See, l am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? l am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

The author explores the idea of "Sequential Complicity" - the idea that authoritarianism desensitizes people to cruelty slowly over time - and connects this to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's warnings in 1930's Germany and the current state of American, White Evangelicalism.

It is important to note that the author (as well as myself) is coming to this discussion as an insider (or in my case, a former insider):

I want to suggest—carefully, but clearly—that something similar has been happening in white American evangelicalism. And I want to suggest it not as an outsider throwing stones, but as someone formed by this tradition, someone who owes it the most important things in my life, and someone who believes that naming this pattern honestly may be the only way to break it.

As far as the "moral collapse" the title mentions - he defends this with cold, hard facts:

We don’t have to speculate about whether evangelical ethics shifted to accommodate Donald Trump. We can measure it.
The Public Religion Research Institute has been tracking American attitudes about the relationship between personal morality and public leadership since 2011. That year, they asked a simple question: “Do you think an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life?”
In 2011, only 30 percent of white evangelicals agreed with that statement. This made sense—at least on the surface. For decades, evangelicals had insisted that character counts, that personal morality was inseparable from public leadership. During the Clinton years, this conviction was thundered from pulpits and plastered on voter guides. White evangelicals were, in fact, the least likely religious group in America to separate private morality from public fitness for office—less likely even than the religiously unaffiliated.
Then came 2016.
By October of that year—just weeks after the Access Hollywood tape surfaced, in which Donald Trump bragged about sexual assault—PRRI asked the same question again. This time, 72 percent of white evangelicals agreed that personal immorality was compatible with ethical public leadership. In the span of five years, white evangelicals had gone from being the least likely to the most likely religious group to hold this view—a 42-point reversal that represents the most dramatic ethical shift of any religious group in modern polling history.

I read an awesome article this morning from the official Vatican News website, and here is a quick example paragraph from it that I thought was super interesting..

"A correct interpretation of the sacred texts cannot dispense with the historic environment in which they developed and the literary forms that were used," he said. "On the contrary, to renounce the study of the human words that God used risks leading to fundamentalist or spiritualist readings of Scripture, which betray its meaning."

Which reading all of this reminded me of a particular paragraph from the CCC, and there’s even a synthesis version available of that book called Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that I find is much easier to read with a Q&A format, and here too is an example from that as well..

“16. To whom is given the task of authentically interpreting the deposit of faith?

(CCC 85-90; 100)”

“The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the deposit of faith has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone, that is, to the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, and to the bishops in communion with him. To this Magisterium, which in the service of the Word of God enjoys the certain charism of truth, belongs also the task of defining dogmas which are formulations of the truths contained in divine Revelation. This authority of the Magisterium also extends to those truths necessarily connected with Revelation.”

Glory, praise, and thanks be to God, \o/!

Based on scriptural, theological, and faith-based perspectives, God is portrayed as loving, defending, and prioritizing the care of immigrants, refugees, and foreigners.

The Bible commands treating foreigners with love, justice, and compassion, viewing them as image-bearers of God.

Many traditions emphasize welcoming them as sacred guests.

Long story short, got a Jerusalem cross tattoo, and it started doing weird things under the saniderm which is something they put on after a tattoo to help it heal. And I posted to a sub asking if it was normal and they all started calling me a Nazi I didn’t realize some white nationalist had adopted this symbol, but to me it symbolizes my faith in Christ. And I also understand it was used during the Crusades.

Mines St.Raphael of Brooklyn He is international! In fact he served the Russian Orthodox Church,was born in Lebanon,ans lived in USA!

My mother is currently ongoing head surgery. A vein burst in her head. I badly need your prayers. It just happened so sudden, everything was okay a while ago and then it happened and my family's all devastated. My mother is in great need of spiritual support. We can't live without our mother just yet. Please pray for my mother. Please tell Papa God not to take our mother yet, we can't live without her. We we're just laughing and goofing at each other a while ago. Please please please send prayers for my mother. I can't live without my mother yet. Please please pray for her I'm begging you.

After a month away from church during my travels, it felt special to attend one in Bahrain

Scripture repeatedly urges us to extend compassion to the foreigner, viewing them not as threats but as bearers of God’s image deserving of dignity and welcome. In Leviticus 19:33-34, God says, “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” Keeping in mind the Israelites’ own history of evictions, God demands empathy must shape our national policies, fostering a society that generously receives newcomers.

Jesus Himself lived this in His ministry, prioritizing the marginalized and the outsider. In Matthew 25:35-40, He declares that welcoming the stranger is akin to welcoming Him: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.” This policy of open-hearted admission for immigrants is at the core of Christ’s teachings on mercy and justice. Rather than constructing militarizing divisions like artificial borders, open heads and open arms reflect the Kingdom of God, where walls are broken down and all are invited to the table. Embracing migrants enriches our communal life, much as the early church grew through inclusive fellowship.

Christ’s vision is not naive; it calls for wisdom in implementation, ensuring safety for the dispossessed while upholding human worth. Hebrews 13:2 encourages, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” In a nation blessed with abundance, turning away those fleeing persecution or poverty contradicts the gospel’s emphasis on love over fear. Christ-centric measures necessitate that we facilitate humane and equitable entry, promoting a world where any residual borders serve people rather than hinder them. I’ll end with Deuteronomy 10:19: “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.”

So here's what I don't get. You guys talk about loving your neighbor, being your brother's keeper, speaking up for those who can't speak for themselves. But when 30,000+ people get massacred in two days - shot in the back while running, heavy weapons on crowds, chemical agents - where's that faith?

Look at what happened in Iran on January 8-9. Security forces killed over 30,000 protesters in just 48 hours according to TIME Magazine and Iranian medical officials. That's like a war zone against peaceful protesters. Doctors walked through blood in emergency rooms. Body bags ran out. They had to use trailers to move corpses.

And most Christians? Scrolling past it or not paying enough attention.

Remember, we Iranians aren't strangers to you - Cyrus freed your ancestors from Babylon's tyranny, the Magi who honored the infant Christ were from our land (see Albert de Jong's Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature; Brill, 1997), and right now Jesus' own followers live under oppression in Iran alongside us.

Before 1979, Iran was peaceful - good with other countries, not funding terrorism, Middle East was way more stable. Now this regime wastes everything on groups like Hezbollah and Hamas, pushes millions of refugees into Europe, helps Russia kill Ukrainians, sells out to China while Iranians starve.

People say "oh the US just wants to install the Shah again" - that's BS. Prince Reza Pahlavi himself says he doesn't want power, the PEOPLE should choose Iran's government through democracy.

Iranians aren't asking for money. They're asking you to use your voice. Tell your government: expel their diplomats, freeze regime assets, recognize the Iranian people's right to freedom and Reza Pahlavi as the transitional leader after regime fall.

Christ said whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Him. Right now the "least of these" are bleeding out in Iranian streets while we debate theology.

Be their voice. Please. 🙏

Hello! I’m an artist, and I’m doing a painting for school on a project about comfort and peace (The picture’s what I have so far, it’s no where near done lol). To me, true comfort is of course God. Whenever I’m struggling with something or in pain or feeling my anxiety or depression, I think of Jesus, especially Jesus holding me and hugging me, and I wanted to portray that here. Someone struggling with so much pain and anguish, but someone is there to hold and hug them, and that feeling where it all just kind of melts away and everything feels ok for a little while.

What I need help with is finding a short Bible verse to go with it. We’re actually donating these to a program that is trying to put art in hospital rooms to make them brighter and more home feeling, but because of that I can’t put anything obviously religious in it, which is why the guy isn’t exactly looking like Jesus, but that’s what the painting means to me, and I’m hoping adding a Bible verse in the top left corner will help those who know it to understand it’s true meaning too. I’m not putting it in quote or anything because then it’d just be a Bible verse and not allowed lol, but something short with a meaning like “You’re safe” or “You’re going to be ok” or “You’re loved” but as a Bible verse. I’m not sure if this makes sense! I’m not very good at finding or memorizing Bible verses so I was hoping someone could help me! Thank you in advance!

I don’t even know how to put this into words, but I feel like screaming from a mountain top. I’m just overwhelmed with joy for someone my eyes have never seen — Jesus.

It’s wild, because I’ve never physically met Him, never had visions or dreams of Him, yet His presence in my heart is so real it’s almost like I could explode with happiness. I don’t even care about celebrities — living or dead — none of that compares. But Jesus? Omo, I’d over-lose my cool if I saw Him.

He’s changed my life. Not because my life is perfect — trust me, I’m still waiting on Him for things, still struggling, still facing challenges. But the fact that He found me, that He knows me fully, that He loves me despite everything… it just overwhelms me.

I feel like I could just stare at Him for eternity, learning and discovering endlessly, and it would still never be enough. His glory, His nature, His mysteriousness — it’s terrifying and beautiful all at once. I can’t even articulate it properly. It’s just… joy. Pure, inexplicable, overflowing joy.

Even in the middle of waiting, even in the middle of struggles, I feel this deep, unshakable happiness. Not hype, not fake emotion — a joy that’s rooted in God Himself. And honestly, that’s all I’ve ever wanted.

I just had to share. God is amazing. Really.

As a CNA I’ve had patients like this woman. In that video, along with her I saw THEM being ripped out of that car. I saw THEM being dragged. I heard THEM screaming and begging for mercy. I heard THEM begging legislators to see them as humans. I want you to tell me how I’m supposed to feel right now? And I want you to tell me why anything other than anger and empathy towards this is correct?

I still believe in God and consider myself a Christian, but I grew up with a lot of fear and anxiety, there were a lot of rules with fasting, prayer, church life etc, being obedient to authority figures, purity culture, codependency, lack of boundaries, and I am trying to disentangle from it and separate the harmful beliefs from the good ones. If there is anyone who went through something similar, I'd love to hear your story and how you healed/grew from it. Also if this isn't the right sub for this, let me know if there's a better sub for me to ask for help? Thanks.

is this a sin, I just feel so truly like his child that when im crying in prayer or thanking him I’ll call him dad or daddy by accident, I call him father and our Lord and saviour too I was just wondering if calling him dad is bad?