Saturday, December 25, 2021

Christmas Musings on "Bullets Not Ballots" in American Democracy

By Rudy Barnes, Jr.


As we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace we are approaching the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.  America is awash with guns, and there has been an increasing trend for bullets not ballots in politics.  The signs are widespread and worrisome.  We need to consider why so many Americans favor violence over peace in our libertarian democracy.

       

Ballots not bullets has long been an axiom to promote democracy in America’s foreign policy; but it took bullets not ballots for America to gain its independence, and later to maintain the Union in a terrible Civil War.  Today popular forms of Christianity support the morality of gun violence, and it has become embedded in America’s political culture.


A declining church remains the primary source of the moral standards of political legitimacy in America, and there is a conflict within Christianity on the use of lethal force.  The moral imperative to love others as we love ourselves in the greatest commandment requires the use of lethal force to protect others from harm and to provide for the national defense.


While Christmas is a time to celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, we need to remember that Jesus was opposed by his own religious leaders who collaborated with Roman authorities to have him crucified--and crowds cheered their decision.  Today the church is indifferent to Christian militants who threaten democracy, and guns decorate Christmas cards.      

    

The corruption of Christian morality became obvious in 2016 when the vast majority of white Christians elected Donald Trump as President.  Trump’s self-centered narcissism is the antithesis of the altruistic morality taught by Jesus; and today his militant white supporters are determined to make him President again, and they are willing to use bullets not ballots to do so.


The militants who have threatened civil war since Trump’s loss in 2020 cannot claim to be followers of Jesus or supporters of democracy.  Not only do the teachings of Jesus promote peaceful politics, but our Constitution and laws provide for free and fair elections, and accepting their results is essential to the political legitimacy of our democracy.

  

Kyle Rittenhouse is a vigilante who exemplifies bullets not ballots in politics.  He left his home state and took an automatic weapon to a demonstration that became violent.  He killed two people, claiming self-defense, and was acquitted and hailed as a patriot by the radical right.  Such vigilantism cannot be tolerated under the rule of law in a libertarian democracy.


Gun violence has become an accepted norm of political legitimacy in America.  Even if America avoids another civil war, escalating civil strife with bullets not ballots will poison our democracy.  My Christmas wish is that those who claim to be Christians will rediscover the altruistic teachings of Jesus and apply them to their politics. If they do, they can help the light of God’s love dispel the darkness that threatens to overwhelm us.


       

Notes:

Dana Milbank has cited Barbara F. Walter’s book, How Civil Wars Start, as evidence that “We are closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe. If you were an analyst in a foreign country looking at events in America you would go down a checklist, assessing each of the conditions that make civil war likely. And what you would find is that the United States, a democracy founded more than two centuries ago, has entered very dangerous territory.”

Indeed, the United States has already gone through what the CIA identifies as the first two phases of insurgency — the “pre-insurgency” and “incipient conflict” phases — and only time will tell whether the final phase, “open insurgency,” began with the sacking of the Capitol by Donald Trump supporters on Jan. 6. Things deteriorated so dramatically under Trump, in fact, that the United States no longer technically qualifies as a democracy. Citing the Center for Systemic Peace’s “Polity” data set — the one the CIA task force has found to be most helpful in predicting instability and violence — Walter writes that the United States is now an “anocracy,” somewhere between a democracy and an autocratic state. U.S. democracy had received the Polity index’s top score of 10, or close to it, for much of its history. But in the five years of the Trump era, it tumbled precipitously into the anocracy zone; by the end of his presidency, the U.S. score had fallen to a 5, making the U.S. a partial democracy for the first time since 1800. We are no longer a peer to nations like Canada, Costa Rica, and Japan, which are all rated a +10 on the Polity index.” Dropping five points in five years greatly increases the risk of civil war (six points in three years would qualify as “high risk” of civil war). 

Milbank concludes: ”The enemies of democracy must not be allowed to prevail. We are on the doorstep of the “open insurgency” stage of civil conflict, and Walter writes that once countries cross that threshold, the CIA predicts, “sustained violence as increasingly active extremists launch attacks that involve terrorism and guerrilla warfare, including assassinations and ambushes.  It is no exaggeration to say the survival of our country is at stake.” See   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/17/how-civil-wars-start-barbara-walter-research/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_.

Three retired generals have opined that “The military must prepare now for a 2024 insurrection.”   https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/17/eaton-taguba-anderson-generals-military/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_.

Fintan O’Toole has cautioned Americans, “Beware Prophecies of Civil War. The idea that such a catastrophe is unavoidable in America is inflammatory and corrosive. Much of American culture is already primed for the final battle. There is a very deep strain of apocalyptic fantasy in fundamentalist Christianity. Armageddon may be horrible, but it is not to be feared, because it will be the harbinger of eternal bliss for the elect and eternal damnation for their foes. …On what used to be referred to as the far right, but perhaps should now simply be called the armed wing of the Republican Party, the imminence of civil war is a given. Indeed, the conflict can be imagined not as America’s future, but as its present.  Much of the American right is spoiling for a fight, in the most literal sense. Which is one good reason to be very cautious about echoing, as the Canadian journalist and novelist Stephen Marche does in The Next Civil War: Dispatches From the American Future, the claim that America “is already in a state of civil strife, on the threshold of civil war. These prophecies have a way of being self-fulfilling.” See https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/america-civil-war-prophecies/620850/.

Peter Manseau has asked, “Why so many guns on Christmas cards? Because Jesus was ‘manly and virile.’” The spate of Christmas cards with photos of families (often of elected officials) and guns represents a caustic wedding of Jesus with right-wing politics. It’s an example of Muscular Christianity that depicts an image of Jesus that reflects believers’ distorted views of Jesus and God’s will. It was a concept popularized by Teddy Roosevelt, who in 1903 said, “I do not want to see Christianity professed by only weaklings.  I want to see it a moving spirit among men of strength.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/14/guns-christmas-thomas-massie-lauren-boebert/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm.

The Kyle Rittnhouse acquittal “magnified divisions in a polarized America. To many on the right — including gun-rights groups, Trump loyalists and white supremacists — he was a folk hero, a vigilante for justice who had stood up to a rampaging mob. Americans on the left, including racial-justice activists, gun-control advocates and police reformers, saw something quite different: a trigger-happy youth who had recklessly used his AR-15 to escalate an already-chaotic situation into the realm of deadly violence.” For Americans in the middle, the Rittenhouse acquittal affirmed vigilantism that threatens the ability of law enforcement to maintain law and order in volatile situations. See  https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/reaction-rittenhouse-verdict/2021/11/19/bd9c9ede-47d4-11ec-973c-be864f938c72_story.html?utm_.   

The Washington Post editorial board has opined that Kyle Rittenhouse is acquitted, but his actions should not be excused or celebrated. See

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/19/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict-editorial/?utm_.


Saturday, December 18, 2021

Musings on "Unreason" in American Politics and Religion

         By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

The evangelical charlatans who support Trump and his radical right minions remind us that religion can be unreasonable--even ridiculous.  The 18th century Enlightenment was thought to have transformed both politics and religion with advances in knowledge and reason; but since then politics and religion seem to have regressed from reason to unreason.

Thomas Jefferson was a child of the Enlightenment and a deist who considered the universal teachings of Jesus as “the sublimest moral code ever designed by man”, but he detested the institutional church.  The church rejected Jefferson’s heterodox beliefs, but many theologians today consider Jefferson a pioneer in discovering the real teachings of Jesus.

Bill Schneider has cited a 50 year old classic by Seymour Martin Liset and Earl Raab, The Politics of Unreason: Right Wing Extremsm in America, 1790-1970 to illustrate that there’s nothing new about the “unreason” of politics and religion.  Then it was the “know-nothings” who challenged reason and common sense; today it’s right-wing conservatives and left-wing liberals.

Today’s right-wing extremists are made up of the politically dysfunctional and disaffected (those who harbor “status frustrations”), and include the unlikely support of the rich.  Their left-wing opponents are socialists whose free-spending agenda ignores America’s massive national debt--one that’s predicted to rise to dangerous levels by 2031.


Schneider makes a distinction between political values derived from religion that defy compromise, and secular interests that lend themselves to compromise.  The values of right-wing extremists are shaped by distorted and self-centered Christian doctrines such as the prosperity gospel, while left-wing extremists are motivated by self-centered secular interests.


Race is a major factor in America’s polarized partisan politics.  Most white Christians support Republicans and most Blacks support Democrats; and both races attend segregated churches.  While they share belief in the same Christian doctrine, their political preferences conflict.  Race trumps reason in America’s polarized politics, but not in exclusivist Christian beliefs.


Christianity limits salvation to those who believe in Jesus Christ as the alter ego of God, while Jews and Muslims consider such exclusivist beliefs blasphemous.  Jesus was a Jew who never promoted his divinity or any religion.  He emphasized reconciliation based on the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors, including those of other religions, as we love ourselves.


Jefferson and many of the Founding Fathers were heterodox deists who emphasized reason in politics and religion.  Most American Christians today have exclusivist religious beliefs, and support partisan politics that ignore the altruistic teachings of Jesus and fail to provide for the common good.  To avoid being “know nothings” and to save democracy from themselves, Americans must restore reason and promote the common good in both their politics and religion.    


Notes:

Bill Schneider has described today’s right wing extremism as a politics of unreason and the GOP as a cult of know nothings.  His observations are based on a 50-year old book by Seymour Martin Lipsit and Earl Raab, The Politics of Unreason , Right Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970.  “Right-wing extremism, now embodied in Trump’s MAGA movement, dates back to the earliest days of the country. It’s not about the rational calculation of interests, but about irrational impulses, which the authors identify as ‘status frustrations.’ You see ‘the politics of unreason’ in today’s right-wing extremism. Oddly, religion has become a major force driving the current wave of right-wing extremism. That’s not because of Trump’s religious appeal (he has none) but because of the Democratic Party’s embrace of secularism and the resulting estrangement of fundamentalist Protestants, observant Catholics and even orthodox Jews. Scneider cites Lee Drutman, a political scientist at the New America think tank, who recently told The New York Times, ‘I have a hard time seeing how we have a peaceful 2024 election after everything that’s happened now. I don’t see the rhetoric turning down. I don’t see the conflicts going away. ... It’s hard to see how it gets better before it gets worse.’” See https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/583256-gop-becoming-a-cult-of-know-nothings.

Thomas Jefferson was a deist who embraced the moral teachings of Jesus, but opposed the church as an obstacle to freedom.  He wrote Henry Fry on June 17, 1804: "I consider the doctrines of Jesus as delivered by himself to contain the outlines of the sublimest morality that has ever been taught; but I hold in the utmost profound detestation and execration the corruptions of it which have been invested by priestcraft and kingcraft, constituting a conspiracy of church and state against the civil and religious liberties of man."  Thomas Jefferson, The Jefferson Bible, edited by O. I. A. Roche, Clarkson H. Potter, Inc., New York, 1964, at p 378; see also Jefferson’s letter to John Adams dated October 13, 1813, at pp 825, 826; Jefferson's commentaries are at pp 325-379.  See also, Introduction to The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, at page 10, note 2, posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/p/resources.html, See https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-aTJubVlISnpQc1U/view

Many modern scholars like those of the Jesus Seminar consider Thomas Jefferson a pioneer in “separating the real teachings of Jesus, the figure of history, from the encrustations of Christian doctrine.” See The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus: The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say?, The Jesus Seminar, MacMillian Publishing Company, 1993, at page 2.

Previous commentary on related topics:

Religion and Reason (12/8/14)

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2014/12/religion-and-reason.html.

Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous and Corrupts Our Politics (1/21/17)

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/religion-and-reason-redux-religion-is.html.


Saturday, December 11, 2021

Musings on the Moral Dysfunction of Democracy

           By Rudy Barnes, Jr.


Democracy is a political process that’s often confused with moral standards of political legitimacy.  Both are important in politics, but they are different.  Democracy requires free and fair elections for its political leaders, while political parties promote conflicting ideals.  America’s libertarian democracy has proven that it can support both liberal and conservative politics.


There is little danger of democracy ending in America; that’s as unlikely as hell freezing over with global warming.  But the legitimacy of American democracy depends on a social contract that provides for civility and respect for others.  The  election of Donald Trump did not signal the end of democracy in America, but it revealed the erosion of America’s social contract.  


A democracy reflects the values of its people.  America’s self-centered materialistic and hedonistic culture reflects the dominance of greed, a lust for power and disrespect for those who differ with our politics.  American politics have long been morally deficient, but in 2016 voters sacrificed America’s social contract when they elected an egregiously immoral President.


Religion is the primary source of the moral standards of political legitimacy, and most Americans claim to be Christians.  The altruistic teachings of Jesus provide the moral foundation of Christian morality, and they are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors, including those of other races and religions, as we love ourselves.  


Jesus was a Jew whose teachings were universal in the Hebrew prophetic tradition.  Jesus never promoted any religion, not even his own; and he never suggested that he was divine.  The greatest commandment is taken from the Hebrew Bible.  It was taught by Jesus and has been accepted by Islamic scholars as a common word of faith for the Abrahamic religions.


It was Paul’s atonement doctrine that asserted the divinity of Jesus with his crucifixion as God’s blood sacrifice for all believers.  It was the foundation of church doctrine that subordinated the moral teachings of Jesus to exclusivist Christian beliefs in Jesus Christ as the alter ego of God; and today Paul’s letters resonate from the pulpit more often than the teachings of Jesus.


In the 4th century Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, and the church never looked back.  Christianity became the world’s most popular and powerful religion and sanctified the divine right of kings to rule.  It wasn’t until  the 18th century that the Enlightenment allowed democracy to make people the masters of their political destiny.


Thomas Jefferson was a child of the Enlightenment who described the moral teachings of Jesus as “the most sublime moral code ever designed by man.”  In the 20th century an unholy alliance of the church and big business culminated with the moral dysfunction of American democracy in 2016 when white Christians crucified Jesus on the altar of Republican politics. Since that election democracy has lost its luster in the U.S. and around the world.


   

Notes:


Leonard Pitts has described legal and moral dysfunctions in democracy as  shattering the social contract..  A new wave of flash-mob robberies have hit in California, Illinois, Minnesota and Maryland.   Retailers ranging from Nordstrom to 7-Eleven have been hit. For some, the search for will be an invitation to uncork pet theories about poverty, permissiveness or punishment. But none of those things is unique to this era. This model for robbery has always been available to enterprising thieves. What is it about this particular era that has inspired this particular trend?  The social covenant has shattered. Meaning the thousand unspoken understandings by which a society functions, the agreements to which we all sign on without a word being spoken. Some are encoded in law, others just encoded in us. Either way, they are rules — “norms” might be a better word — people usually obey even when they could get away without doing so.

You don’t stand facing the back wall of an elevator. In heavy traffic, you take turns merging. You stop at the red light even when the street is deserted. And, oh yes, you don’t join a mob to ransack a store.

While there is almost certainly some hardcore criminality leading this crime wave, one suspects that many of its foot soldiers are people with little in the way of serious police records. How much do you want to bet most of them will turn out to be ordinary, workaday folk who got the word there was free stuff to be had, and all you had to do was take it, like some giddy holiday from social norms? Where would they have gotten the idea such a holiday was even possible? Surely the opportunistic looting that marred last year’s largely peaceful protests for racial justice helped influence them. But that’s hardly the only — or, arguably, even the most corrosive — transgression of social norms we’ve seen in recent years. To the contrary, we’ve seen police and other authority figures exempt themselves from mask and vaccine mandates — and dare mayors and governors to do anything about it. We’ve seen ex-public officials thumb their noses at congressional subpoenas. We’ve seen a seditionist mob breach the U.S. Capitol and be lionized for it by certain members of Congress and the media. And we’ve seen a president who delighted in shattering norms, refusing to provide his tax returns, flouting the emoluments clause of the Constitution, openly politicking on government property . . . the list goes on.  Worst of all, we’ve seen little in the way of accountability for any of it. …Everywhere you look, someone else is seceding from the covenants that make it possible for civil society to function.” 

See https://www.dailycamera.com/2021/12/01/leonard-pitts-jr-the-social-covenant-has-shattered/.


Bob Dole’s legacy of character and integrity and his appeal for unity in politics belongs to a bygone era.  See  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/06/bob-dole-op-ed-what-america-needs/?utm_.


On the global stage, Biden is right that global democracy is at risk, but the threat isn’t China.  “Biden’s Summit for Democracy is a deeply flawed organizing principle for America’s approach to the world by drawing lines between democracies and autocracies.  China and Russia are not the main causes of the weakening of democracies around the world. Most of the backsliding, according to a recent study, has been caused by erosion within the world’s democracies, including the United States and many of its allies. Indeed, the upcoming summit includes a number of countries — India, Brazil, the Philippines and Poland among them — marked by growing autocratic movements and infringements on freedom of expression and a free press. And pushing these and other countries to reform their political, electoral or judicial institutions from the outside is hard if not impossible.  Though Biden insists that he doesn’t want a new cold war, some of his overcharged rhetoric belies this view. In March, Biden announced his intention “to invite an alliance of democracies to come here to discuss the future,” including holding “China accountable to follow the rules” on issues such as persecution of its Uyghur citizens and its territorial disputes with Taiwan. Biden has said of China’s President Xi Jinping that he “doesn’t have a democratic bone . . . in his body” and that Xi believes “democracy cannot keep up with” China.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/democracy-summit-china-russia/2021/12/03/d64d4544-537a-11ec-8769-2f4ecdf7a2ad_story.html?utm_.  


Biden’s Summit for Democracy includes countries that hardly seem to qualify.  That “has prompted tensions and anger from various countries, while highlighting that the globe is hardly binary. Some of the invitees have undisputed democratic credentials, and some of those omitted are clearly authoritarian, but many countries fall into a murky area. By the State Department’s own account, the governments of both Pakistan and the Philippines, another invitee, are responsible for “unlawful or arbitrary killings.” Not making the cut are Hungary, a member of the European Union, and Turkey, a NATO ally, both of which have seen their democratic safeguards crumble in recent years.”   At a time when  America  should be promoting libertarian democracy, it seems to favor those nations that favor the Biden political agenda and ignores others. See ttps://www.washingtonposht.com/politics/biden-democracy-autocracy-summit/2021/12/06/67558116-56ad-11ec-929e-95502bf8cdd5_story.html?utm_,


China has claimed to be a democracy, but was not invited to Biden’s Summit for Democracy.   “China [has claimed it] is as much a democracy as the United States. After China was excluded — along with Russia and other nations deemed autocratic from Biden’s “Summit for Democracy” this week, Chinese state media, think tanks and officials have lined up to take potshots at the event.  Aside from mudslinging and off-color humor, the campaign also betrays Beijing’s desire to redefine international norms and present its controlling, one-party political system as not just legitimate but ideologically superior to liberal multiparty democracies.

Global rankings of national democratic institutions regularly label China as an autocracy. The V-Dem Institute, based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, ranked China 174th out of 179 countries on its liberal democracy index in 2020. (In the same year, the United States fell to 31st place from 20th in 2016 and 3rd in 2012.) A white paper released over the weekend by the State Council Information Office, titled “China: Democracy That Works,suggested that Xi’s recently coined “whole-process people’s democracy” was a legitimate inheritor of the ancient Greek ideal of citizen rule.

The weakening of democratic norms in the United States has emboldened Beijing’s propagandists to be more determined to present the party as building a coherent and superior system of governance. After China and Russia’s ambassadors to the United States jointly opposed the democracy summit as the product of a “Cold War mentality,” Pakistan, one of China’s closest diplomatic and military partners, announced on Wednesday that it would not take up an invitation to join.” Global rankings of national democratic institutions regularly label China as an autocracy. The V-Dem Institute, based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, ranked China 174th out of 179 countries on its liberal democracy index in 2020. (In the same year, the United States fell to 31st place from 20th in 2016 and 3rd in 2012.) See https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/democracy-summit-china-biden/2021/12/10/147d8ee0-5737-11ec-8396-5552bef55c3c_story.html?utm_.


In commenting on the moral dysfunction of democracy in the American Congress, Catherine Rampell has said that “No one in their right mind would design a government that works like ours.” See  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/12/09/no-one-their-right-mind-would-design-government-that-works-like-ours/?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_.


Statista has provided a chart showing the evolution of America as a Fragile Democracy.  See  https://www.statista.com/chart/26345/share-of-world-population-living-in-a-democracy/?utm_source=Statista+Newsletters&utm.



Saturday, December 4, 2021

Musings on How Universal Heterodox Beliefs Promote Religious Reconciliation

         By Rudy Barnes, Jr., December 4, 2021


Heterodox beliefs question orthodox beliefs that ignore reason and advances in knowledge and reason and that claim supremacy over other religions.  Both orthodox Christianity and Islam assert that their religion is the only means of salvation and condemn all others.  In a world of increasing religious diversity, such exclusivist orthodox beliefs prevent peaceful coexistence. 

The greatest commandment to love God and to love our neighbors of other races and religions as we love ourselves is a universal heterodox belief. It was taken from the Hebrew Bible, taught by Jesus and accepted by Islamic scholars as a common word of Faith.  It can reconcile exclusivist beliefs, but its universality makes it heterodox to Christianity.


Jesus was a maverick Jew who never asserted his divinity or promoted the supremacy of any religion, but he alienated his own religious leaders with his heterodox teachings summarized in the greatest commandment.  If Jews, Christians and Muslims could give those universal teachings priority over exclusivist beliefs, then religious reconciliation is possible.


Tribalism has shaped America’s political and religious culture and reflects the moral conflict between exclusivist tribal values and universal values.  A healthy democracy requires altruistic values that promote the common good.  Religion is the primary source of moral values in America, but most churches promote exclusivist beliefs that conflict with the common good.


If we consider Judaism, Christianity and Islam as religious tribes, each tribe needs a universalist clan to promote their reconciliation.  Exclusivist Christian doctrines on salvation were initiated by Paul, not Jesus, who never equated himself with God and taught that God’s will was to reconcile and redeem people of all religions, or of no religion, as children of God. 


There are many differences in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and many variations within each religion.  Religious conflict is not caused by religious differences per se but by exclusivist beliefs that God favors one religion over all others.  For Jews, Christians and Muslims to be reconciled they must believe that God does not favor one religion over others.


There is every reason to promote religious reconciliation and peaceful coexistence, but also every reason to be skeptical of it succeeding.  Religions are social institutions that promote exclusivist beliefs in mystical concepts of God that defy reason and science and promise eternal life; and religions measure their success by the number of believers.  


Traditional Christianity and Islam have long promoted exclusivist salvation, so that religious leaders will likely oppose any efforts to promote universalist heterodox beliefs.  Religious reconciliation will be a formidable challenge since it requires a transition from exclusivist to universalist beliefs; but it’s needed to promote peaceful coexistence in a world of increasing religious diversity.        

     


Notes:


The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Essence of Legitimacy is an interfaith study guide based on the moral teachings of Jesus selected by Thomas Jefferson.  The Introduction relates the greatest commandment to religious reconciliation, human rights and justice.  It’s posted at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/p/resources.html


Additional commentary on Christian universalism and heterodox beliefs:

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason                         http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2014/12/religion-and-reason.html

(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/religion-and-new-beginnings-salvation.html

(2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/02/promoting-religion-through-evangelism.html

(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/02/is-religion-good-or-evil.html

(4/5/15): Seeing the Resurrection in a New Light

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/seeing-resurrection-in-new-light.html

(4/19/15): Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logoshttp://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html

(1/2/16): God in Three Concepts

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/god-in-three-concepts.html

(1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/religion-and-reason-redux-religion-is.html

(1/28/17): Saving America from the Church

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/saving-america-from-church.html

(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/04/the-relevance-of-jesus-and-irrelevance.html

(6/17/17): Religious Exclusivity: Does It Matter?   http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/religious-exclusivity-does-it-matter.html.

(7/22/17): Hell No! 

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/07/hell-no.html.

(8/5/17): Does Religion Seek to Reconcile and Redeem or to Divide and Conquer?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/08/does-religion-seek-to-reconcile-and.html.

(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/08/the-universalist-teachings-of-jesus-as.html.

(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/09/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(10/6/18): Musings on Moral Universalism in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-moral-universalism-in.html.

(10/13/18): Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-common-word-of-faith-and.html.

(12/1/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Mystical Logos

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(12/15/18): Musings on the Great Commission and Religious and Political Tribalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-on-great-commission-and.html.

(3/16/19): Musings on the Evolution of Christian Exclusivism to Universalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/03/musings-on-evolution-of-christian.html.

(4/20/19): Musings on the Resurrection of Altruistic Morality in Dying Democracies

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/04/musings-on-resurrection-of-altruistic.html.

(5/11/19): Musings on the Relevance of Jefferson’s Jesus in the 21st Century

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/05/musings-on-relevance-of-jeffersons.html.

(5/25/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Divinity and Moral Teachings of Jesus

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/05/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(6/22/19): The Universal Family of God: Where Inclusivity Trumps Exclusivity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/06/the-universal-family-of-god-where.html

(6/29/19): Musings on a Politics of Reconciliation: An Impossible Dream?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/06/musings-on-politics-of-reconciliation.html

(7/20/19): Musings on Diversity in Democracy: Who Are Our Neighbors? 

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/07/musings-on-diversity-in-democracy-who.html.

(8/3/19): Musings on the Dismal Future of  the Church and Democracy in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-on-dismal-future-of-church-and.html  

(8/31/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Politics of Christian Zionism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(9/7/19): Musings on the Self-Destruction of Christianity and American Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/09/musings-on-self-destruction-of.html.

(10/26/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Discipleship in a Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/10/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(11/16/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Irrelevance of Morality in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_16.html.

(11/23/19): Musings on Jesus and Christ as Conflicting Concepts in Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-on-jesus-and-christ-as.html.

(1/11/20): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christians as a Moral Minority

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/01/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(2/22/20): Musings on Why All Politics and Religion Are Local (and not Universal)

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/02/musings-on-why-all-politics-and.html

(4/4/20): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of America’s Values

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(12/23/20): Musings on the coming of a light that can dispel the darkness of the world.

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/12/musings-on-coming-of-light-that-can.html.

(1/2/21): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Making a Covenant with God for the New Year

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/01/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-making.html.

(1/16/21): Truth and Reconciliation in Politics and Religion in a Maze of Conflicting Realities

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/01/truth-and-reconciliation-in-politics.html.

(5/22/21): Musings on Morality and Politics and the Need for a Civil Religion in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/05/musings-on-morality-and-politics-and.html.

(6/5/21): Musings on Why Socialism is no Substitute for Altruism in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/06/musings-on-why-socialism-is-no.html.

(10/9/21): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Relevance of Jesus Today

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/10/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(11/6/21): Musings on the Need for Political and Religious Reconciliation in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/11/musings-on-need-for-political-and.html.