“Faith, family, and freedom” are the values real estate CEO Josh Abbotoy hopes to champion in planned housing communities deep in the hills of Appalachia.
But beneath the innocuous slogan, locals worry that a darker movement is brewing in their backyard.
That's because some of his earliest customers are a pair of outspoken Christian nationalists who are setting a controversial tone that is already making headlines.
Also concerning for critics: this community is not the only one of its kind.
The Christian Nationalists Next Door
Abbotoy’s vision is a series of developments, spread across Tennessee and Kentucky, that focus on an “affinity-based community” for those “fed up with crime, corruption and wokeness in [their] big, blue city.”
The marketing pitch by his company, RidgeRunner, to buy land here highlights a return to traditional Bible Belt values, complete with the promise of neighbors guaranteed to share your beliefs.
But what are those beliefs, exactly?
It turns out that two of Abbotoy’s first buyers are podcasters C. Jay Engel and Andrew Isker, self-described Christian Nationalists with a national platform.
These aren’t two guys who just happened to buy from RidgeRunner out of the blue. Isker was reportedly recruited by Abbotoy to buy land in Jackson County, Tennessee, as an early adopter.
Not only that, but the pair host their Christian Nationalist podcast out of RidgeRunner’s office. From that space, they espouse radical views on race, religion, the LGBTQ+ community, and even voting rights for women. A common refrain on their podcast is “repeal the 20th century.”
Isker, a pastor originally from Minnesota, says he’d like “to dissolve Congress and the judiciary and vest all power into a sovereign ruler named Donald J. Trump.”
He’s expressed support for mass deportations of legal immigrants, and has questioned whether the civil rights movement was beneficial. He also promotes outlandish conspiracies; Just a few months ago he stated he refused to go through an airport scanner, which he called a “gay beam,” out of fear it might change his sexuality.
Engel, a Californian who runs a manufacturing company, holds similarly extreme positions across the board. Engel is a proponent of household suffrage, the idea that households should share one vote – which would almost always be dictated by the man of the house. “Women were happier and lived more fulfilling lives before they got the vote,” he stated.
Related: Should Women Vote? One Influential Pastor Says No
Locals Push Back
So, how do the neighbors feel?
Some locals aren’t happy at all, and they worry their radical new neighbors are just the beginning. The fear is that the new developments, with their heavy focus on recruiting likeminded individuals to buy land, could turn their quaint rural community into a hotbed of white Christian nationalism.
“Scary” is how one resident, Nan Coons, described that possibility.
Linda McNew, a self-described “full-force conservative Christian woman,” finds Isker and Engel’s views alarming. “They’re antisemitic, anti-Black, anti-Native American. They don’t want anything except what they think. It’s about moving here and finding power. They’ve got big bucks behind them.”
Some are fighting back. Diana Mandli, a prominent business owner in the community, made it clear that Isker and Engel aren’t welcome in her establishments.
"If you are a person or group who promotes the inferiority or oppression of others, please eat somewhere else,” read a chalkboard outside of a business she owns. “All are welcome!” reads one of the town’s few billboards.
On the other side of the billboard is a RidgeRunner advertisement.
Is This The New Norm?
What has civil rights advocates really concerned? This is not the first Christian Nationalist community to sprout up in recent years.
You might recall reading about the ‘whites-only’ community that recently emerged in Arkansas. That group’s founders are explicitly promoting a white, straight, Christian ethnostate, their discrimination seemingly made legal thanks to a creative legal structure which critics say takes advantage of a glaring loophole.
And while RidgeRunner claims they don’t vet buyers’ political views, Abbotoy’s marketing tells a more targeted story, heavily appealing to conservative Christians seeking a very specific way of life.
Could communities like these become increasingly common? Abbotoy sure hopes so. He’s already working on exporting his model to rural communities across the country, explaining that “the whole point is to plant a flag and say ‘this small town is where our people are gathering.’”
Those developments will promote “the Christian way of life,” he says, and "demonstrate the superiority of that way of life.”
Whether this represents a fringe experiment or an emerging trend remains an open question – one that small towns across America may soon be forced to confront.
What is your reaction?
66 comments
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Bridget Kielas-Fecyk
Three things. One, these people are NOT following "Jesus" in any way, shape or form. Read "Sermon on the Mount". Two, they very, VERY desperately want the Jim Crow era back and they think doing this will "bring it back".
And three - if Muslim communities try to do this, they throw absolute FITS and shriek about "shariah law" and start threatening violence, threatening to burn down people's homes, or even threatening, and sometimes even doing, when it comes to unaliving people over it. And yet they think they can do the same thing and it's just "okay"? WTF?
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Mrs Jacqueline Heraty
As an English woman, I'm confused by people saying "if that's what they want, let them live like that, in more or less isolation. That's their right." Well perhaps it's ok for the adults choosing to live that way, but what about daughters trapped in that community, taught that their only value is in serving their husband's & producing sons? What about the LGBTQA+ people born into this community, told that they shouldn't exist or are faulty? What about those deciding that they don't/no longer share the beliefs taught? Where are the rights of these people?
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Stephen James Oder
Theocracy is not part of any free society.
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Bitha Dill
When folks talk about the felon and pedophile in the White House, as though he is a God to be worshiped... sends shivers up my spine! Makes me curious about these "communities" true core beliefs.
From the outside, it doesn't appear that Jesus is their focus. He didn't care about pronouns, men do. He didn't care about race or color, he was brown too. He said love one another, not judge everyone who isn't just like you. He had tolerance, he wasn't a fan of the Philistines, though. He said, love one another as I have loved you. He sacrificed His life, not so we can spew hate and hateful messages, but so we can have eternal life with the commandment to love one another. 9 Please, Dear Lord, help us soften our hearts for our neighbors and those who are not like us. Help is to be mindful of your teachings. In Jesus' name, Amen
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John Robert Peters
We may be too late as the Trumpublicans embrace righteousness in beating people, deportations, and suppression of free speech, and support for white supremacists.
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JustJames73
Amen!
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Warren Calvin Wall
The Abrahamic religions have all been weaponized since their inceptions. ALL of them. Jews, Islamists, the 6,432 versions of Christianity. ALL OF THEM! How many people in the world have been MURDERED by the Abrahamic religions in the millennia throughout history? Abrahamic religions are an anathema to peaceful human existence and utterly disgusting.
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Steven Ferrell
No difference in Christians buying up and making their communities more Christian, then there is of muslims doing the same thing like they did to the City of Dearborn, MI.
If the muslims can do it, the Christians should do the same.
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Father Frederick
Actually, nothing new. However, on close inspection, some of the "communities" which have sprouted up are more to do with the division within America between two parties, and the feeling there is safety in numbers. Three communities I know of have less to do with religion and are more like a cult based on a tribe mentality, where the laws of the land is rejected because of their beliefs.
Its safe to say, you can't be religious if your goal in forming a commune is to victimize the other side. That's closer to how the fascists in Germany justified the killing of Jews. And if you hold credentials as a minister, you're probably in the Jim Jones camp of permissive violence.
I believe the Name or the association of religion, as the means for the forming a community, is just a smoke screen to give permission for those to do the devil's work. As an old priest once said, "You can't think or do wrong, and use the name of the church to cleanse yourself."
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Shelli Dewey
you have points. I agree with what the old priest once said.
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Doctor Loyal
It's Backlash by the Far Right in response to Liberal, Woke, DEI, and Trans Over-affirmation. Persons attracted by this doctrine are a very small minority and very like will assimilate in a couple of generations if they are Ignored.
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Ari Joseph Bertine
So basically more cultist compounds, just on a larger scale. It would be alarming to have nearby, in the same way that living near Proud Boys or KKK infestations is alarming. Hopefully the people that have to live near them remember that refusing service due to chosen behavior is not bigotry, it's protecting your customer base. Since the law supports even refusing service due to behavioral traits someone was born with, kicking CristoNazis out of businesses is absolutely supported and might discourage cult incursions into communities of sane people.
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Anna Marie Johnson
I wish you would stop referring to these people as "Christians." I am not one, and I follow Christ's teachings more truly than these monsters
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Religion as a Weapon is Wrong
Yes, let's allow all of the WCNs to live in designated places and ignore them. It's about money and control of women and exclusion of non-whites. Religion is just a way to justify it and make it look like devotion. If there are people that don't want to be part of the modern world or follow the Constitution, let them separate themselves from secular government and stay in the back woods, free of government money. If they don't like liberal society, that's fine, but they have no business forcing their draconian beliefs on the rest of us. People that comment on this blog worry me when they make racist, misogynistic, or cruel remarks. They have a right to their point of view and I encourage their outspokenness, but please, don't force it down our throats via the government. Go to your church, believe what you want, and stop trying to make cruelty to those you dislike the law and self reflect once in a while.
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Lisbeth Kieran Bushey
This is unacceptable and is a likely violation of fair housing laws. People who engage in radical hate shouldn’t be tolerated in polite society. These racist antisemitic men shouldn’t be permitted to engage in this behavior in that community. They’re making their neighbors unsafe.
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Howard Randall Bechler
The Constitution gives people the right to choose their faith. That includes Nationalist Christians. We, as a nation, need to respect that. What it also does is allow the rest of us to follow our faith of choice or no faith at all. They need to respect that.
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Cyril R. VanKeirsbelk
Can we stop pretending Christian Nationalists are actually Christians and call them what they really are? Nazis.
They don't love Christ, they don't love this country, they just hate anyone who isn't a Nazi like them.
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Roy S. Thorpe
As this country moves toward STUPID being the norm and intelligence being bad, it allows the uneducated to take charge which in the end will mean the fall of the American Empire! The average intelligence level of elected officials at ALL levels has declined year after year because the uneducated are easily fooled and vote for their kind! Duh should be the new catch word!
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Rev. B.D. Rees
Sounds to me like another "JIM JONES" version of Insane Christian beliefs!! "Drink the Kool-aid and we'll all have a good time"!! This kind of Moronic thinking (yes like Trump and his followers), make me sick to my stomach!!! When people think that way, Christ himself gets lost in the shuffle. Without Christ and his teachings all you have left is empty space! No hope, no feeling in your heart of joy or empathy..... just a heart full of NOTHING!!
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Rev. Dr. Robert Allan Roush
It seems that bigotry and mental illness (TSA scans make you gay?) feel excluded, so they are creating their own communities.
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Nicholas Ribecca
Somewhat hypocritical, no? The townspeople are responding to discrimination with textbook discrimination, "You can't live here ... you can't eat here ... we don't want your kind here" ... etc. How about "you do your thing, just leave us alone to do our thing" instead?
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Lisbeth Kieran Bushey
The Paradox of Tolerance says otherwise. To participate and be tolerated in society, you first have to tolerate others. If you’re not following this social contract, you’re then in violation and you’re not going to be received with tolerance for your behavior. Luke 6:31 tells us “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise”. If you want to be treated a certain way, you can’t be treating other people badly.
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Joseph Saffomilla
Exactly, if these were Muslims moving in, nobody would say a word.
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Ty Ford
Really? Why not?
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Lady Mutt Cat
This sounds like the same nonsense coming from Kyrias Joel and Jewish extremists.
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Joseph Grieco
Except there, it's not just Jewish, and not just Hassidic Jews, but specifically Satmar Haradi recognizing the leadership of Zalman Leib.
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Joseph Grieco
A guy is new in town. He sees a bar that looks like one back in his home town. He goes in, sits down and the bartender comes over, takes his order and gives him a beer. The bartender then goes on to ignore him, watching ESPN on the tv, until the guy orders a refill. Same thing. About an hour later, another guy walks into the bar. The bartender jumps up, points at him and screams "Get out of here NOW!" The new guy leaves. The guy at the bar thinks to himself what was that about? After ordering another, he asks the bartender what was going on. "You didn't see it as he came in, but on the side of his neck you couldn't see, this guy had a Nazi tattoo. Now this guy was probably going to be all polite and such, because that's what they do. They send in one guy who acts friendly and all, and starts to become a regular. Next thing you know, he invites a "friend". And they seem to be ok. After a couple of weeks, they invite more friends, and soon they've taken over the place and it becomes a Nazi bar. And you can never get rid of them." "So the only way to stop it is to keep the first one from coming in."
Here's the problem. I'm old enough to remember red-lining, and my dad refusing to sell our old house to someone willing to pay cash up front (instead of holding a mortgage) because the guy was black. I also remember "Covenant" contracts, where the buyer had to pledge to never sell or transfer the property to people who were not White and Christian. So, no Indians, Muslims, Hispanics or Jews, either. What these guys want to do is set up a Covenant Community specifically for White Christian Nationalists, 99.99% of whom are politically ultra Conservatives. If you aren't a Red-Hatted MAGA, you need not apply. Land of the Free? Not in OUR neighborhood, and we don't care what the locals have to say about it!
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Steven Louis Clark
Either way Christian nationalism is wrong I do NOT condone this treatment of anyone, it’s not conducive to overall belief systems!
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Brent
“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:27–28).
I think one can take it as read that there are no binaries - straight/gay, white/black, etc, in Christ Jesus.
Buddha Blessings!
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Rev Ned
Shouldn’t that read “Christofascist”?
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Pastor Nick
Regarding 'The Christian Nationalists Next Door', it seems that they have lost their way theologically and specifically from a Christian viewpoint. Yes, the Old Testament does have its colorful characters many of whom were quite happy to be part of the LGBTQ group alongside heterosexuals. And it was a matter between them and God, and certainly there were a few battles and explosions from above such as Sodom receiving judgement. Under the Law of God, it was necessary then to be judgmental in order to be classified as righteous.
But the New Testament is about Grace and the Redeeming nature of Jesus to pull us all back into live if we want it. There is not one judgmental statement by Jesus in the New Testament against or towards people who consider themselves part of the LGBTQ group. The woman caught in heterosexual adultery is possibly the closest sexual crime we have, and in that instance Jesus is redemptive and not judgmental, knowing the hypocrisy of her accusers.
So it begs the question, should any 'Jesus' Christian be judgmental regarding LGBTQ, race, discrimination, feminism, same sex marriages and others variations. My personal opinion is a big NO. Its not Christian to judge someone or group who choose a different lifestyle from the norm. In fact it is bigoted and very un-Christian. And even many years ago in my teens, and before I became a Jesus believer, I was in a right old mess and had far more dreadful problems than worrying about whether someone was gay or non-white.
So I am not supposed to judge "National Christian Communities" and their beliefs, or should say their bending of New Testament scriptures. Okay fine... Let them get on with it. Provided they don't tell me what I can and can't believe in, then I will not tell them that I believe they are wrong and unscriptural, and that they are giving out a very dangerous twist on the teachings of Jesus.
Peace to all...
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Dr. Zerpersande, NSC
Build a wall around an entire State and tell them not to only not to come out but don’t even communicate.
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David Buck
Well, this doesn't surprise me at all. We are constantly bombarded by messages of wokeism, DEI, CRT, LGBTQ++++ and so on (and on, and on, and on). We sit and watch a modern movie or TV show, and bet when the obligatory gay character, (or black character, or Hispanic character) will show up - and they always do. If you disagree with it or are just plain feeling overloaded on it, you start looking for a way to either take yourself out of the way of it, or to actively fight back against it. The pendulum IS starting to swing back the other way, but probably not fast enough to suit some. I dislike extremism, on either side, but I can see why having a community made up of like-minded people would be attractive. Bottom line is that as long as they do not do anything illegal, they have every right to do it.
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Ty Ford
I don't feel, as you say, "bombarded by messages of wokeism, DEI, CRT, LGBTQ++++ and so on (and on, and on, and on)". So your "reality" differs from mine.
Then, too, if you feel that, "If you disagree with it or are just plain feeling overloaded on it, you start looking for a way to either take yourself out of the way of it, or to actively fight back against it." Then that's a choice you made because something(s) makes you uncomfortable. Hopefully, that's not going on with you. But for those who are feeling uncomfortable, is that not the start of racism, or at the very least separatism?
This getting a diverse group of people to migrate together is not a new phenomenon. Wagon trains of people set out across this country hundreds of years ago. They learned to pull their wagons in a circle for protection. They had a common goal that superseded any obvious race or religion differences. I suspect that at the heart of this is a very basic insecurity of oneself. Sadly, that insecurity begets fear and fear begets violence.
Take a look at the historical racial demographics of the state of Oregon. People (white men) have tried to keep it white for a long time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Oregon That's changing and I'm sure it makes some whites there uncomfortable.
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JustJames73
I get it... you're sitting there after a long day relaxing in the glow of the TV and you see something that offends your sensibilities and makes you feel uncomfortable. You want to be entertained by stories that you can identify with, but suddenly you are being FORCE FED a few drops of something unrelatable, you resent having to change the channel because you were just getting into it, and you can't get away from it anyway because these little hints of DEI are everywhere!
Now... Image that you are a minority trying to enjoy the very same story where most of the characters aren't relatable to you at all, and then there's one or two that draw you in with their sameness and suddenly the whole show has something for YOU.
I'm sorry that DEI and all that wokeness makes some people feel uncomfortable; it's not about making them feel uncomfortable, it's about making a diverse demographic feel more engaged, and receptive to the advertising.
We can always stop watching, read a book, engage in a hobby, play with the kids ... you know, like it used to be in the good old days before we brought newspapers, radio, TV, and Internet into our lives. No one is FORCING any of this upon us, and we need to stop acting like it has anything to do with our values and recognize that we have traded in our autonomy for spoon fed group think.
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Daniel Todd Kamm
Very interesting Scottish surname, not quite correct but who is? Abbotoy "abbot" from "Abba" imported from the past for "father," usually referring to a father overseeing his church, his "flock," There are not many diminutives. If the name holds true, Abbotoy sort of means father, or "Daddy," but I have nowhere to go with the "oy," and to rescue myself from the foolishness of it all... may mean "Daddy's... Toy?" in which case, some of these people have something else they are dealing with. I'll just bet. For the communities they are trying to take over... I share your concerns, however, all it takes is giving over one tawdry building, a zoning exception, police who look the other way for pay, and high taxes in exchange for tolerating their "business," until they can be evicted, for this or that violation. "Daddy?" Please.
Peace Out... Reb tk
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Rev Ned
I hope not!
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Michael Hunt
I'm sadly not surprised to hear about these communities popping up in America today but it's certainly horrifying. It would be very funny for someone to buy a bunch, if not the majority, of the properties in the neighborhood, only to then sell or rent them to people of color. We all need to condemn these communities and make it clear that they are not welcome in a fair and just society.
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James Riggle-Johnson
I fear segregation is coming back as strong as ever. I think it might take decades to overcome what’s been happening since 2016 and the rise of all this hate. Not only can you say the quiet part out loud, but you can apparently shout it from the rooftops now.
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James Riggle-Johnson
So, what happens if a non-Christian, non-white, or non-straight family tries to buy a home in one of these communities? We already have rules about who you can and can’t exclude when selling property, even if your personal beliefs run in a very different direction. But it’s hard to imagine anyone outside that cookie-cutter template wanting to live there at all.
The real issue isn’t whether Christian nationalists want to live next to each other — clearly, they do. The problem is what happens to the neighboring communities. When a community is built around the idea that certain people don’t belong, that mindset doesn’t stay neatly behind the property line. It shows up in school boards, local politics, zoning fights, and social pressure on anyone who doesn’t fit the mold.
And yes, the public faces of this movement don’t help. Between panic over “gay scanners” and nostalgia for a past where women had fewer rights, the whole thing might be funny if they weren’t so serious. And they’re teaching these ideas to their children — not just passing on religious beliefs but distorting their worldview. Shouldn’t children learn what the world is really like?
Trying to remake America into a Christian nationalist state won’t unite the country. It will fracture it further. Whatever the personal faith of the founders, they were clear on one thing: the government doesn’t get a religion, and religion doesn’t get a government. That separation wasn’t a mistake — it was the guardrail.
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Patricia Ann Gross
The one in Arkansas was using a loophole in a "private club" provision that (if it was like the ones in Texas) was used to get around the "dry county" laws that prohibited selling alcohol in stores or restaurants. My guess is there is some high powered attorney who has found a similar law in these areas that can be applied to keep those "unacceptable class" people out.
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Joseph Grieco
They would refuse to sell. If you think Redlining and Covenant clauses don't exist anymore, you are mistaken. They just word things in such a way to discourage anyone who is not White, politically conservative, and of the correct Christian flavor - no Catholics, Episcopalians or Orthodox allowed; Methodists, Presbyterians, UCC and Congregationalists are frowned upon. Only Lutherans and Baptists of certain denominations need apply.
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Joseph Saffomilla
If they make it a membership type of commuinty; like a club. They can indeed chose who they allow into their club.
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Colleen McAllister
I find it frightening. These people are as far from Christian as anyone can be.
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Lynnea Urania Kaylor
What's called "Christian Nationalism" won't be the new normal, but in many areas of the United States, a new normal of conflict may well indeed erupt, and that violently. This has been decades in the making. I remember my days in a staunchly anti-intellectual Bible College watching Dr. Francis Shaeffer's "How Should We Then Live" that was part of a national crusade. Its most pointed message was to seek control of the courts to stop abortion and other social phenomena that Shaeffer regarded as subversive to a theocratic "absolute". That crusade coalesced into the Moral Majority while Shaeffer wrote his "Christian Manifesto" that declared that it's the duty of all Christians to defy the government to stop abortion. Meanwhile, proponents of the Prosperity Doctrine proliferated in Christian media. After the election of Reagan to the presidency, what I saw more than anything else was that mad dash to make money, get into office from local levels on up, and enforce what they regarded as "Christian" and "family" values as much as practicable. As Evangelicals grew richer and richer, they also did what many other religious movements did: Rajneeshis, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, and others including some Mahayana Buddhists: buy up lands, show favoritism to their co-religionists, and gain greater control. In time, efforts mushroom. Here's the rub, though. If religionists make supreme a political figure and care nothing about whatever harm they do to others, playing the oppressor role and pretending to be victims instead, then efforts to counter them flirt with a real danger of violence. I fear that the views expressed in the video about the people in Jackson County may end up on that path with true neighborliness falling by the wayside while all dealings end up with partisan strings attached.
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Reverend Paula Copp
I can’t stand the current American regime, and I have nothing but contempt for anyone who supports him. That being said, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that “Christian” Nationalism themed communities are springing up in Appalachia and the Bible Belt. Those are some of the least educated people in the country, and therefore possibly more easily manipulated. It’s part of the chaos trying to find order. The social constructs which built this country are being torn asunder, and the easiest way to find stability is to find religion. Why not have a community of like minded people? Yeah, a community of cookie cutter people who have cookie cutter beliefs… what could possibly go wrong?🙄
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Joseph Grieco
They pick Appalachia and the Bible Belt because they couldn't get away with it anyplace else. That part of the country is already predisposed to their philosophy. However, a lot of those folks great-great-grandparents also helped maintain the Underground Railroad. These Nationalist Christians (NAT-Cs) are the guys who would have turned in Anne Frank's family.
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Joseph Saffomilla
Maybe they just like the area. Land is cheap and it is a good location for them.
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Lady Mutt Cat
The more educated a person becomes, the more likely s/he is to be a leftist or liberal. This is why Trump attacks schools and universities. There is already a community like this in New York. It’s called Kyrias Joel and is anymore Jewish enclave. The roads going into town have huge signs telling people how to behave. These are public roads, public sidewalks, publicly paid-for schools. And they tell you how to behave. Makes me sick that my tax Dollars support this garbage.
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Parson Golden
Christian nationalism is dangerous, it merges religious identity with political power, turning faith into a tool of control. When leaders claim divine backing, disagreement becomes heresy, accountability erodes, and pluralistic democracy is weakened. History shows that invoking any god to justify state power excuses discrimination, repression, and abuse rather than encouraging moral behavior.
More importantly, Christian nationalism contradicts the teachings of Jesus. Jesus rejected earthly power, taught humility and service, cared for the poor and marginalized, and preached love of enemies not domination or forced belief.
By prioritizing power, exclusion, and coercion, Christian nationalism replaces Jesus’ ethic of love and conscience with a politics of fear and control, distorting both Christianity and democracy.
Even setting theology aside, Christian nationalism degrades civic life for everyone. It replaces shared democratic values with religious tests of loyalty, turning citizenship into a measure of belief rather than equal participation.
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Alexander Clarke
All religions to a greater or lesser extent are dangerous unless you are "one of them"
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Najah P Tamargo
Najah Tamargo-USA
Sounds like straight up racism!!! Aren't we ALL God's children??? And they look down on the first inhabitants of this country, who have lived thru genocide?? I will stay in my "woke" community, thank you!!!
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Rev. Miche'al Yosef Dixon
This is the first I've heard of "National Christian Communities" and going only on what is written here. A community with Christian values is the whole point of the Apostles' teachings and pulling together right in the books of Acts. Paul himself was barred from the main group because he wasn't up to their standards, the Apostles held his past against him. They repeat saying race and politics exclude people. Which is ironic as Jesus Christ being a non-white anti-political person would be Excluded from His own community.
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Reverend Paula Copp
Don’t forget that Jesus was the most “woke” of all. He was a socialist…
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Lynnea Urania Kaylor
Not only that, but seeing in Acts 4:32 that early believers held all things in common, it's even the epitome of Religious Communism. Not Marxist or Stalinist as such, but Communist in their own way. Among many who grew up surrounded by anti-Soviet rhetoric, it's anathema to even speak of it. But it's true.
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Sir Lionheart
Try telling that to Ilhan Omar, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Schiff, Pocahontas, Pelosi, and Chuckie et al. 🤭
I wonder what Jesus’ pronouns were? 🤔
🦁❤️
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Ari Joseph Bertine
The Bible makes it very clear what Jesus's pronouns are. It consistently refers to Jesus as he/him.
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Sir Lionheart
That book also makes reference to that particular god as He, so does that make him to be a man? Many might disagree with that concept. Some other gods that mankind has created over the millennia of time have been female. Some have no gender whatsoever. Interesting thoughts, right?
🦁❤️
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Patricia Ann Gross
Actually, God has no gender when utilizing non-gendered translations (not all languages have them, and the translations of Latin ones are the ones that added He/Him to God). In the book of Ruth (I believe) God is referred to as Wisdom (one of God's many names), and the Hebrew name for Wisdom is Sophia, which is female. God was not assigned a gender in any scripture. That was done by the languages the first books were written in and the tranlators used when a pronoun was required for the context. Anthropomorphic depictions of spiritual beings is common in all religions, It gives a "visual" for the believer to latch onto. Even though not all divine entities have sexual characteristics, most visual depictions include them.
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Sir Lionheart
Thank you for that information. It definitely makes perfect sense for mankind to modify writings to allow people to create a visual of something that is so esoteric. 🤗
🦁❤️
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Gerald Lindsay
A ridiculous assertion that Jesus was a socialist. the scripture say that a man not fit to work isn't fit to eat which indicates to eat you have to work according to scripture. A socialist believes others should pay their way.
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Michael Hunt
That's not what a socialist believes at all. A socialist believes in collective or government ownership/control of production for equitable distribution, aiming to reduce inequality and prioritize human needs over profit, often through social programs (healthcare, education, housing) and economic planning. People are still expected to work under a socialist economy. It's not about having others pay your way so you don't have to work, it's about taking care of your neighbors and community instead of the greedy hoarding of wealth by the richest people.
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JustJames73
Thank you Michael! A government of the people, by the people, for the people (Abe Lincoln) is a one that prioritizing the wellbeing of it's people; a very Christian value. Among many other verses to the same, Matthew 25:35-36 says that Jesus believed that "caring for" strangers who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned is in service of God.
These communities aren't about expressing their religion, it's about using narrow sighted religious rhetoric as an excuse to not feel uncomfortable.
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Joseph Saffomilla
No he wasn't.
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Joseph Grieco
Nah. He wouldn't be excluded because of his wokeness. He'd be excluded because he was a Jew.
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Hmm...I do not see an author. Extreme left wing talking points. Targeting Christians and not those who are really killing people and breaking things in the name of their religion. Ah, looks like the ULC has been infiltrated by the usual suspects. Disappointing, but not surprising.