William Lindsey Jun 19, 2024

Kristin Kobes du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne and history professor at Calvin College, speaks here about what her local church and other Christian Reformed Churches in the US and Canada are now going through. Their denomination is shoving them out unless they agree to a confessional statement requiring them to condemn same-sex relationships.

#churches #power #Republicans #WhiteChristianNationalism #ChristianReformed #LGBTQ
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https://kristindumez.substack.com/p/peace-where-there-is-no-peace

Peace where there is no peace

When your Religion Cancels You. That was the topic selected for our second podcast episode over at The Convocation: Unscripted. Little did my fellow podcasters know, that’s a sensitive topic for me this week. As I write, my denomination is dictating the terms that will require my home church and many others to leave the denomination over a new interpretation of what is now deemed “confessional,” one that requires condemnation of same-sex relationships.

Du Mez CONNECTIONS
Show threadWilliam Lindsey 

She shares a sermon her pastor, Len Vander Zee, has just preached, speaking of the turmoil in many churches and the nation as a whole today, and asking if we're saying "peace, peace, when there is no peace." Pastor Vander Zee's conclusion:

"The church has, for a long, long time, had a problem with power."

#churches #power #Republicans #WhiteChristianNationalism #ChristianReformed #LGBTQ
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Jun 19, 2024 at 12:31pmWeb
Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jun 19, 2024

Key sectors of the Christian church in the US are right now drunk with the lust to acquire power — power to hurt, punish, and exclude others and call this holy, he says. His conclusion,

"What is the fruit of this cult of Christian power and domination? It doesn’t look much like the fruit of the Spirit. It seems to breed ugly, divisive, and authoritarian rhetoric and action--all in the name of Christ."

#churches #power #Republicans #WhiteChristianNationalism #ChristianReformed #LGBTQ
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Show threadWilliam Lindsey Jun 19, 2024

"So, let’s no longer say, 'Peace, peace, when there is no peace.' There’s something deeply wrong with the church today. And it’s profoundly connected with the use of power and authority, the very things that Jesus called us away from."

They want to fuse church and state to give them power to hurt, punish, and exclude others, and call this holy.

#churches #power #Republicans #WhiteChristianNationalism #ChristianReformed #LGBTQ
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Show threadGrumbleJun 19, 2024

@wdlindsy That Jesus fellow seems to *always* be in conflict with church authority.

Sort of ironic people used his example to create a new authoritarian church.