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Citing Charlie Kirk murder, Tennessee pastor demands removal of 'Hate Has No Home' signs (www.scrippsnews.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by bytesonbike@discuss.online to c/atheism@lemmy.world
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A pastor, citing the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk, has called for his neighbors to take down their “Hate Has No Home Here” signs, claiming those messages endorse political violence against people like him.

Yet, at the same time that he called upon his critics to tone down their rhetoric, Andrew Isker escalated his own language, angrily demanding vengeance against those he perceives to be his political enemies.

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[-] Telorand@reddthat.com 12 points 2 weeks ago

It would seem that way if you were raised on ideas like tolerance and acceptance, but if you look at the Bible's messaging, there's enough vaguery and conflicting messaging that you can use it to justify one ideology over the other. There's Jesus who preached the beatitudes, and then there's Jesus who preached bringing a sword, hating your family that "holds you back," and comes back on a promised judgement day bringing fire and death.

As Bart Ehrman put it, "It's a matter of which Jesus you [want to] choose."

[-] Rhaedas@fedia.io 9 points 2 weeks ago

That's why multiple guest writers for sequels never work as well as the original author who was actually present.

[-] Fandangalo@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

I read the New Testament twice earlier this year in prep for this administration coming. While there are some verses where Christ speaks of violence and division, I understood it as “These messages & the things I say will cause people to argue.” The verse about leaving family for Christ means something like “I’m going to teach you about love, and if your family turns away from those teachings, they are turning against love.”

Overwhelmingly, I found Jesus within the New Testament to be a pretty tolerant person. Some passages such as Matthew 25:32 show how the Republican party is completely misaligned with the grand message of the religion. It explicitly states that you go to heaven for helping the poor, helping the alien in a foreign land, helping those in jail. I’m sorry, but that’s not what the Republican party does. :/

[-] Telorand@reddthat.com 5 points 2 weeks ago

And that's the thing about religious texts: we interpret them, even if we do our best to read them as written. I agree that the case for a vengeful Jesus is probably weaker than the tolerant one, but it is nonetheless there. If that's the Jesus you want, nobody can stop you from cherry picking and emphasizing specific texts to make your own vengeful god.

this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2025
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