/2025\/10\/SJ25867.png\")