Citing Charlie Kirk murder, Tennessee pastor demands removal of 'Hate Has No Home' signs

Christianity in this case is only superficially a religion. It's really a signifier of in-group status. Say the right words and appear to submit to the authority of god and you're in the club. Actually reading and following the manual is optional, or actually an impediment in carrying out the right's political project.

It would seem that way if you were raised on ideas like tolerance and acceptance, but if you look at the Bible's messaging, there's enough vaguery and conflicting messaging that you can use it to justify one ideology over the other. There's Jesus who preached the beatitudes, and then there's Jesus who preached bringing a sword, hating your family that "holds you back," and comes back on a promised judgement day bringing fire and death.

As Bart Ehrman put it, "It's a matter of which Jesus you [want to] choose."

Sounds a lot like what they have been saying muslims are like forever.

revelations contains an account of how it happens. it was included in the holy bible to help provide guidance about how to recognize it early since it happens with every religious/moral doctrine about once a century. the deepest joke played on reality is the warning being misinterpretted and used as justification to do what is being warned against.

see also:

• israel's genocide against the palestinian people
• nihilism being used to justify war and destruction when the true conclusion of nihilism is that we chose to create morality and we don't need god to be good people
• the existence of slaver churches at all, using abrahamic teachings that originated as instructions on how to resist enslavement to justify enslavement
• the misinterpretation of Loki as humanity's enemy in the house of Odin
• others, i'm sure, these are just the ones i know best

It’s also important to note that Christ wasn’t actually a pacifist.

He just likes it when people obey the authoritarians. Mostly because he was also an authoritarian. (I mean, seriously. Look at what the messiah was actually supposed to do- ignore Paul and revelations, that has nothing to do with a Jewish messiah.)

To me, I think it’s more likely the motive behind “turn the other cheek” was more a warning to bide their time. Remember, Rome could rofflestomp them at any point they wanted to, and everyone knew it.

(Which they did end up doing in around 70ad, because an ex high priest, who had been high priest thanks to bribes, got out bid by another, and rumors were spreading that other died, so ex high priest made a bid for it again, pissing off Roman officials. This is what lead to the destruction of the second temple.)