When it comes to church-state dynamics, Paul showed us the way by appealing to his citizenship in the Roman Empire while reserving his allegiance for Christ and His Kingdom. Sadly, Christian culture in the U.S. has taken another path. We suffer from a chronic condition of adjective-noun confusion. An adjective is a description. A noun is a source of identity. That distinction … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Laments the Existence of American Civil Religion
Patriotism
Beatnik Christianity Decries the Love + Violence That Is Patriotism
Love me a good patriotism quote. The Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, suggested, "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." The Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals, asked, "The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" The French Renaissance man, Blaise Pascal, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Decries the Love + Violence That Is Patriotism
Beatnik Christianity Minimizes the Use of “Ism”s As Pre-Packaged Ideologies
It's perturbing when people demand unconditional loyalty to their ideological "ism"s. I affirm traditional creedal orthodoxy, but distance myself from conservatism. I'm fond of the Anglican tradition, but want no part of the bureaucracy that is Anglicanism. I support nonviolence, but am leery of pacifism. I believe in gender equality, but am tentative about latching onto … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Minimizes the Use of “Ism”s As Pre-Packaged Ideologies
Beatnik Christianity Celebrates Racial Diversity
Jesus is King. His Kingdom is a transformative, counterculture movement for a peaceful world living into God’s perfect will for human flourishing. The principles undergirding this movement are love, truth, grace, compassion, forgiveness, hope, humility, justice, mercy, sustainability, redemption, and wisdom. It is a beautiful vision that transcends such barriers as sex, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Celebrates Racial Diversity
Beatnik Christianity Habitually Questions the Unquestionable
Living in Christian culture is like walking through an unmarked minefield. You might blissfully stroll through just fine, but if you do encounter a problem you'll never know about it until after the explosion. You see, Christians are supposed to anticipate the idiosyncratic and tribalist expectations of what's off-limits, especially regarding what questions are and aren't … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Habitually Questions the Unquestionable
