I just want to mention two Christian based companies are currently sueing so they can deny coverage of Prep, voting religious beliefs. And behavior like that is what makes people suspicious of loud Christians. I respect Christian churches that have housed undocumented people for example, and other who do acts of kindness to express religious beliefs.

But too many have used it as a excuse to force there world views on everyone else https://www.courthousenews.com/protections-for-prep-get-supreme-court-review/

Would that be the Jesus of the Book? Or Republican Jesus?

People didn’t get pushback for being Christians. They got pushback for pushing those beliefs into lawmaking.

After watching Joe Rogan and Mel Gibson talk on YouTube for over two hours last night (the interview was a couple of days prior), Rogan’s frequent and emphatic blasphemy – with no reaction from ultra-radical-traditionalist Catholic Gibson, other than a slightly unsettled expression – I was disappointed that neither of these fascinating characters seemed to have a grasp of basic Catholicism. Using Christ’s Name as a swear word shows no respect for God. Rogan was clearly puzzled when he asked questions of Gibson about his Faith, and Gibson was bashful and muddled in his responses. Even Catholicism can pop up at times as a fashion in the spotlight.

Every part of the world is different Mr Steven. People here where I live aren’t bullied because they’re poor or addicted. We are one of the poorest states in the nation and every family has someone suffering addiction.

LOL mrscracker, There are no 900 lb bales of hay available where I live so I’ll have to content myself with the gym.

Most of us are physically active. Our legs are OK. Gym for us is about maintaining some upper body strength in the absence of haystacks.

And of course socialising. The kaffeeklatsch afterwards is as important as the workout.

I know there are American cycling clubs. We’re in touch with some of them. One of my friends from South Africa rides around Manhattan on a bicycle. So it can’t only be poor people or people who’ve had their licences removed who cycle.

And even if they are poor or addicted , that’s no reason to bully them.

In Australia people go on cycling holidays. My daughter joined a 5-day cycling tour around parts of South Island New Zealand last year. The previous year she went on a cycling tour tour from Seoul to Pusan. I did a three day tour around parts of Victoria for 60+, in my case 60++ I guess.

From where I live to the city is a 40 km (25 mile) round trip. Most of it is along cycle paths so it’s a very pleasant ride. Much more pleasant than being stuck on a parking lot with the grandiose name of “St Kilda Avenue.” If I go into the city early in the morning I frequently encounter peletons of students en route to University of Melbourne. Interestingly, most of them seem to be STEM students. No arts students.

And I think Mr. Steven that young men still do work out in gyms but a great many stay home on their screens these days which isn’t healthy.
I was feeding cows & pushing a 900 lb. round hay bale with my grandson the other day & we had quite a workout. I told him that some people go to gyms & pay money for the same thing.
:)

In my rural area adults who ride bikes are those who’ve either had their driver’s license revoked for driving under the influence or are too poor to purchase a vehicle. So same-sex attraction doesn’t come to mind,. but drugs & alcohol do.

Y’know mrscracker, a long time ago in a galaxy far away in Issy Bloomberg’s gymnasium in Loop Street Cape Town I came across a guy called Ray McCauley. You can Google him.

Issy’s Gym was where all the Jewish high school and college kids went to “pump iron” as it’s called today. Ray, I think he must have been about 18 at the time, was filling in for one of the instructors who was on vacation.

I was never close to Ray but came across him from time to time. Then he vanished from the scene.

Next thing I know he’s founded a church! Rhema Bible Church. You can google that as well.

Well, me and some of the other Jewish guys just had to see this. Ray as a gym instructor was one thing. But Ray as a pastor??

So we, three of us, went along. At that time the church was still quite small. Services were in a converted cinema. Ray recognised us and welcomed us.

I must admit, he put on an impressive show.

Afterwards we got together with him. I’ll give him credit for one thing. He did not try to convert us.

He had never shown any sign of religiosity. I couldn’t help myself. I asked him whether he really believed.

He looked at the three of us, paused a moment, and then said, “Steven, when I’m on that stage I believe.”

Those are the words he used. It was a converted cinema and he was on an actual stage when he preached.

He became very wealthy – not Gulfstream Jet wealthy like Kenneth Copeland, but Rolls Royce wealthy.

Which leads me to a question.

Why do so few young men “pump iron” these days?

Among my cohort it was a given. Those of us who are alive still do it. I still work out a bit most days. No records but a few bench presses, curls, etc. There’s a gym about a kilometre from where I live that runs sessions for us oldies. Had to give up on squats. After all that cycling my knees aren’t up to it.

And why do so many American men think if you’re a cyclist you must be gay?

Seriously, why?

Thank you for your thoughts on Catholicism Mr. Steven. That’s the Church I belong to but sadly you are correct about antisemitism. Until October 7th I was quite naïve about how that has lingered on in our society & even within sections of my own Church. I recently endured 3 Sunday homilies in a row that were very distressing. I know that if I visited the Pentecostal Church down the road I wouldn’t be hearing that sort of nonsense. Nor at our local Baptist church.
I haven’t visited that particular parish again & my own pastor( who does not express anti-Semitic views) apologized for what had happened & gave me advice on what to do.
The Evangelical & Pentecostal denominations might not get everything right but I expect I’d feel more comfortable listening to a sermon there these days than at the Catholic parish I visited. And perhaps you would also.
And trust me, there’s just as much or more anti Semitism to be found in the secular world. It’s just expressed differently.

Anon Emouse,

I wouldn’t take professions of “cultural Christianity” or conversions to Christianity from celebrities too seriously. Peter Thiel is as Christian as Mother Theresa was saintly and she was as much a saint as I’m a ballerina.

Spoiler alert: Even among klutzes I am in a league of my own.

It is obvious that for now the power lies with the people who identify as Christian. Shmoozing them a bit is sound business practice. It’s as fake as corporations who used to advertise their dedication to DEI.

The same applies to Joe Rogan. His huge following identifies as “conservative” which, in the American context, often means Christian. It would harm his business if he said things that alienated his base.

In what follows I want to make one thing clear. I am making a forecast. That is all. A weather forecaster who predicts a hurricane is not “pro-hurricane.”

I’m going to focus on my understanding of what seems to be happening in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Australia.

It’s not only Christianity that’s making a comeback, It’s Catholicism.

The Southern Baptist Convention is (four letter rude word-ed). Their only “theology” is thinly disguised racism, American jingoism, hate, AR-15s, and whatever flapdoodle the spin doctors in the Republican Party hand out.

In a sense the biggest denomination in the United States is the mega churches. I think slowly people are beginning to see them for what they are. And what they are is scams run by charismatic sociopaths for personal profit. How anyone can take the likes of Joel Osteen and his prosperity gospel seriously is beyond me. He’s simply a Christian version of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

On the other hand the Catholic Church has a well-developed theology which, within the context of believing the Christian story, makes sense.

I want to emphasise the “within the context of believing the Christian story.” If, like me, you pretty well know it’s a fairy tale, it makes no sense at all. But, within the context of Christianity, Catholicism makes sense.

The mega churches and other Evangelical denominations make no sense at all.

The Catholic Church also has a well developed theology of social justice. The mere phrase “social justice” is anathema in Evangelical circles. It’s all about the “free market” dontcha know.

Some people have accused me of constructing a straw man argument against Evangelicals. I don’t think I am. I’ve met enough of them to say, with some confidence, that, as a generality, what I’m saying is accurate.

One ex-evangelical convert to Catholicism I know personally, described his former church as “a hate-filled excrement-hole.”

Ironically it was me who pointed out that his church was not the only Christian denomination when he confided in me about how miserable he felt about his church.

So what does the Catholic Church have to offer?

Suppose I actually took the gospel stories seriously and was looking for a church. Why would the Catholics appeal to me?

Here are some reasons.

I don’t have to check in my scientific understanding of the universe at the door. The world is not 6,000 years old. There was no literal global flood. Evolution by natural selection is a fact. Human caused global warming is a clear and present danger. We can’t just leave everything to some non-existent (un)free market. I don’t have to buy my family an arsenal of machine guns to prove my masculinity. Pumping iron will do the trick. I don’t even have to drive a gas guzzling pickup bought on credit.

I don’t have to listen to sermons by a self-serving donkey-hole urging me for donations so he can buy the latest model Gulfstream. I can just relax into the soothing ritual of a service in which no one is going to scream at me or repeat the propaganda of some political party.

The church may not accept gays but, at least, I’m not forced to express hatred towards them.

In other words, the Catholic Church, warts and all, is a church thinking people who believe the gospel stories can feel comfortable in.

But why do thinking people believe in the gospel stories at all?

Well, that, to me, is the great mystery. Maybe it’s because they just want to. Being a member of a church gives them a community. It’s a place they can be with people they like or, at least, don’t dislike too much. Nobody will harangue them in a Catholic Church. They may even find people they can confide in if they have problems.

They won’t have to endure three consecutive Sundays of somebody screaming hatred against drag queens. I’m not exaggerating. That’s what actually happened in a Melbourne church.

They can just enjoy the ritual.

And ritual is important.

So that’s my tuppeny ha’penny worth. It’s why I think the Catholic Church will grow at the expense of the Evangelicals. It’s why I think it will entice thinking people who want to believe into Christianity.

Here’s what Benedict 16, hardly a new-age liberal, had to say about biblical exegesis.

“The Bible is thus the story of God’s struggle with human beings to make himself understandable to them over the course of time; but it is also the story of their struggle to seize hold of God over the course of time.”

To put it another way, the bible documents the evolution of humanity’s understanding of God. Which is pretty much why I, personally, find it so fascinating in a way the koran could never be.

And what do I think of this personally?

Let me put it like this. The Catholic Church has never been what I would call a “Jew-friendly” institution.

I’d also point out that Hogan was mercilessly good by wrestling fans Monday night, so much so that they had to mute the mics to stop picking up crowd noise. Perhaps you should choose other cultural icons to make your point? Maybe ones that are still beloved by the people that made them cultural icons in the first place?

Hulk Hogan? Noted racist?