"A corruption of what it means to be Christian": Liberal pastors challenge Christianity's MAGA turn

[marmar]

"A corruption of what it means to be Christian": Liberal pastors challenge Christianity's MAGA turn
Jesus defied an empire and championed the poor — a legacy that some Christians are trying to reclaim

By Nicholas Liu
News Fellow
Published October 18, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) One August morning in Los Angeles, 18 Christian clergy members marched onto the street outside the Cameo Beverly Hills to support hotel workers striking for better pay, invoking Jesus Christ as one who taught that "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Police officers detained them all, among them Rev. Denyse Barnes, a Methodist priest who told Salon that risking arrest on behalf of the striking workers was part of her calling as a Christian leader.

"That's what church is, right? It's not just the building with the rituals and traditions, which is still important, but also walking the walk that Jesus taught us," Barnes said. In following Christ, she explained, it is his mercy and advocacy for the downtrodden — for whom he was anointed to bring "glad tidings" — that she and her fellow marchers look to for guidance.

One August morning in Los Angeles, 18 Christian clergy members marched onto the street outside the Cameo Beverly Hills to support hotel workers striking for better pay, invoking Jesus Christ as one who taught that "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." Police officers detained them all, among them Rev. Denyse Barnes, a Methodist priest who told Salon that risking arrest on behalf of the striking workers was part of her calling as a Christian leader.

"That's what church is, right? It's not just the building with the rituals and traditions, which is still important, but also walking the walk that Jesus taught us," Barnes said. In following Christ, she explained, it is his mercy and advocacy for the downtrodden — for whom he was anointed to bring "glad tidings" — that she and her fellow marchers look to for guidance.

....(snip)....

To fulfill what they view as their ethical purpose, those pastors have formed organizations such as Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), a network of congregations in Southern California that helped organize support for the striking hotel workers. Another organization, the Catholic charity Annunciation House, provides shelter and hot meals to asylum-seekers who cross the U.S.-Mexico border. Those kinds of efforts often draw the ire of right-wing Christians who see the organizations behind them not as partners in faith, but as threats to the social order. Earlier in 2024, Texas attorney general and megachurch founder Ken Paxton, a Republican, harassed and demanded the surrender of documents from Annunciation House, which responded by seeking a restraining order on Paxton. The attorney general then escalated with his own lawsuit to shut down the organization completely.

A judge ruled against Paxton, writing that his "request to examine documents from Annunciation House was a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge." ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/18/a-corruption-of-what-it-means-to-be-christian-liberal-pastors-challenge-christianitys-maga-turn/

[lindysalsagal]

1. Tax and regulate all churches.

[Hotler]

3. +1 nt

[dutch777]

2. Need more of this but just not seeing much leadership from the major religious organizations.

I understand some of the biggest churches that support the RWers are non denominational but the fact that the denominational church groups show very little leadership calling out behavior that is clearly antithetical to their other teachings is sad testimony. Watching Cardinal Dolan sitting next to and laughing with Donald Trump yesterday says it all.

[VGNonly]

4. Jimmy Carter left the SBC,

the Southern Baptist Convention. He could no longer stomach their increasing RW Christian politics.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Trump's evangelicals are the public face of Christianity in America today.