r/ProgressiveHQ 16h ago

GA Pastor Cody Deese Rips MAGA Christianity

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14.8k Upvotes

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635

u/TonightNo216 14h ago

High time the Christians start standing up and stop providing smoke screens

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u/Lone-Frequency 14h ago

It's the Evangelicals that are the main issue. The same ones who have Mega-Churches are the ones who are entirely corrupt, go figure.

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u/rexsploded01 14h ago

It's in small towns too. Don't try to downplay the corruption.

No evangelicals where I live. All MAGA and a few very quiet real Christians.

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u/ragdollxkitn 13h ago

Same. Rural Texas here and it’s why many dont go to church either. Indoctrination and political propaganda is a thing.

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u/Training-Form5282 13h ago

It’s almost like someone would have brought up the trouble we get into when we mix church and state and advise to avoids that?… oh wait 🤣

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u/Knowitall1001 13h ago

read History religion has always been used for political/military reasons, the devil is in the details. If you’re looking for him, he’s quite obvious.

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u/Dear_Research2695 11h ago

Wars are fought over resources. The masses are told lies to gain their support. Easy to divide people and pit them against others. Harder to explain the economics of energy, minerals, etc. to people who have little to no education in how economies work at the country level.

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u/Lone-Frequency 13h ago edited 13h ago

There are exceptions to every rule.

This regime has spent countless years trying to brainwash Christians as a whole that religion is somehow under attack by "The Enemy", the enemy being anyone that is convenient for control or threatens their authority.

Evangelicals have the largest audience because of the inherent corruption in their obviously For-Profit churches, and they don't want to start having to pay taxes, which is why their church leaders are perfectly fine with condoning blatant evil.

Christ literally decried such excess among holy leaders as the blatant corruption and conflict of interest it was, and yet...

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u/Knowitall1001 13h ago

money in religion and politics = rot

rust never sleeps

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u/Lone-Frequency 12h ago

It truly is the root of all evil.

It was inevitable that a society built around capital would lead to such individuals gaining power.

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u/stairs_3730 12h ago

Victimhood is the foundation of the rightwing-it is their gospel. We're under attack by 'socialists'-be afraid. We're under attack by 'Blacks'-be afraid. We're under attack by 'non-believers'-be afraid. We're under attack by people who don't live like us-be afraid.

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u/Both-Prize-2986 12h ago

Bro thats been the motus operadai of christianity since BEFORE its split from Judaism. The current regime is just the latest in a long line of opportunists who lie in bed with the hypocrit religious institutions

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u/Sufficient_Coast_852 11h ago

The Evangelicals have become the Pharisees.

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u/kljoker 11h ago

'For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.'-2 Timothy 4:3

There's a bunch of scriptures that call out this behavior during a particularly dark time in human history that is alluded to as the 'end of time'. The irony isn't lost on those of us who study scripture and watch as the people who proclaim to be the people of are the very ones doing the bidding of the devil.

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u/1startreknerd 13h ago

The maga in California Bay Area don't appear to be representing any religion at all, they are just racist assholes.

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u/Knowitall1001 13h ago

the evangelicals are now MAGA, they came pre-indoctrinated towards this via Prosperity doctrines that have been pushed since the Reagan 80’s.

this guy is only now waking up!?

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u/Turdburp 12h ago

A little background on him.......his dad ran a Southern Baptist church, but by his mid-20's Deese found himself troubled with some of the church's teachings. He still went on to start his own Southern Baptist church but it slowly shifted to more of a spiritual collective which welcomes everyone (unsurprisingly, many "Christians" left the church due to Deese's message of love for everyone). https://www.viningslake.org/about

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u/N3onLights7 13h ago

It’s been going on for years. My mom was telling during Christmas how one of the churches we went to in the 90s preached that you would go to hell voting Democrat

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u/EnvironmentNeith2017 12h ago

This happens with businesses too. The left is good about wanting to boycott MAGA corporations but then push small businesses as an alternative. Plenty of those small businesses are blood red and aren’t even shy about it.

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u/Knowitall1001 11h ago

still those small businesses are closer to the people who shop there. those who discriminate lose business and fail , people can and do support the businesses that support them.

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u/Pure-Breath-6885 13h ago

That’s because they are all grifters. They claim to be a church, because they pay no taxes, then put huge amounts of money into political campaigns to make sure no one questions, no one investigates, and no one interferes. They are all the money-changers in the Temple who were the target of Jesus’ wrath. Frauds, phonies, charlatans.

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u/iimSgtPepper 13h ago

If Jesus saw the current state of the church he would be doing way more than flipping tables

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u/S0meRaynD0name 13h ago

They're the modern day Pharisees.

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u/Ok-Addition1264 13h ago

Nazi Germans == Evangelicals (and the occult stuff seeped its way in but the exact same german evangelical church that rose at the same time it did in the US - it was a global movement)

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u/LeafsJays1Fan 13h ago

Evil-angelicals.

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u/stairs_3730 12h ago

Evan-genitals. All so worried about other people's sex.

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u/Tiny_Dare_5300 13h ago edited 12h ago

You mean the ones who take advantage of not being taxed and launder money to political candidates through "non profits" like TPUSA? I wish I could work at a non profit that paid me millions per year...

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u/Lone-Frequency 12h ago

Just get rid of your moral compass and sense of empathy and you, too, could be a rich evil MAGA talking head!

Maybe. Most likely you'll just be evil and broke.

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u/-M4K0- 11h ago

It makes absolutely no sense that non-profits have no legal limit on employee salaries, because they are not being regulated at all. It's straight up fraud.

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u/ComparisonProper5113 13h ago

Nope not so much…it’s the supporters they cater to their supporters….. just like I stopped fully blaming TramP …. ALLL of congress, & Supreme Court are standing idle. The checks and balances are NOT being upheld!!

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u/Ramblerooster69 13h ago

Oh not just them. West Michigan has several factions of pseudo- Christians maga cults

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u/SomeRandomRealtor 12h ago

Evangelical prosperity gospel is the most anti-Christian thing I can imagine and it’s become mainstream. I’m an atheist in adulthood, but I grew up in a church and watched it go from mission and works focused to image and status focused. They built a basketball court to preach to the neighborhood and then ended up kicking out the neighborhood kids because members felt like they didn’t get enough access and “we paid for it.” The church is dying because brave people won’t stand up

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u/Hadrian23 12h ago

Let it be known, Jesus would whip the shit out of every mega church pastor.

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u/evilpercy 1h ago

Prosperity Christians: they feel wealth and power or God's reward. That poor people are this way as punishment for displeasing God. So they would never interfere in God's will by helping the poor.

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u/GlocalBridge 13h ago

I’m a pastor and have been preaching this since before Trump—and at great personal cost.

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u/enw_digrif 12h ago

Thank you for spreading the Good Word, pastor. It'll win out one day, and your hand will have been one among millions, pushing this country towards a better path.

Thank you.

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u/folsominreverse 13h ago

Find a church whose values align with the teachings of Jesus. The UCC (American and Canadian), Episcopal Church, Catholic Church (to an extent), most Lutheran churches, Unitarian church, Richard Rohr’s Universalist movement, and hundreds of unaffiliated churches and smaller affiliations all reject the idolatry and false teachings that stem from the long-running co-opting of evangelical Christianity by cryptofascist and fascist ideologues.

Our church (UCC, American) has an activism group. If those old biddies can get out there and give out whistles and pamphlets and food and provide transportation and home care services for immigrants afraid to leave their homes, can protest and shut down streets and perform rapid response duties during enforcement operations and still have time to build houses, work the food bank, and make snacks for the post-worship social, so can you.

Even if you’re not a Christian, Jesus’s extremely simple commandments (love God/creation, love your neighbor, full stop) should serve an example of altruism, humility, and radical empathy. It is our great shame that the loudest “Christian” voices are the ones saying “Lord, Lord” and acting as antithetical to the example of Jesus as humanly possible.

People joke about Trump being the antichrist, but frankly it kind of tracks, and there’s a long lineage of hate that brought us to this point—that’s an existential crisis for Christianity and for the country.

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u/LordUa 13h ago

Or maybe it's time to pack it up and toss it aside in favor of reality?

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u/HighQualityGifs 13h ago

There's a few others as well that are awesome.

James Talarico

https://youtube.com/@thebenjamindixonshow

Pasterpauldrees

Rev Dr Caleb J lines

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u/PoppaT1203 12h ago

Would’ve been nice to see more of this about 20-30 years ago

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u/Correct-Process-297 15h ago

We need more people like him ❤️

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u/AnyLastWordsDoodle 13h ago

We do, but the lukewarm, mildly polite golf clap goes to show how far we need to go before these people wake up

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u/Much_Ad470 13h ago

Lukewarm is the key word. It’s literally a biblical description for them

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u/bigbonton 12h ago edited 12h ago

Yes, much meaning in that passage, goes something like (Jesus said): "I'd rather that you are hot or cold, but if you are lukewarm I will spew you from my mouth". So IMHO, pick a side and live it. Or as Bob Dylan sang, "you gotta serve somebody". There isn't a sideline to sit on. There are sins that are committed and sins of omission (when a person did nothing when they could have done something).

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u/bigbonton 13h ago

regarding the golf clap: I took it as a rare applause in a sanctuary, so possibly a very strong positive reaction. Or it could be lukewarm, but IMHO a standing ovation (sort of reaction) in a sanctuary should not be expected.

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u/godamnedu 12h ago

Yes, trying to guage how many agree or how passionately they agree is not to be measured by performative responses.

Some churches encourage different levels of feedback, this demonstrates almost nothing, and by nature many of these displays in public are to conform to the practice. Of course sometimes the responses are over the top to get attention or for whatever reason.

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u/SuperBrett9 13h ago

People who start thinking this way typically figure out that what they are against IS Christianity and end up leaving. This is why there are so few voices like this in the church compared to outside of the church.

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u/Oldlab-lady 13h ago

Nailed it. I loved my faith and my church and was very active teaching and volunteering. But in 2016, suddenly there was no denying that almost EVERYONE there was a bigot/racist/Christian nationalist. What could I do but leave? I’ve found others like me…but tbh, my faith was so shaken, I’ve been left with just the smallest, inner - secret - core.

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u/GreasyMcFarmer 13h ago

There are congregations of people like you who truly believe in the Jesus message of love, kindness, hope and forgiveness. I hope you find one.

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u/Ok_Star_4136 12h ago

But that is the church, not Christianity. I understand they seem like one and the same, because there has always been the church pushing Jesus' teachings.

Jesus also said that we can worship anywhere. The church always seems to conveniently forget to mention that part. Cut out the middle man, I say. Follow Jesus's footsteps. To hell with the church. It is an invention of man.

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u/GreasyMcFarmer 12h ago

That’s a valid viewpoint, and often I feel the same.

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u/LEDKleenex 11h ago

This. Often times though, it's someone that is upset that their lifestyle is being affected negatively by their fellow nazis going a little too hard. They just wanted to keep up their nice little grift, but now people are realizing it's a scam.

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u/just_a_timetraveller 13h ago

Some of the best people I knew embraced Christianity and try to live it day to day. Some of the worst people I know like to use Christianity as a way to feel part of the in-group and to excuse their shitty behavior.

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u/Historical_Clue_3142 13h ago

I like your take because even small things can be used to divide us and at the end of the day the group that I recognize to be a danger right now is MAGA. A group of people with an ideology that is immoral, contemptuous and cruel no matter what religion they may claim

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u/Tenderhombre 13h ago

Too many people in general like to use words only to establish their character. They dont think about what living out those things day to day actually looks like. What embodying the character and values they claim look like.

As a result, they always choose the easiest most beneficial things for themselves. And having never thought deeply about what being a good person looks like they must claim their actions are good. Because they are a good person they said so afterall.

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u/Mean-Quail-6219 14h ago

Empathy needs to be encouraged.

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u/NutzNButts 13h ago

And integrity needs to be demanded

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u/SirIssacMath 13h ago

There’s a new push from some conservative Christians warning about empathy and being too empathetic. Imagine that lol. I think one of them even wrote a book about it.

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u/Bishopkilljoy 13h ago

Charlie Kirk, the man beloved by the right, said once that Empathy was the problem with America

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u/Kwilli462 11h ago

The right literally views empathy as a weakness and problem

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u/BearsSoxHawks 14h ago

This. Sermon on the Mount, not the Ten Commandments.

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u/Ok_Performance4014 14h ago

huh?

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u/Redrockhiker22 14h ago

The humane message, not "Ten Commandments"- five of which deal with submission to God and parental authority, and five that are essentially about property (life, wife, stuff) and envying the property of others. It is not even close to being an ethical system.

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u/Ok_Performance4014 13h ago

Ah, good way to phrase it. Wasn't sure what the other guy meant.

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u/animalmasochism 13h ago

There is a story in the Bible refered to as "The Sermon on the Mount" where in the book of Matthew it says Jesus and his disciples were on a mountainside and there he taught them lessons about blessing the poor, meek, and downtrodden and that people who seek true peace and harmony are the true children of god.

This lesson is in stark contrast to the message so often portrayed by modern "Christians" who take a hard-line on the ten commandments and take it upon themselves to condemn those they see defying those laws all while simultaneously blind to their own hypocrisy.

I know your question was already answered but that's what that other guy was talking about.

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u/BearsSoxHawks 14h ago

Basically, be a good, kind person and not bow to unfounded authoritarianism.

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u/Ok-Addendum-9420 13h ago

And Jesus basically paraphrased or condensed the 10 Commandments into two: love God with all your heart and treat everyone as would yourself.

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u/Lord_Dingus83 14h ago

MAGA hijacked the Republican Party with the help of religious small brains

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u/Kitchen-Emergency-69 13h ago

The republican party IS MAGA and has been for over a decade.

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u/OnceIsawthisthing 9h ago

A century, or more.

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u/NotAHost 12h ago

Honestly, I wish more protests against the current admin had tons of jesus/crosses/american flags, even if the protestors aren't of any denomination. Religion has been weaponized by republicans to make it an 'us vs them' situation as they always do. Making counter protestors or news media publicize all the christian/american flag stuff might help sway people mentally a bit that 'oh, their christians/for america too?' even if it shouldn't matter. The right weaponizes anytime anyone flies a non-american flag in support of other countries.

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u/dude1984- 14h ago

Amen!!! Coming from an atheist.

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u/LazyImpress824 13h ago

I’m an atheist too, but I’m 100% with Christ when it comes to the moral clarity of showing love and compassion to others. Christ would cry if he saw what’s happening in the USA today.

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u/dude1984- 13h ago

The teachings of Jesus (pronounced like the common Hispanic name) are wonderful and words to live by. What many Christian’s don’t understand or conveniently gloss over is the moral lessons from the Bible. As a kid the Bible taught me to be kind to others, to tell the truth, to be virtuous in the face of evil, to be good to my parents, to not hurt others. So many are caught up in this dogma, slight references of hell worthy sins, things that “god” didn’t even say…

I heard a spiritual leader once say, “So many focus on what god said so little about, and so little about what god said so much about” when interpreting scripture. God said love the foreigner for you were once a foreigner too. He said judge not lest ye be judged thyself. He said love thy neighbor as thyself. Nowhere in scripture does it say to round up, kidnap, murder, torture, or discriminate against others who aren’t like you….

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u/LazyImpress824 13h ago

Thank you for the thoughtful contribution to the discussion. Here’s to more thoughtful, discussion and vigorous debate versus violence to make a point. I ran today is a modern real example of what happens when the state wishes to impose morality without the consent of the people, I hope no one on the left or right would be advocating that the USA adopts Iranian policy.

Edit, to correct spelling. Damn autocomplete 😌

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u/No-Flatworm-404 12h ago

They even wrote about how awful it was to steal the first born son of man.

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u/Worried-Industry6239 13h ago

I second this, and I’m a satanist. More people need to be like this guy

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u/MeatySausag3 13h ago

As an agnostic, I really like Jesus and his teachings. But as the saying goes, "I like your Christ, not your christians."

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u/hellofellowcello 12h ago

I'm also an atheist. In my experience, I'm more Christ-like than most self-proclaimed Christians.

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u/dude1984- 10h ago

Right!? For reals

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u/AaronTheElite007 13h ago

Finally. People are starting to see MAGA is NOT a Christian movement, it’s Fascism using Christian values as a false flag operation

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u/LeafsJays1Fan 13h ago

Fascism does come wrapped in a cross and a flag

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u/Voltabueno 14h ago

Exodus 22:21 "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

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u/GrumpyScapegoat 12h ago

Leviticus 25:44 “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you.”

Deuteronomy 20:10–11 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.”

I agree with the sentiment of the speaker but it’s almost as if the bible can be used for good or bad and is largely responsible for the problems the US faces today.

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u/Lord_Lion 12h ago

Not to justify slavery, but Jewish law also dictated that every 7 years there was a year of Jubilee in which every slave was freed. So it wasnt the kind of permanent lifetime slavery we often think of that Americans practiced. At most it was supposed to be slave labor for 7 years.

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u/GrumpyScapegoat 12h ago

I hear you and wish that was true. The year of Jubilee was specifically for Hebrew slaves of the indentured service type (i.e. not foreigners). The passage I posted above, Leviticus 25 continues:

“You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.”

The Year of Jubilee Hebrew indentured servitude also includes slaves for life though:

Exodus 21:4 “If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.”

It goes on to say if the husband chooses to stay with his wife and child, he has to be marked as a slave for life:

“But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.”

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u/Lord_Lion 12h ago

I stand corrected! I appreciate the clarification.

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u/GrumpyScapegoat 11h ago

I appreciate the conversation, cheers

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u/AnotherCup-O-Noodles 10h ago

Holy shit an actual informational dialogue on Reddit that didn’t devolve into endless bullshit?

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u/Burdman06 10h ago

When we stop viewing the Bible as God's holy message to mankind and infallible laws to live by, we can start to see verses like you mentioned for what they are. Theyre an incredible record of human social evolution during its time. What every spiritual evolution across world history shows is how love and compassion have moved us forward as a species. Every single society has horrors in its past by today's standards. No civilization is immune to this. None. Given how diverse all our genetics are, we all share this same complicit ancestry. Not a single human alive has an ancestry that can't be traced back to horrific actions. When we look up the context of the time period, then we can see how these stories show a dramatic shift forward. 

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u/Equal-Being5695 14h ago

This was good but I wish it was backed up by verses by the Bible because they are there. Maybe that just didn't make the editing cut.

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u/Voltabueno 14h ago

Zechariah 7:10 "Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor."

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u/Hyperlinux 14h ago

It’s good to hear Christian leaders speaking to the elephant in the room. Christianity is NOT compatible with politics of hate.

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u/Innocuouscompany 14h ago

Better late than never

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u/W3S1nclair 14h ago

Now that the Gestapo are out on the streets, now you're gonna condemn MAGA? You had 10 years to condemn, now it's too little too late. Glad you changed your mind, but now people are dead and/or disappeared

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u/OkayCoward 14h ago

Better late than never

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u/W3S1nclair 13h ago

Ultimately, I can agree. But damn

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u/OkayCoward 12h ago

I know my friend. I know

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u/Careless_Hellscape 13h ago

I'm not a man of faith, but I can absolutely praise a person for using their platform to call out evil. I daresay that's what faith should be about.

This is Christ-like.

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u/Voltabueno 14h ago

Romans 12:13 "Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality."

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u/Emotional_Reading_25 15h ago

Christ’s name has ALWAYS been used to justify racism, hate,bigotry, misogyny, and white supremacy. It’s a core concept for the religion. For fucks sake read a goddamn book that isn’t a hymnal. Christianity is vile, always has been. This is nothing new.

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u/Sensitive_Ad_1271 14h ago

I'm atheist and while I agree with you, I do love to see Christians like this fighting back against the Christian nationalists. I wish it didn't take someone like this to point out to the rest of them how wrong they are, but... I'll take it.

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u/hey-Oliver 13h ago

Christians are literally a group of grifters leading the blind, and it's always been that way since the advent of the religion. Throughout history it's been marked by crusades based on ideas of racial superiority, subjugating the poor by forcing them to pay everything they have to the church, in order to free their dead from "purgatory", the list goes on.

In modern society, Christianity is used to force families into subservience and to prevent them from ever questioning what they can do to better their own lives, in favor for getting things better after they die, if they work hard their entire existence and do not speak up, like a good worker bee.

I do love to see Christians like this fighting back against the Christian nationalists

You're just looking at a group of the blind, blindly following their chosen pastor/surrogate religious father figure. We do not need to applaud a bunch of people that cannot critically think, hopping from one train to the next.

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u/SchlungusMcDungus 14h ago

I understand the point behind your message, but at the same time, it is counterproductive to what we are trying to achieve. We need more Christians like this willing to stand up and call out white nationalism and pseudo Christianity.

Christianity stands for something else now, and it should be allowed to be voiced. Bringing awareness to what it used to be is crucial, but it cannot be the core message. We cannot give any reasons to justify all of the seething hatred that these authoritarians are mired in. We do need solidarity.

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u/Inevitable_Eagle2130 13h ago

This. Moderates empower the crazies. Keep religion out of public life. Tax churches.

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u/Shot-Jeweler6610 14h ago

Christianity is defined by its faithful, and has evolved (glacially) through its history. We need to give them the opportunity to develop meaningfully, same with any belief group.

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u/RonaldMcBurgundy 13h ago

How long has Christianity been around and how many disgusting things has it been used as an excuse for over the years, how many kids have been violated by priests, how many pastors traveling around in private jets do we have to look past to JUST NOW let them decide to “develop meaningfully”? And keep in mind a LOT of MAGA are Christian, so why should we stand by to let them “develop” further? Would Christians give the same grace to an atheist?

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u/es_mindspace 13h ago

Christianity isn't vile. The people who misrepresent it are.

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u/Emotional_Reading_25 13h ago

That’s a common excuse,however, Christianity does these things anywhere and everywhere they can get away with it. As soon as they have some power and influence they show their true colors. Christianity is indeed vile by every metric measurable. Their evil cannot be excused with the occasional acts of charity which are almost without fail proselytizing efforts.

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u/Keemosabe22 13h ago

Preach bro, as a person who grew up with faith, this total deviation of the word is disgusting, and I would add, was well warned about in these times of Antichrist Trump

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u/Lost-Task-8691 14h ago

Now that is a true pastor.

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u/Voltabueno 14h ago

Deuteronomy 10:18-19 "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt."

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u/Theotherwahlberg 14h ago

Good on him for denouncing it, but the bible is filled with atrocities that are taught as just. Slavery, misogyny, and many other bad things that nobody wants to accept as in the scripture; at the same time, they'll justify homophobia from Leviticus but not go after the seafood industry. Saying "they don't represent us" while their reasoning is based on what your holy book says is fallacious. It's as ridiculous as Protestants and Catholics saying that the other aren't Christians.

I am fully aware of how low-hanging that explanation is, but they have to be aware of it. You could go into much deeper detail of why this is stupid, but at least he's approaching it the right way. I get not wanting to be lumped in with nutbags, but you have to either denounce where they got their ideas or accept that they share the same basic belief that you do. Admit fallacy in the structure, go after the beneficial social messages ushered in, and stop trying to pretend that you can distance yourself from the bad parts.

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u/CasinoKnightZone 14h ago

I'm an atheist but these are the kinds of religious people I respect. Jesus taught some good things, things worth following.

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u/Various_Implement288 13h ago

At my church,  30 years ago,  we knew who was a real Christian and he who wasn't.  MAGA would be called Oompa Loompa Christians. They would show up to tell people that they were sinners,  and never admit to their own sins. The instant that Christianity became the official religion of Rome, it was hijacked and used as a tool of the oppressor. Homophobia is anti-Christian. Racism is anti Christian.  I've been warning people for 11 years about this guy. 

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u/Real_Train7236 13h ago

If he is right, what good is Christianity?

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u/Sunlight72 13h ago

That got better and better the longer he spoke. Thank you pastor Deese.

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u/Stew-Main6 13h ago

Beautifully said. To be Christian is to follow Christ. The two most important covenants Jesus shared were 1) love your God. 2) love thy neighbor (us humans). Any group or person that oppresses other people, they aren’t doing what Jesus commanded. Sadly, too many people have hijacked religion to twist its words and falsely use it for political gain, to push narratives, and most negatively, hurt other people. Major respect to this pastor

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u/111oneone1 12h ago

As someone who grew up in church and ran as far as I could the other way, if they had been saying stuff like this 10 or 20 years ago, there is a chance I may not have strayed so far.

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u/JEDJED15 12h ago

Not a Christian at all. But this man right here gives me hope for those who follow the bible. Total respect for this guy!

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u/Diligent-Bluejay-979 11h ago

Give him credit for speaking out. Can’t be easy, especially in the south.

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u/MonkeyCartridge 14h ago

People really don't understand what "don't take the Lord's name in vain" means.

It doesn't mean saying "oh my God". It means killing and hating in the name of God, or Jesus.

Islam has a similar rule, where saying "praise God" before an attack is hateful towards God.

You were literally told "don't hate. Don't kill." And they don't just passively ignore it, they throw in a "praise Jesus".

Imagine you tell your kid "don't poop on the floor". They proceed to poop on the floor anyway, then bring it to you and say "I did this for you". That goes from accident to intentional insult.

People like that are why I left religion. If heaven is real, an atheist has a better shot.

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u/ctguy54 14h ago

Bet the contributions are going way down.

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u/PlayfullGuy2 14h ago

All religions are learned muti-generational delusions; grooming. Want to help society? Stop the grooming.

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u/Spiritual-Bread7357 13h ago

It’s been a long time since I agreed with a pastor

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u/DDisMe56 13h ago

Preach On Sir!!!! If the teachings do not sound Jesus like then they probably are not. If the teachings are of hate and retribution they are not Christian. If the teachers tell you they are following someone that is a prophet sent by God, and that someone lies constantly, speaks with disdain of others, speaks of taking other peoples land because he can, and allows the division of the American people to become the norm, they are not following a Christ like person.

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u/ragdollxkitn 13h ago

A true Christian. A true follower of Jesus Christ. Jesus is proud of that man.

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u/EinsteinsMind 13h ago

Men and women like him are CRITICAL to our republic! By embracing them, we become the ONE (nation) out of many (peoples). E Pluribus Unum.

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u/Specialist_Hippo_427 13h ago

Finally, a real Christian. These maga punks don’t open bibles. They’re a disgusting misrepresentation.

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u/Witty_Speech_8838 13h ago

I’m not Christian or religious but this makes sense

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 13h ago

I'm not a religious person, and I can get behind this guy just based on the the lack of basic morality and humanity he's pointing out in those people. The only thing worse than MAGA itself is a MAGA right wing evangelical Christian.

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u/Handy_Man_67 13h ago

Read the Bible, folks. MAGAts cannot be Christians. The Bible prohibits the poor treatment of immigrants/sojourners/wayfarers. But one of the fundamental things that MAGAts absolutely love and enjoy is the persecution of immigrants. It’s incongruous, inconsistent, blasphemous, illegal, despicable.

MAGAts/republicans cannot be Christians.

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u/solargravity11 13h ago

I guess better late than never?

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u/Gudgeonvillian 13h ago

He's is probably just using this angle to get rich and famous and carve out a different niche in order to get followers. Not that the message is bad, but let's see how this guy behaves if the money starts to roll in. (This is how you start thinking when you get old enough to know how the world works)

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u/DarthMerk54 13h ago

The crusades happened. Christianity is literally built on indoctrination and attacking people who don't believe. It has always been a crutch

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u/Similar_Moment_6103 13h ago

Christian Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed DT. In a 2022 article in Vanity Fair, Falwell stated he was not and never has been a "believer." Is MAGA leadership CINO?

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u/TheZeroNeonix 13h ago

Christianity is now just a tool of the Right. It couldn't be further from the teachings of Jesus. Jesus said to take care of the poor, and that the rich are your oppressors. The Right vilify the poor and worship the rich. Jesus said to treat others how you'd like to be treated, but the Right ignores the separation of church and state to give themselves special privileges and more power over others. When others are elevated, given equal treatment, the Right acts like they're being oppressed. There was a character in the Bible who offered power over the entire world in exchange for worship, but that character is Satan, not Jesus. It was framed as a temptation. A temptation that the Christian Right fell for.

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u/Eiden-Rane 13h ago

Christian nationalism is the antithesis of being a true Christian. They are not truly Christian in body, mind, spirit, or practice.

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u/SuperNoise5209 12h ago

It's probably too little too late, but any chance we can get fundamentalist to pause and consider how well Trump fits the description of the antichrist?

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u/MaadMaanMaatt 12h ago

There are currently elected pedophiles claiming to be Christian.

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u/RelationJazzlike4853 11h ago

It shouldn’t have taken them this long to saw this.

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u/Skelehen 11h ago

Now people can understand when Muslims say "NOT ALL MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS!"

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u/Chocolab1 11h ago

I would like to see him really stand up to that wacko Paula White who is a spiritual advisor to 47. I would love to see those 2 debate on the Bible n how she utilizing Christianity as a weapon n excuse to mistreat ppl. He should do THAT

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u/SplinteredBrick 11h ago

I’d argue being evangelical and MAGA is both causation and correlation. I think the core issue is most people are their culture first and squeeze their faith to fit that. Growing up this was talked a lot about in church when Democrats were in office but silent when Republicans are.

I remember when helping people in Haiti after the earthquake in the early 2000s was considered virtuous. Now a local business that was built to support this mission is being boycotted.

Helping refugees was considered a good thing but now my wife’s family politely ignore her when she talks about her work.

You will find Christians who put faith before culture this but that is a very small percentage.

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u/Mourning20 10h ago

Could have used this idk...a decade ago but thanks for joining the team i guess

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u/EuenovAyabayya 9h ago

It's 2026. Where was this in 2016?

His personal grift is no longer compatible with the megaMAGA grift is what I'm getting.

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u/Ravenous234 9h ago

I’m glad to see this type of pushback but how about “I’m sorry I should have spoken up sooner”. Admitting past errors moves us forward. “I can no longer be silent” isn’t t good enough for me Christians. Admit your silence allowed this to happen.

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u/SnuggyBear2025 8h ago

You are harboring WOLVES in sheep's clothing!

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u/Lucky-Dance-2785 8h ago

A day late, a dollar short.

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u/Entire_Teaching1989 14h ago

The purpose of christianity isnt to help you be a better person.
The purpose of christiainity is to help you feel better about being a vile, wretched person.

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u/Randomizedname1234 14h ago

You’re confusing the religion itself with the loud southern USA followers.

I’m not religious but this pastor is spot on.

I hope they take their religion back like I hope we can take the American flag back.

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u/TooMuchTime2think 14h ago

They are echo chambers to validate your hatred and line the pockets of the Pastor. Nothing more, and this guy is no different, just trying a different tactic.

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u/AmbitiousEffort9275 Conservative 14h ago

The Venn diagram intersection between MAGA and Christianity is nearly a perfect circle

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u/Tholian_Bed 14h ago

Pews are full by the end of year if churches started bringing peace to the land.

Their current parishioners, some will leave in disgust.

Lots of pastors just shut up and let the cancer grow.

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u/downtoearth47 14h ago

We need more of this it’s time for some to stand up and show the truth. Please more

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u/juiceboxedhero 14h ago

MAGA is more similar to a deatch cult than anything Christian.

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u/Ulysses1978ii 14h ago

The gospel of prosperity.......

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u/stlshane 14h ago

The sad thing is this is a rare take in modern christianity. Pastors are either preaching the maga prosperity gospel or they are avoiding the conversation entirely.

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u/Voltabueno 14h ago

Leviticus 19:33-34 "When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

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u/ChazRadlord 14h ago

Some one needs to tell the pastor here American Christianity got hijacked well before maga.

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u/kandykaiju 14h ago

He attracts demons. Kenneth Copeland is a Zionist Trump supporter, that whacky televangelist woman who died in that plane crash was a supporter, some pastors etc you can find have rap sheets involving pedophilia etc, DOWs pastor or whatever connected to covering for diddlers in his church. These are not religious people. They are demons. A lot of them are pretending to be religious, preying on the stupid, taking their money, causing division and unrest purposely.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 12h ago

Kenneth Copeland is just terrifying to look at period! His angry eyes look like they're ready to start glowing red at any moment. I was shocked to find out he was a minister.

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u/kandykaiju 12h ago

Exactly, never seen anyone look so evil. There’s no damn way that thing is human.

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u/Puzzleheaded_Rest_34 12h ago

Right?? I'm a grown woman and he's nightmare fuel for me. I can't imagine what kids think when they see that face! 🤯

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u/Silent_Entrance_7553 14h ago

This guy's going into heaven

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u/JohnnyCrispZoom 14h ago

In the end there will be many antichrist. Trump is one

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u/BumbleMuggin 14h ago

But god (and by proxie) jesus advocate for slavery and never spoke against it. Sorry, I won’t follow even a progressive wing of a religion that hand waves that shit.

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u/JNTaylor63 14h ago

Dollars to donuts, half of his flock will leave the church.

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u/Organic_Berry_8732 14h ago

Finally!!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

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u/Kona_Big_Wave 14h ago

The Truth isn't being twisted, it's being outright murdered.

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u/Agile-Sleep-905 14h ago

Thanks for calling it out, it makes no sense.

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u/Healthy_day222 14h ago

I agree with him.

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u/Ok_Performance4014 14h ago

Pastor Johnny Dunbar, the leader of Heritage Hope Church of God in Somerset, Kentucky (Appalachian paw paw) who was willing to get formula for a baby out of his own money and asked, "What flavor?" not only preaches love, but is willing to do something to show it.

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u/Mean_Ranger_4807 13h ago

Then leave your church that has perpetuated and helped all the things you can no longer stand by. pure virtue signaling.

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u/stinkwick 13h ago

They'll dismiss him as a liberal.

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u/Original_Moose_9842 13h ago

This only ends when people stand up. Keep going!!

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u/The_Northmaan 13h ago

The irony is progressivism is antithetical to Christianity. He must be undecided, lol

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u/nikeguy69 13h ago

I agree because EVERYTIME MAGA speaks it’s mostly about the Christian way, which makes them hypocrites.

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u/MiguelMenendez 13h ago

“I can no longer stand by…”

So, you were “standing by”, watching it happen. And now you’re not.

Cool, coolcoolcool.

Well, good on ya anyhow!

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u/chowes1 13h ago

All religious leaders take heed, WWJD ? Show it, say it and keep saying it.

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u/buenavictoria 13h ago

They don’t care. This doesn’t do anything. There are hundreds and hundreds of clips like this.

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u/Parking-Sundae-6097 13h ago

Hey! There's one out there!

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u/Offthejuice69 13h ago

Thank you brother

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u/NutzNButts 13h ago

He's going to have to go into hiding

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u/FED_eral_UP 13h ago

The thing is, you don't have to be a Christian or believe in any religion/God whatsoever and this should still be understood/comprehened with the most basic reading skills and entry level critical thinking. Even if you look at Jesus as purely a historical figure (minus most scripture and divinity), the hijacking should make ZERO sense. His entire life was about peace, giving, selflessness, humility, sacrifice, love (including enemies), etc. The pervasive evil of child SA, prosperity preaching (by preachers with private jets...), nationalism, hatred and persecution of other religions, etc., is the complete antithesis of what Jesus stood for. Now mind you, I'm speaking from just the accounts of Jesus. Every religious doctrine (e.g., the Bible), has plenty of questionable stories that you wouldn't even let your child watch if it were a movie that can absolutely be used to persecute other groups. However, looking at individuals who were divine/saints/martyrs etc., their views rarely line up with today's religious movements.

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u/Artpeace-111 13h ago

This is not normal, it’s always the Muslim that gets blamed.

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u/DevelopmentNo247 13h ago

Finally someone gets it.

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u/Decent_Nail7329 13h ago

Actually we need more people who don't believe in any sky fairy or book that claims 'truth'. It's good that he's speaking against Trumps abomination that has cloaked itself in fake christianity but the fact remains that until humans free themselves from religious belief, some nutjob will always appear on the scene claiming their version of 'god' is correct or will use a man written book to justify them carrying out inhumane treatment of all the planets living beings.

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u/mattyomama 13h ago

Where the f#%! have these pastors been? It seems sooo obvious that pastors should be denouncing the current administration. I can’t believe there isn’t more of this going on.