“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.

  • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I wish Christians in red states were Christians.

    I’ve taken to begging churches in my state to investigate the states systemic refusal to investigate the physical and sexual abuse of children. I’ll see if our “Christians” believe in the words of Christ.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yeah, probably.

        But like Kierkegaard’s Knight of Faith, I’m attempting to make the infinite movement and have hope in the impossible. We’ll see if the someone shows up to save Isaac.

    • frezik@midwest.social
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      Strictly speaking, I don’t think there’s a single scripture that specifically calls out sexual abuse of children. There’s general prohibitions against sex outside of marriage and such, but nothing that applies directly to pedophilia.

      You get there by not being a monster. Literal, direct interpretations of the Bible won’t do it.

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

        Matthew 18:6

        It often interpreted to refer to people who are new to the faith, but I think that it includes children too.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      1 day ago

      I wish Christians in red states were Christians.

      They are whether you like that or not.

      I’ll see if our “Christians” believe in the words of Christ.

      Pretty sure your savior had a lot to say about judging others.

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        I don’t think they are. Just calling yourself Christian doesn’t mean you are.

      • WhatsTheHoldup@lemmy.ml
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        1 day ago

        They are whether you like that or not.

        “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

        -Matthew 7:21

        Pretty sure your savior had a lot to say about judging others.

        “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

        -Matthew 7:15

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          6 hours ago

          Wait, are you telling me the Bible is contradictory?!?

          No, that’s not right… Only the verses that apply RIGHT NOW matter and we need to ignore the rest.

          Or are you going to argue that according to the Bible, it’s other Christians who are actually the ones who are meant to judge?

          • WhatsTheHoldup@lemmy.ml
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            2 hours ago

            Wait, are you telling me the Bible is contradictory?!?

            I’m not telling you anything, I simply quoted it. Read the passages.

            If you see a contradiction then that’s what your brain is telling yourself.

            Or are you going to argue that according to the Bible, it’s other Christians who are actually the ones who are meant to judge?

            I’m not going to argue anything. I’m simply going to quote the Bible again.

            But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister[c] but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

            What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”

            -Corinthians 5:11-13

      • CalipherJones@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Faith Without Works Is Dead

        14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

        18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without [a]your works, and I will show you my faith by [b]my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is [c]dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made [d]perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [e]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

        25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

        26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

        • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          Oh? Please, explain to me how the “No true Scotsman” fallacy doesn’t apply to the argument.

          And do I really need to quote the verses about judging not lest ye be judged, and the plank in your own eye, etc?

          I have a pretty deep understanding of Christianity, which is why I’m disgusted by it.

          • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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            Please, explain to me how the “No true Scotsman” fallacy doesn’t apply to the argument.

            Yeah, sure, let’s do that. Throwing out some random fallacy names without understanding what the fallacy actually is is easy. Actually understanding what the referenced fallacy actually means is more difficult.

            So let’s go to the Wikipedia definition:

            The “no true Scotsman” fallacy is committed when the arguer satisfies the following conditions:[3][4][6]

            • not publicly retreating from the initial, falsified a posteriori assertion
            • offering a modified assertion that definitionally excludes a targeted unwanted counterexample
            • using rhetoric to signal the modification

            So u/andros_rex said:

            I wish Christians in red states were Christians.

            That was their initial assertion, which asserted that those who call themselves “Christians” in red states don’t follow the definition of what Christians are.

            To which you answered:

            They are whether you like that or not.

            So we have an initial assertion, which you didn’t falsify, you just claimed that it was false.

            To which u/ABetterTomorrow (note, a different user) answered

            ^understanding falls short.

            Which means, the original commenter didn’t change anything about the original assertion, and neither did u/ABetterTomorrow.

            Since no modification happened, points 2 and 3 or the definition of the “no true Scotsman” fallacy don’t apply either.

            The whole situation really has nothing to do with the “no true Scotsman” fallacy, except of sub-groups within a larger group being part of an argument.

            Which makes your argument that this is a “no true Scotsman” fallacy in fact a strawman argument, which itself is a fallacy.

            Do you now understand what the “no true Scotsman” fallacy is and why you should actually try to understand what terms mean before using them?

            Edit: What’s also important to know is why is the “no true Scotsman” fallacy a fallacy? It’s because the argument becomes a tautology, something that’s always true. “No true Scotsman will do X” means “A Scotsman who does X is no true Scotsman, thus no true Scotsman does X”. That’s always true, so it doesn’t mean anything. It takes the original claim “No true Scotsman will do X” and transforms it into a meaningless argument. That’s the fallacious part.

            What u/andros_rex actually said meant was “If you don’t follow Christ’s teachings, you shouldn’t call yourself a Christian”. It’s a subtile difference, but an important one. The “no true Scotsman” fallacy argues against doing X by saying that no true Scotsman would be doing X. But what u/andros_rex argues for is that these supposed Christians don’t live up to the standards of Christ/being a Christian. It’s basically the opposite reasoning.

          • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            Your understanding of Christianity seems more r/atheism and less informed by any actual engagement with the text.

            • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              6 hours ago

              I’m an atheist because I lived in an Evangelical Christian home for over 18 years. Are you sure you want to question my understanding just because I’m hostile toward it?

              • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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                I’m questioning your understanding of Christianity because you aren’t really providing evidence for any claims, you are mostly just angry posting. You seem to have religious trauma, and that is normal growing up evangelical. You assume that any argument you perceive of as “in defense of” Christianity to be being made by a Christian. You are reacting from a place of emotion, not logic.

                You are trying to make an argument from authority here. Growing up in a Christian household does not automatically make one an expert on the text of the Bible or the history of Christianity. (Have you read the entire Bible? Which translation?)

                You can’t apply “No True Scotsman” to Christianity because it is an ideology with many complicated and mutually exclusive beliefs. Can we call Mormons “Christians”? How is Catholicism different from American Protestant evangelical Christianity (versus say, Jamaican Protestant evangelical Christianity?)

                I’m assuming the Christianity which you were raised is the American Protestant evangelical Christianity, which is often less based on theological understandings of the Bible, and more about “sola scriptura” - reading random bits of the text and letting the Holy Spirit tell you what it means.

                This has a deeply different character from many other forms of Christianity, and might be understood by some as a perversion of the faith - especially with things like the popularity of “Prosperity Gospel” theology in this community. There’s an abandonment of works to focus entirely on faith - which I think is one of the ultimate failures of this version of the religion.

                I will not deny your experience with a form of Christianity, but you cannot generalize it to the whole.

                • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  6 hours ago

                  I know you think you’re accomplishing something, but I promise you that you’re wasting your time.

                  I have zero desire to prove to you my understanding of your hateful religion.

                  Go beat your Gentile slaves (but make sure you don’t beat them to death!)

      • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Matthew 25:41-46 is pretty clear on who the “goats” are.

        I’m not even a Christian, but that’s a really cute way to understand Matthew 7:1-3, and not really relevant here :)