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    StopItISayAdam Weinstein
    4/26/13 9:01am

    Do you know how hard it is, as a liberal Christian, to find a church that actually follows Christ's teachings? Like, love your neighbor, feed the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned, shelter the "stranger" in this land stuff? I'll tell you: HARD. Damn near impossible. If I had a dollar every time I walked out of a sermon that sounded more like Glenn Beck than Jesus Christ I could found my own church!

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      stacyinbeanStopItISay
      4/26/13 9:06am

      Do you have any Unitarian churches in your area? As an agnostic I find their approach to be pretty perfect!

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      xxxooo364StopItISay
      4/26/13 9:11am

      Have you tried Methodist churches? I'm an atheist, but grew up in the Methodist church. I wouldn't say that EVERY Methodist preacher preaches the kind of messages that you're looking for, but in my experience, most of them do.

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    beatrixkiddoAdam Weinstein
    4/26/13 9:50am

    Uh, yeah he also spoke at LIBERTY UNIVERSITY'S CONVOCATION. Insane. Thanks for writing about this. I'm so disgusted when I read about stuff like this in secular sources like Gawker yet see nothing from Christian sources—the Church should be more appalled than anyone. Plus, two points, Faith and Freedom Coalition:

    1. Since when does being "successful in all your endeavors" have anything to do with Christianity?

    2. And how do you measure Donald Trump's success? Just because he has a lot of money? He has failed at all kinds of endeavors—the only difference between him and Joe Schmoe is that he was born rich and has always been able to afford to fail.

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      Gemmabetabeatrixkiddo
      4/26/13 9:54am

      1. Since the Calvinists, as their doctrine of election argues that you are saved or damned the moment you are born, and you will know on which side of the fence you are sitting depending on how much God blesses you with worldly success.

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      beatrixkiddoGemmabeta
      4/26/13 10:19am

      Yep, and it's a doctrine that contradicts everything about how Jesus lived and what he said. Most of the people who were his closest friends were the "have-nots" of society, and there's no confusion about how he instructed his followers to treat the poor:

      Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’

      I mean dang, that's pretty serious. What would he say to a man who's always been rich who tried to harass lower class tenants out of apartments so he can build more and more lavish condos?

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    snobbyoneAdam Weinstein
    4/26/13 9:46am

    There is a huge difference being being a religious/spiritual person....

    And a Churchgoer.

    You don't need to go to a church or temple and get all this dogma ingrained by some old bearded misogynist to simply be a good person. You are only required to be a good person, which isn't that difficult.

    I'm sure whatever higher power is out there be it Allah, God, Yahweh, Elvis, or Aliens... They are advanced enough to read my mind and know whether in my heart I'm an asshole or not. The church structure is not necessary to enforce that goodness under duress.

    And Donald Trump is a douche.

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      Ladybug2snobbyone
      4/26/13 10:23am

      Human beings are social creatures and like to interact/build communities with people who behave/think similarly. Nothing wrong with that in an of itself. The main problem I have with these particular churches is the political activity. They should lose their tax exempt status.

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      snobbyoneLadybug2
      4/26/13 11:06am

      I agree, and we are. We have pubs and sports teams and churches and town halls and cities because we are social creatures and it's a beautiful thing. For all it's good though religions general message of brotherly love is many times lost in it's intolerance and the need to convert or conquer, in that message of peace being mislead and misinterpreted intentionally in order to control, much the same as it is in politics. Too often we've seen too much hurt done in the name of religion and it's ingrained and programmed xenophobia. I can just be rude and say that churches are just barns housing different animals.

      Love thy neighbour my ass. Structure and community are wonderful things and are a part of being human. But in too many cases the purveyors of politics and religion have perverted and abused this privilege of community into a weapon by misleading it's people and abusing the powers of guilt and fear. It's followers turned into foot soldiers programmed to rein people into the fold or hate them for not joining. Thankfully not all religious groups are guilty of this, but too many are.

      So in light of that, I don't consider myself an atheist, to consider ourselves the highest form of sentience in a universe we haven't explored is hubris and wrong, but neither do I subscribe to a group belief that a religion devised and edited by man over centuries in order to control uneducated masses is necessary in both action and ritual in day to day life in order to be a good person or we're going to someone else' idea of a hell. Going to church on Sunday is not necessary for me to be a good person. I am a good person because I choose to be (and being human sometimes fail at).

      What's wrong with just going back to the good golden rule common among all beliefs: just be cool with each other yo.

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    gilbertkittensAdam Weinstein
    4/26/13 10:04am

    I cannot personally understand how the Christian church allows the gospel of "success" to pass as anything other than the blasphemy that it is. It is literally the opposite of what Jesus intended and yet somehow he is used to sell it.

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      beatrixkiddogilbertkittens
      4/26/13 10:21am

      Exactly.

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    RapGameRussellHammondAdam Weinstein
    4/26/13 9:01am

    Success? Dude's declared bankruptcy multiple times. He's a blowhard with no business sense other than trading on his name.

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      Sean BrodyAdam Weinstein
      4/26/13 9:02am

      This is the cornerstone of Christianity, of its highest expressions through voluntary charity and acts of love for all.

      Huh. And there's me thinking it was all about telling people what not to do with their dicks, vaginas and wombs.

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        psybabAdam Weinstein
        4/26/13 9:05am

        Is Matt Taibbi now writing here under a pseudonym? "Butter cake of hypocritical dipshittery?" Explains why this "Weinstein" guy won't show his picture....

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          Yog-Sothoth is the GateAdam Weinstein
          4/26/13 9:05am

          When did Christian Evangelism ever have real meaning?

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            GemmabetaYog-Sothoth is the Gate
            4/26/13 9:18am

            When pith-helmeted missionaries hacked their way through the jungles of Zambezi?

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            Yog-Sothoth is the GateGemmabeta
            4/26/13 9:21am

            It's gone so well for the people of Africa, too.

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          UncleCCClaudiusAdam Weinstein
          4/26/13 9:05am

          Someone needs to smite his comb over with righteousness and great fury.

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            Tyrant BigglesAdam Weinstein
            4/26/13 9:55am

            Ralph Reed would have so been assigned to Slytherin.

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