“As a Christian, I don’t think you can be both MAGA and Christian,” one person wrote in the comments of the video.

Two weeks ago, Jen Hamilton, a nurse with a sizable following on TikTok and Instagram, picked up her Bible and made a video that would quickly go viral.

“Basically, I sat down at my kitchen table and began to read from Matthew 25 while overlaying MAGA policies that directly oppose the character and nature of Jesus’ teachings,” she told HuffPost.

In the comments of the video ― which currently has more than 8.6 million views on TikTok ― many (Christians and atheists alike) applauded Hamilton for using straight Scripture as a way of offering commentary. Others picked a bone with Christians who uncritically support Trump.

    • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      16 days ago

      Most white evangelical Christianity is a cult as well, with beliefs that directly contradict their own scriptures.

      • mcv@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        16 days ago

        Most blatant is the “Prosperity Gospel”, which blatantly and directly preaches the polar opposite of what Jesus said explicitly several times.

        • ours@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          “Prosperity Gospel” seems such a copout for cult-leaders to justify getting rich on their congregation.

          So much for “eye of a needle”…

        • CalipherJones@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          Seeing prosperity gospel in action is crazy. They really chant shit like “give me the money now, give me the money now”. It’s really a money cult. Religion Americanized. As far away as one could get from Jesus really.

  • damdy@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    16 days ago

    I read about this story today and looked her up. Why do so many people watch her content? I genuinely couldn’t get through more than 30 seconds of anything she’s posted. Not that she’s a bad person, and I hold nothing against her personally, but it’s just utterly uninteresting to boredom. Like photos of food but of people.

  • Rookwood@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    15 days ago

    Jesus was definitely not liberal. He was a socially-conservative socialist. Pope Francis is probably a good modern example.

    • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      15 days ago

      I’m not sure that modern political terminology, especially with regards to something like socialism, really fits someone who predates even the invention of those words. Sure, you can find similarities, but you can’t always expect consistency with it in all their positions if the person in question got to those positions in a very different manner.

  • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    16 days ago

    There isn’t a meaningful difference between the most moderate Christians and the Accelerationist Doomsayers, the only difference is the random person who controls the flock and what ideology they force on the group.

    But if this gets idiots to shame religious people for falling for con men hopefully it does some good?

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      16 days ago

      You know the David Frum quote?

      “ If conservatives become convinced they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy.”

      That doesn’t just apply to democracy. It applies to religion, too. They were never believers in scripture or Jesus socialist-humanist teachings. They are blind adherents of authoritarianism, and that is ultimately all that matters. Everything else is a smoke screen.

      When you corner an authoritarian with “their own” scripture (which is very easy because very few actually know any of it, besides a few choice out-of-context snippets fed to them by their leaders), they will casually dismiss the entire conversation and walk away. Maybe they will say something like “even the devil can quote scripture”, without ever bothering to engage with the topic itself.

      • SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        16 days ago

        I also think it’s crazy how few American Christians understand to what level their ideology has been coopted by right wing extremists.

        Nixon, and then Reagan, worked with celebrity megachurch pastors to manufacture abortion and anti gay beleifs in churches as a wedge issue.

        Almost all political rhetoric from large churches since the 70s has been an attempt to create issues that Christians never had and then abuse their religious faith to maintain loyal and hateful voters for conservatives.

        And it worked.

  • Etterra@discuss.online
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    15 days ago

    Most “Christians” have never actually read their own handbook, and just stick with shit they’ve heard that reinforces their venomous beliefs.

  • MrSulu@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    15 days ago
    1. MAGA = Inhuman.
    2. Lives are saved by supporting this nurse in getting her fellow Christians to stop following MAGA twats.
    3. Now isn’t the time to dilute her impact by debating the pros and cons of various beliefs. We have a facist to beat.
    • nkat2112@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      Beautifully stated and thank you for the morning laugh!

      I hope you don’t mind if I quote you from time to time. Have a great day.

  • somehacker@lemmy.world
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    17 days ago

    The Bible is also abundantly clear about being misogynist and homophobic (even in the New Testament). Skipping over those parts gives an evil book/religion a pass. Fuck Christianity.

    • GingaNinga@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      its always been about power and control. A population in fear of eternal damnation is easier to manipulate.

    • Laser@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      I don’t think this thread is about whether the Bible is a valid moral/ ethical guideline nowadays, but rather if the actions of those who pretend to follow it match it. Which it doesn’t.

      • somehacker@lemmy.world
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        You seem to have missed my point. The Bible is the holy book for Christianity, and because it’s clear on things like homophobia and misogyny we can state that Christianity is pro those things. When people say that MAGA Christians are not behaving like real Christians, they are being dishonest and putting a pretty face on an evil thing. Their actions help keep the bronze age bullshit bad people use to justify their behavior around.

        I’m very tired of the general societal belief that Christianity is actually good and some people are just doing it wrong. Christianity is bad. Its effects on our society are bad. We would be better off if it (and religion in general) went away.

    • redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      The homophobia was likely a mistranslation. The misogyny isn’t though. It’s not evil in and of it’s self. It’s stupid and useful for controlling the stupid. Still fuck it but fuck the Baptists extra deep

      • somehacker@lemmy.world
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        “Likely” is a pretty strong statement when scholars aren’t in agreement (based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romans_1, I did not read a bunch of articles myself). Saying it’s not evil when it advocates for evil things doesn’t track for me, but it seems we’re on the same page about Christianity in general.

        • redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          17 days ago

          From my understanding of the argument the Leviticus line is probably wrong in the King James versions and the opposition are mostly against mistranslations existing conceptually. Haven’t read in a long while though. It’s a tool mostly bad people pick up. Those who seek power, etc, etc…

    • xyzzy@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      17 days ago

      In the New Testament, that stuff all comes from Paul. Paul was a conservative asshole. He was the first evangelical Christian, in both the historical and modern sense.

        • kromem@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          17 days ago

          Yep. It’s also kinda curious how many boxes Paul ticks of the comments about a false deceiver in 2 Thess 2.

          • Lawless? (1 Cor 9:20 - “though not myself under the law”)
          • Used signs and wonders to convert? (2 Cor 12:12 - “I did many signs and wonders among you”)
          • Used wickedness? (Romans 3:8 - "And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”?)
          • Proclaimed himself in God’s place? (1 Cor 4:15 - “I am your spiritual father”)
          • Set himself up at the center of the church? Well, the fact we’re talking about this is kinda proof in the pudding for his influence.

          Sounds like they were projecting a bit with that passage.

        • frezik@midwest.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          There’s a defensible argument that Paul invented Christianity. Jesus (whoever he was historically) does not appear to have intended to produce a separate religion from Judaism. Paul did that.

          It’s not a complete slam dunk, but even if you don’t buy it, it’s still very apparent that Paul was the central figure in shaping what Christianity would become.

  • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    17 days ago

    the problem with religion, and the reason it should be completely eradicated, is that you can spend your entire life trying to explain how one interpretation of the stone age holy book is “wrong,” while the other person does exactly the same thing with you, and there is no valid proof that either side is “right.” meanwhile people are killing each other over the whole thing. it’s all such fucking bullshit.

    it’s time for the human species to grow up and stop wasting time (not to mention lives) with religion

    • redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      You can do the same thing with philosophy or ethics. Check out The Good Place on Netflix or torrent. Chidi isn’t much different from some religious scholars

      • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        “I think, therefore I am…” “…gonna eradicate large portions of humanity through violence”

        -Descartes, full quote without omissions-

    • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      Meh. If social media served a purpose, to me, it was to show just how many dimwits are out there who will beg for someone to tell them what to do and how to act and what to think.

      You can take religion from them, but they won’t stop being gullible and lost, and they’ll just fall prey to the next scumbag with no scruples that comes along, be it a politician or some other con artist.

      The problem isn’t religion - it’s an excuse, a cover.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        Unfortunately, I think you are right.

        Even as we see adherence to xtianity slowly dying off, I’m not sure I am seeing evidence that people are getting any better at spotting logical fallacies and not falling under the spell of cults like donvict/qanon (and conservatism/Republicanism in general), Randroidism or being duped by ridiculous conspiracy theories. Which is weird, because even as it’s become nearly frictionless to do a quick check on something whether it’s by your favorite search engine or an LLM, it’s like people refuse to do exactly that, and instead wait for whatever their modern version of a guru (lying liars on Faux, Youtube feeds, IG, podcasts, etc…) tells them to think about the matter.

        As much as I hated the hot take from the bothsiderist types about the “new atheists” and claiming any atheism was just another religion ( 🙄 demonstrating they don’t really understand definitions ) I do think the South Park episode where they lampoon all of that was probably not too far from the mark…meaning the future part where there is a war between different factions of atheism…I mean, given the way the typical person approaches these things. It’s like some people really desperately want someone else to do all of their thinking for them.

      • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        edit-2
        17 days ago

        i see your point, but what “excuse” or cover is better, or even as effective, at hoodwinking people en masse into throwing away critical thinking and denying reality the way religion does? forcing people into a perpetual state of desire while also proclaiming those desires to be “evil” means your flock is saturated with guilt, fear, and shame, willing to do “gods will” in order to win infinite reward in the afterlife. after they die of course

        and of course “god’s will” is different for every person you ask, even within the same church

      • nieminen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        I agree in part. But most of these people are as gullible as they are BECAUSE of religion. They’re taught from birth to follow unquestioningly, and to trust their feelings over evidence. (I know, I was one) Without religion, then indoctrinating children wouldn’t be as easy or widespread.

        • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          They follow repressive religions because they’re suckers. But if they grew up in repressive religions, they are also taught to be suckers.

          Some are born stupid, some have stupidity thrust upon them.

          One thing that’s certain is that social progress that lessens the prevalence of brutal authoritarian parenting practices also leads to declining support for religion. So that’s definitely one long-term way to break the cycle.

  • the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    17 days ago

    I always laugh when I hear shit like this, there is an old german saying my father taught me. “When there are 9 Nazis at a table, and you go sit with them, there are 10 Nazis at the same table”.

    If you are sharing the same church with them then you are sharing the same ideology.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      16 days ago

      Start kicking these maga fucks out of your churches

      You say that, but when people start saying these MAGA fucks aren’t Christian the only response they get is “No True Scotsman. Anyone who claims they are a Christian is a Christian.”

      So they aren’t free to disassociate from the MAGA fucks and then are vilified for being associated with them. For all we know this nurse’s Church has kicked out these MAGA fucks, but the MAGA fucks go to a different unconnected church so this nurse is still accountable for them for some reason.

      • the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        16 days ago

        It’s very fucking easy to dissociate from those fuck sticks, you kick them out or you leave. you don’t speak to them, you don’t tolerate them in any way.

        Myself and many people like me have managed it quite easily.

        All you are doing is further enabling them with your stupid apologetics horse shit.

        • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          16 days ago

          It’s very fucking easy to dissociate from those fuck sticks, you kick them out or you leave. you don’t speak to them, you don’t tolerate them in any way.

          And people do that, but they still call themselves Christian, and the MAGAs still call themselves Christian as well. Then some idiot that doesn’t understand the “No True Scotsman” Fallacy thinks they’re a genius for saying “you’re both Scottish, therefore I’m going to hold you accountable for everything they do!”

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      30But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

      Luke 5

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      15 days ago

      Hey @prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone, can you please explain to @the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world that people cannot kick these maga fucks out of their churches, or how doing so would be irrelevant, because “No True Scotsman” as per your comment here?

      This is the problem. Christians are blamed for not disassociating themselves entirely from MAGA, and when they do and try to state as much the response is “nO tRuE sCoTsMaN!@!!1!”.

    • Lucky_777@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      16 days ago

      They will never kick out a donor. As long as they keep tossing cash or checks into the donation plate, then they will accept them with open arms.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      It’s a crying shame that I’ve had to do the same with some of my extended family. They’ve gone ultra MAGA and I’m sorry I cannot support you when you want to harm others.

      • the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 days ago

        I lost a childhood friend to the MAGA cult. It sucks, I knew him since elementary school. He slowly became angrier, then he one day was just all out hateful saying the most vile hateful crap he could and I just cut ties completely.

        The stupidest part is I heard through someone else that “he has no idea why I wont talk to him”. I didn’t ghost him, I told him to his face on my way out his door for the last time that “I will not tolerate hatred, never speak to me again.”

        I suspect most of maga are the same way, they know full well what a massive piece of shit they are, the problem is that they are proud of it.

          • Itdidnttrickledown@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            17 days ago

            I haven’t seen that page before but its the way things are. My parents died last year and I didn’t go to their funerals. They of course had a opportunity to reach out but doing so would have been an admission that they had done something wrong. I had a couple of their flying monkeys come at me from time to time. I just call them fools and move on with my life. That is what you have to do. You will never get resolution from narcs. They can never see any wrong they do as wrong. They will never seek help because they fear it.

            Edit: I will say one of the things I miss about reddit is the raisedbynarcissists sub. It is where I discovered I wasn’t alone. That in itself was validation for me. Reading about others in similar situations to mine really helped me end a life long cycle of depression, anxiety and anger.

          • Sam, The Man@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            17 days ago

            This is an absolutely fascinating read; as someone with parents that tread a very thin line this is an incredible validation of what I’ve observed. And with multiple examples.

          • Zink@programming.dev
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            17 days ago

            Damn, that is incredible. I am somebody who comes from a conservative white religious family. I am not estranged from them and we actually have a good relationship, but I do keep them at a certain distance because of it.

            But while the estrangement context is unfamiliar to me, all of the issues discussed absolutely ring true.

            The whole “emotion creates reality” versus “reality creates emotion” thing is a fantastic was to phrase it. I think that simple description might hit the nail on the head for what the hell is going on with conservatives/religious constantly trying to fuck up the world and having ridiculous beliefs.

            It also speaks a lot to narcissism, which does admittedly go hand in hand with the whole conservative need for social hierarchy and the expectation that oneself is obviously at the top.

            • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              16 days ago

              I am not estranged from them and we actually have a good relationship, but I do keep them at a certain distance because of it.

              Well according to OP: seeing as you have not cut them out of your life completely, you are sitting at the table with Nazis.

        • Zombie@feddit.uk
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          17 days ago

          Are you me?

          I had a very similar experience, except it involved them running after me and trying to punch me in the face, after I’d walked 5 minutes down the street.

          Then a few weeks later they messaged an “apology” saying we’re both to blame that things got out of hand.

          Fuck Trump, fuck Farage, fuck Republicans, fuck Reform, fuck racists, fuck hatred, fuck intolerance. I just want my dumb, funny, stoner friend back, but that’s not possible now that he’s a hate filled arsehole.

          • the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            17 days ago

            I was genuinely sad when it happened. I miss my friend he was a fun goofy guy, I just deal with it as if he died because it hurts less than knowing hes become everything he hated.

          • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            15 days ago

            In English, “you” can refer to an individual or a group.

            Apply the group in this context. Each member of a group taking care of their individual mandate of responsibility is collective action.

            So no, to your question, no-one meant that.

        • zloubida@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          17 days ago

          But it was a generalization all the same. Who says there are MAGAists in the church of the person who commented that one can’t be Christian and MAGA?

            • zloubida@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              edit-2
              17 days ago

              Sorry, English, as you probably understood, is not my first language. But I think my idea is quite simple: asking all Christians to eject the MAGA from their churches is like asking all Muslims to eject terrorists from their mosques, or all Jews to stop supporting the Gaza genocide. A lot already do, so that demand makes no sense, and is just bigotry.

              So, when someone posts: “As a Christian, I don’t think you can be both MAGA and Christian,” answering saying that all people eating with Nazis are Nazis makes no sense and is bigotry, as the author of the comment doesn’t necessarily prays with people supporting Trump. They even probably doesn’t.

              • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                16 days ago

                is like asking all Muslims to eject terrorists from their mosques, or all Jews to stop supporting the Gaza genocide

                Both of those are perfectly reasonable things to ask.

              • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                edit-2
                17 days ago

                This is a terrible statement on ethics, or an excellent condemnation of organized faith under authority.

                You can choose a mosque or church or temple, or choose not to associate at all where the common practice is to include unrepentant authoritarians. This does not require you to abandon your core beliefs.

                The basic lesson of the 20th century, for all humanity, is to tolerate all behaviour except the oppressive and, ironically, the intolerant.

                • zloubida@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  16 days ago

                  I’m sorry, my English must suck quite more than I knew: my message is in favour of kicking the oppressive and intolerant. The thing I oppose is to consider by default that the Christian who published the Tik Tok comment tolerated the MAGA Christian, when they probably didn’t.

        • Jax@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          17 days ago

          And what I’m saying is that Christians will accept hateful people because they believe God’s love will change them.

          So… yes, acceptance is kind of the point.

          Edit: we’re saying the same thing, I’m saying that expecting any kind of worthwhile change from Christians is unrealistic.

            • Jax@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              edit-2
              17 days ago

              No, former Christian disillusioned with Christians. Easy misunderstanding to have, though — in these troubling times. I understand you.

        • Jax@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          edit-2
          17 days ago

          What I’m saying is that Christians will accept MAGA because that is the point of Christianity.

          Sinners are sinners waiting to be saved.

          Edit: I’m not Christian.

    • Basic Glitch@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      17 days ago

      Red-Letter Christians

      Red-Letter Christians is a non-denominational movement within Evangelical Christianity. “Red-Letter” refers to New Testament verses and parts of verses printed in red ink, to indicate the words attributed to Jesus without the use of quotation marks.

      The organization was founded by Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne in 2007 with the aim of bringing together evangelicals who believe in the importance of insisting on issues of social justice mentioned by Jesus (in red in some translations of the Bible). They believe Christians should be paying attention to Jesus’s words and example by promoting biblical values such as social justice issues. These issues include the fight against poverty, the defense of peace, building strong families, respecting human rights and welcoming foreigners.