How one evangelical leader uses the Bible to expose the 'False White Gospel'

[Dulcinea]

(CNN) Jim Wallis was a long-haired student activist in the early 1970s who read Marx, marched against the Vietnam War and had little use for evangelical Christianity. But one day he conducted an unusual theological experiment that would change his life.

Wallis and several friends wanted to know how many scriptures in the Bible dealt with issues such as poverty, oppression and justice. So they took a pair of scissors and cut out every biblical verse mentioning the poor.

“When we were done, all of those verses had fallen to the floor — about two thousand verses in total,” Wallis recalled. “We were left with a Bible full of holes.”

Wallis would devote his life to championing those discarded scriptures. He is now one of the most eloquent defenders of a brand of evangelical Christianity that insists that faith is not entirely a private matter — that the church should address racism and public policy issues that affect the poor.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/one-evangelical-leader-uses-bible-090025360.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&segment_id&ncid=crm_19908-1202929-20240429-0&bt_user_id=3jqQAIjS74v5GI2AtVQTE0mYU9t%2Bpfwc8sBjNIJn0eaiPmuyAMi2K6rmY6HbCBfo&bt_ts=1714388987308

[Lonestarblue]

1. Interesting article worth reading.

I am not religious, but I think it’s necessary to understand the mindset of the ultra right-wing white evangelicals who see whiteness s more important than faith.

[multigraincracker]

3. I'm with you. Find it a great topic of study.

See redletterbible.org. If one only looks at the words attributed to Jesus, looks pretty socialist.

[3Hotdogs]

5. Well, I seen photos of Jesus. Mom had one in her bedroom. He has blue eyes and light brown (almost blond) hair.

23 + me says I am about 20% Aryan. I would vote for Jesus.

[jmbar2]

2. My first exposure to Jim Wallis - very impressed

I am not religious either, but when the sane Christians speak up now about what's wrong with christian nationalism, and speak up for truth and justice, I'm listening. Thanks for posting this.

Wallis’ new book is an altar call, a history lesson and a savvy guide for social justice activists. He writes that every successful movement must distinguish between those who must be defeated versus those who can be persuaded, and that Jesus has become “a victim of identity theft in America.”

[Voltaire2]

4. Christianity is a slave religion

that trains people to be good slaves so they won’t be tortured for eternity after they die.

From its promotion to the state religion of the slave economy Roman Empire through the feudal regimes maintained by an enslaved peasantry and then the slave based plantation economies of the American conquest it was the ideological core that maintained and justified these systems.

Alongside the European colonial expansion of the modern era, christianity evolved its racist component. This is not an American aberration of the current era. It is feature.

[jmbar2]

6. Well, yes and no...

I'm no religious expert, but I think people abscond with religion to support their own interests. However, there are some folks whose interpretation of religion supports an ethic of caring about others.

[Voltaire2]

7. Sure. There are individual christians who

are good caring people, there are versions of christianity that teach love and tolerance. There are even versions of christianity that remove all the supernatural nonsense.

None of that is relevant to the general history of christianity, as it is marginal. Viewing christian white nationalism as an aberration of the current era is a misunderstanding.

[ret5hd]

9. like jbar, i am no expert...

but i think xtianity was changed (consciously and purposefully) from a religion of salvation/redemption/hope etc to the “slave model” when Constantine decided to use it as the state religion.

Which means that for the vast majority of xtianitys history it has been as you describe.

on edit: full disclosure - i am an atheist

[redstate_bluesman]

8. Wallis

Jim Wallis is a beacon of hope in a sea of poorly-practiced Christianity.

[Aristus]

10. Welcome to DU!

[TomSlick]

11. Agreed.

Welcome to DU!