Holy Post on YEC

I only pray @LM77 doesn’t hear of this.

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There are pockets of Twitter that are truly enjoyable. @Christy and I bumped into each other in the #WCT (Weird Christian Twitter) portion of the site. I probably spend more time on it than I should, but WCT has helped me retain faith when the US evangelical sphere kept coming up with new and creative ways to disappoint and discourage me in 2020.

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That sounds interesting. I have never really looked hard at Twitter, but may now that one of the irritating users may not be on it as much this year. (Reprimand given and accepted. Sorry)

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Look me up if you decide to spend any time there, Phil!

I wasn’t saying they were. I was just commenting on the fact that people get offended when you bring up facts about racist things that did happen. As if acknowledging that racism motivated some of the political and religious alliances is calling everyone at all associated an evil person. Self-identifying Evangelicals of today have some racist roots. They also have roots in the abolitionist movement. But people need to own all of their heritage to understand how it impacts the present, not just pick the parts they are proud of.

If you really study it out, abortion only became an Evangelical/Fundamentalist rallying cry after the civil rights movement proved they were on the wrong side of history with the anti-desegregation stuff and when that proved too divisive to unite Northerners.

I think part of that history is covered in this Holy Post podcast, which is also a real winner for understanding the landscape of Evangelicalism today:

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I find myself wanting to talk about ideas from The Righteous Mind here. I don’t think the Bible has to be literally true or to function by appealing to our rational minds in order to be of value culturally. My hunch is that there is a lot of hyperbole in it but it isn’t actionable directives for our rationality to work on. If it has any cultural value it is because it sets the rational mind up to expect something greater, disposing it to look for -and find- resources that are inherent in us but not by way of our usual pathways. If it sounds like I don’t know what I’m talking about, that’s true. Whatever it is is outside the range of what we can ‘know’. But that is my 2¢ worth.

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3 posts were merged into an existing topic: Spin-off: Following Jesus v. following Paul

A post was merged into an existing topic: Spin-off: Following Jesus v. following Paul

I’m sorry…you are right. . It is important to realize that even if we have nothing to do with the faulty beginnings of something, some may view the organization with distrust for past abuses. In addition, we have to always be on guard from the “yeast” getting in again.
He, Skye and Christian do have a great podcast.

Yes! I’m currently reading the Color of Compromise, which is about how exclusion based on race/slavery was at the foundation of the church in America. The two most prominent people in the early American church (George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards) both owned slaves and although they believed that slaves could be saved by Jesus, it would not free them from bondage, and used the Bible’s examples of “slaves obey your masters” to reinforce the idea that God condoned it.

Definitely worth a read, I’m learning a lot! It is a historical look, goes all the way from the formation of America to today.

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Thanks again for this too, Christy! The Holy Post is (for me) only a newly discovered treasure here, even with just listening to the two you’ve linked. Are they all this good?

I do find myself most disappointed (and not surprised since I’ve run across this in other venues already) in Eric Mataxas whom I first encountered in his excellent series about C.S. Lewis [or Lewis’ literary advocate Walter Hooper, rather], and even in his cordial reception (at least at one time) of Francis Collins. It appears that by now however, he’s “drunk the koolaid” and gotten himself immersed in Trump-blinded fundamentalisms. A most disappointing development for somebody who was known for celebrating the life of the mind. (Socrates in the City).

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It’s my favorite podcast, because it’s a nice balance of serious and silly, informal chat and formal interview. I feel like they aim for that audience of Evangelicals who are feeling kind of homeless at the moment, which I resonate with. The recent one on CRT was really good.

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I think I need a Twitter For The Complete Dummy. I find it very hard to navigate or find anything there. When I did a search for Weird Christian I just got people’s usernames that included that.

But I also found that historical bit about evangelism’s roots informative. Much more complex than I realized.

(I know I’m back before the 24 hours predicted, @Christy, but the first s-storm is over an I’ve got some hours before I have to precipitate the next. Happy to report that my ship did not flood.)

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No joke, I had to read a Twitter tutorial for senior citizens to even know what to click on.

I’m still fairly inept myself. Basically, what you see on your “timeline” on Twitter once you have an account is determined by who you follow. WeirdChristianTwitter or WCT is just a hashtag that a certain group of users, many of whom follow each other and similar people, use to tag tweets they think would interest the whole group. You can get your name on a list that basically puts any post with the hashtag in your time line.

Twitter can be a real cesspool, but if you are selective about who you follow and tailor it to your interests, you can avoid the sketchy corners fairly easily. The thing that I find a little overwhelming is that people use Twitter for so many different reasons; for promoting content elsewhere, for professional networking, for friendly banter, for scoping out potential dates, for picking fights and hate reading, so you have to get very good at skimming and scrolling through the time line to find interesting things, because everything is public and decontextualized. It’s another time suck, honestly, that I only justify to myself as necessary to keep my finger on the pulse of the world, isolated as I am here in the Mexican boonies.

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I need that for Instagram. It took me ages to realize I could pause stories. Before that, I hated them so much, since I couldn’t read fast enough! :laughing:

I’m still iffy on posting and sharing. I know how to post one or more pictures and have it go to IG and FB. Sharing other people’s content is a bit trickier, and I think I can only share in stories, not actual posts. Usually, I’m just wanting to share it in a Facebook post.

I think there’s a reason why old folks use Facebook more than the other platforms. And I’m only in my early 40’s, so I’m not even “old” yet. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Actually, I think the problem is finding Twitter for Not complete dummies; it seems all too easy to find things on Twitter for complete dummies.

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Well I took the plunge. I shared this one on my Facebook page.

Guess I’ll find out which of my secular crowd is as open minded as the best of you and which are wed to thinking Christianity = YEC. I don’t think I’ll make a habit of this but curiosity has won this round.

It just occurred to me that not speaking up at all when religion is equated with YEC and ridiculed, is a little like being a non-racist but not speaking up when family members start talking like they’re at a clan meeting. Guess I may have to make some effort if I’m going to be able hold my head high here and in front of the mirror.

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:slight_smile: I appreciate how Paulogia breaks down all of the claims that are glossed over and stuffed in a narrative in all of his videos.

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I just watched that on Facebook.

And people wonder why Ken Ham has a reputation for twisting the truth.

Well, Exhibit A, right there.

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