All politics are identity politics. Republicans have long mocked this notion, treating the very concept of “identity politics” as a left-wing fixation. In reality, the GOP’s success is entirely due to the cheapest form of identity politics: For decades, but especially now, they have worked to distract voters from the party’s ruinous policies with appeals to their identity as white, provincial and, most importantly, Christian. This campaign has been enormously successful. White evangelicals have been the backbone of the GOP for decades not because they love tax cuts for the rich and environmental degradation, but because they have been told, repeatedly, that Democrats are demonic and there is no such thing as a liberal Christian.
This is why there’s a growing panic in the Republican ranks over the campaign of James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, and it’s not just fear that he could beat Ken Paxton, the state’s Republican attorney general. Win or lose, Talarico — a seminary student-turned-politician — embodies an existential threat to the right’s long-standing myth that to be Christian must necessarily mean voting Republican.
The reason why most christians don’t follow jewish law is that Paul wasn’t fond of it. His interpretation won against other branches (including that of John, Jesus literal brother), hence the laws were abandoned for gentiles.
Nobodsy knows what the fuck Jesus might have actualy taught, but the author of Matthew is quite clear about it:
One might note that he says all that business and then violates a bunch of the laws.
Can anyone really know one way or another? Isn’t much of the bible fanfic written by dozens or people over hundreds of years? Like, one of the most widely known Jesus stories, about letting the person who is without sin cast the first stone, is from what I understand widely acknowledged by experts to have been grafted on to the bible hundreds of years later.
Yes, by understanding that there’s the character of Jesus, from the Bible, who has a specific list of actions and professed beliefs, and there’s whoever that person was based on which we know much less about.
Much like, for example, Richard III from Shakespeare’s play and the actual person.
Then you must understand that just like Richard III people only really care about the fictional version unless you’re a real nerd so you should accept that’s what people are talking about.
Good insight and analogy, thanks!