Rev. Benjamin Cremer
@brcremer.bsky.social
Pastor. Wesleyan. Writer. BA in Religion. MA in Spiritual Formation. MA in Theological Studies. Chronic student. Idahoan. Newsletter: https://benjamin-cremer.kit.com/profile?
Imagine claiming your god is behind powerful and wealthy people stripping food assistance, healthcare, USAID, environmental protections, food protections, terrorizing immigrants, and senseless wars, then getting so offended when people reject your god.
It is a broken presidency when behavior like this is normalized. It is a broken Christianity that supports a behavior like this being normalized. It is fascism when behavior like this is normalized.
Please pray for my community here in Idaho, especially Twin Falls and the families of those who were killed and injured in the mass shooting. Please speak out for common sense gun reform so that we don’t have to keep living through perpetual gun violence like this. Lord, have mercy.
My next newsletter "Resenting Generosity" is coming tomorrow. In it, I reflect on the Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers and how it challenges the grumbling we often hear from within Christianity when others, like immigrants, are shown generosity. Join here: benjamin-cremer.kit.com/profile
Rev. Benjamin Cremer
I have spent the majority of my life in Evangelical Christian spaces. I have experienced a lot of church hurt. I now write to explore topics that often are at the intersection of politics and Christia...
benjamin-cremer.kit.com
We are living in a time where many Christians are more offended by someone saying that the government should help feed and clothe children than they are about the government bombing and starving children all while claiming to be a “Christian nation.”
"I was hungry" and you cut SNAP. "I was thirsty" and you cut funding to ensure clean water. "I was sick" and you cut medicaid. "I was a stranger" and you deported me. "I was in prison" and you exploited me for cheap labor. "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do unto me."-Jesus
We are living in a time when advocating for children to not be starved and bombed is more controversial than starving and bombing children.
When you worship power, compassion will look like a sin.
Imagine the amount of propaganda it took to convince millions of people that healthcare, food assistance, social programs, clean water, clean air, good wages, housing, equal rights, diversity, and a healthy planet for all people was somehow a threat to America and to Christianity.
One of the most blatant forms of hypocrisy in our time is when Christians hold all ordinary people accountable to an extremely rigid set of moral standards, all while holding themselves and the president accountable to no standards at all.
Jesus’ harshest words in the gospels wasn’t towards prostitutes, other religions, or undocumented immigrants. Jesus’ harshest words were towards the rich and religious who used God’s words to justify exploitation and oppression. Yet many want us to believe the opposite.
If your definition of religious freedom only applies to Christianity, then you don't believe in religious freedom. You believe in fascism.
If our Christianity causes kids to go hungry, the sick to go without healthcare, the stranger to be unwelcome, the needy to be called "parasites," and our planet to be ravaged, all while billionaires get richer, we've profoundly misunderstood the most basic elements of Jesus' teachings.
Heartbreakingly, those who believe only those who believe and look like them here on Earth deserve the best also believe that way about heaven.
One of the most successful deceptions of our time was convincing many Americans and Christians to fear diversity more than racism, equality more than misogyny, democracy more than fascism, immigrants more than authoritarians, the poor more than corrupt billionaires and empathy more than cruelty.
The road to climate disaster is lined with billionaires and politicians telling you to calm down as they profit from pollution and pillaging the Earth.
It's always "America was founded on Christian principles!" until it comes to welcoming the immigrant, helping the poor, feeding the hungry, bringing healthcare to the sick, forgiving debts, caring for our planet, laying down our swords, or loving our neighbors.
“They should have just complied!” They did and they got killed anyway. “They should have just obeyed the law.” They were and they got killed anyway. “They should have come here legally!” They did and they got killed anyway.
Christian Nationalism looks like seeing Jesus being executed by Romans in broad daylight and saying, “he should have just obeyed the law.”
No one should be dying from immigration enforcement.
America has never been susceptible to communism. It has always been susceptible to fascism. Know your history. Know your context. Know smokescreens when you see them. The threat of communism has always been a smokescreen used by fascists in America.
The most successful political propaganda in our time was convincing millions of people that caring for others and the planet was somehow a threat to America.
My newsletter tomorrow is called, “Why I Stay Christian In A World Of Christian Nationalism.” In it, I look at the question many have asked about why I continue to be a Christian in the face of all the harm being caused under the banner of Christianity. Join here: benjamin-cremer.kit.com/profile?
Rev. Benjamin Cremer
I have spent the majority of my life in Evangelical Christian spaces. I have experienced a lot of church hurt. I now write to explore topics that often are at the intersection of politics and Christia...
benjamin-cremer.kit.com
One of the most blatant forms of hypocrisy in our time is when Christians hold all ordinary people accountable to the most rigid moral standards, all while holding themselves and their preferred politicians accountable to no standards at all.
A Christianity rooted in patriarchy will always define women first and foremost by their relationship to men. A Christianity rooted in the gospel of Jesus will see women first and foremost as human beings created in God's image. May we understand the difference.
If your God can’t succeed if women have equal rights, you are not worshiping God. You are worshiping misogyny.
One of the greatest deceptions of our time is the lie that universal healthcare and raising the minimum wage will somehow “cripple the economy” but billionaires not paying the same tax rate as the rest of us is somehow “healthy for the economy.”
