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.
What did Jesus say about the (ubiquitous at the time) institution of slavery?
Spoiler: not a single thing.
Mistreat your slaves all you want (within the specific rules outlined in the Old Testament, of course e.g. Exodus 21, Leviticus 25). That includes literally raping your slaves and enslaving the offspring.
Its absolutely insane to me that anyone could use the bible as a moral guidepost. Shits depraved in there. Remember that time that god was like ‘its totally okay if I murder your family if i replace them with more fuckable people later’?
If you’re referring to Job, I think it’s even worse.
Unless I’m mistaken… I think the “it’s all ok because God gave him a new family” stuff was retconned by modern Christians. I think in the original ending he’s just S.O.L. on the family front. But it was necessary because god made a bet with Satan. Or something.
Earnestly and honestly reading the Book of Job was possibly the beginning of years of questioning this bullshit, for me.
The story is horrifying, and I remember sitting through sermons about it, looking around at other people in the pews thinking, “am I the only one who sees how fucked up this story is?!” (Yeah, pretty much was)
Remember that other story where the guy gets raped by his two daughters, but it’s totally ok?
“MLK never held a speech defending trans rights, therefore he was a bigot who hated trans people.”
Yeah sorry, this excuse just doesn’t cut it for me.
We’re talking about Jesus, not MLK. His words are supposed to be the words of God, and he allegedly spent his time here challenging all sorts of societal norms.
The fact that he can’t, even once, say anything close to, “hey guys, don’t own other people as property” is extremely damning.
The fact that the rest of the book is explicitly and fiercely pro-slavery makes it so much worse.
In his own words, he came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. That law explicitly includes specifics on how to properly beat your slaves. It explicitly outlines the differences between Jewish and Gentile slaves. It includes specifics about how, if you fuck your slave and they get pregnant, you can enslave the child.