{"id":10704,"date":"2014-12-08T12:29:39","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T17:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/?p=10704"},"modified":"2014-12-08T12:29:39","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T17:29:39","slug":"is-your-christianity-ever-mistaken-for-criminality-pope-francis-bookclub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/unequallyyoked\/2014\/12\/is-your-christianity-ever-mistaken-for-criminality-pope-francis-bookclub.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Christianity Ever Mistaken for Criminality? [Pope Francis Bookclub]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus<\/a>. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all<\/a>\u00a0and\/or read along.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Eccehomo1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In this week\u2019s reading, Pope Francis points out that Christ was stripped of more than his clothes when he was executed on the cross:<\/p>\n

Jesus does not die in Jerusalem, nor is he stoned to death. \u00a0He dies as one accursed, \u201chung on a tree\u201d outside the walls of Jerusalem (cf. Deut 21:22-23). \u00a0The punishment imposed by Jewish law for a false prophet and a blasphemer is stoning, but Jesus does not die as a prophet. \u00a0Rather, he is put to death as a conspirator, a zealot, a guerrilla fighter against Roman power. \u00a0As a contemporary theologian puts it, Jesus\u2019 enemies robbed him of his rightful death. \u00a0Not only did they take away his life with a \u201clegal\u201d murder, but they denied him the meaning that he personally gave to his life and his death. \u00a0Jesus\u2019s total divestment includes the manner of his death on the cross: he did not even have the final satisfaction of dying in a way that bore witness to the true meaning of his life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pope Francis goes on to warn his readers that they \u201cmust take into account the likelihood of being judged \u2018criminals\u2019 as [Christ] was, of being considered \u2018antagonistic\u2019 to the common good.\u201d \u00a0He\u2019s not telling his audience of priests that they should\u00a0seek out<\/em> conflict with worldly powers, but that something has gone a bit\u00a0wrong\u00a0<\/em>if it never comes to them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded, reading this week\u2019s chapter, of an aphorism from Umesh Vazirani, \u201cIf you\u2019ve never missed a flight, you\u2019re spending too much time in airports.\u201d<\/p>\n

The religious version of this \u201cUmeshism\u201d<\/a>\u00a0might be, \u201cIf all your leaders are recognized as\u00a0religious<\/em> leaders, you\u2019ve accepted too narrow a sphere for religion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christ is executed as a criminal\/revolutionary\/conspirator because, as Richard Beck writes \u201cHerod didn\u2019t make a mistake.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Christianity doesn\u2019t go out seeking conventional, worldly power, but the calling Christ brings doesn\u2019t have tidy, limited\u00a0consequences that can be confined to an hour on Sunday mornings or a home oratory.<\/p>\n

Christianity [like any philosophy worth its salt] can and should spill over into neutral\/secular life, in both the political and personal spheres. \u00a0When it prompts questions of \u201cWell, what does that<\/em> have to do with your religion?\u201d we should be ready with answers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

P.S. Today, I\u2019m sending out the first of my once-a-month behind the scenes looks at my book,\u00a0<\/em>Arriving at Amen: Seven Catholic Prayers that Even I Can Offer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, sign up for the emails<\/a> before 2:30p today, to find out what was the funniest question I got from my copy-editor, and how quickly she identified one of my foibles.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2014, I\u2019m reading and blogging through Pope Francis\/Cardinal Bergoglio\u2019s\u00a0Open Mind, Faithful Heart: Reflections on Following Jesus. \u00a0Every Monday, I\u2019ll be writing about the next meditation in the book, so you\u2019re welcome to\u00a0peruse them all\u00a0and\/or read along. In this week\u2019s reading, Pope Francis points out that Christ was stripped of more than his clothes when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":10706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[227],"class_list":["post-10704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pope-francis-bookclub"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Your Christianity Ever Mistaken for Criminality? 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