[Book] God Is Disappointed In You Mark Russell 9/10

[Zigzag Idiot]

Every recovering evangelical should read God Is Disappointed In You.

Below is an excerpt from a good review I ran across.

Three years in the making, God is Disappointed in You is Russell's attempt to condense all sixty-six books of the Protestant Bible into an engaging, readable two hundred page book. So, you get Genesis to Revelation, in a nutshell. It's like those illustrated Children's Bibles — but with illustrations by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler. And adult language.

Actually, None, I'm thinking that Pastor-in-training and his fellow fundamentalists need to read it more than you do — although I doubt they could get past the adult language and irreverent tone. That's too bad, because there are some really lovely, profound parts too; and because they couldn't come away from the experience without acknowledging three things that would change, completely, the way they play religion and politics.

1. Evangelical Christians would have to recognize that both liberal and conservative voices are represented in the Bible and that we get to choose, accordingly, which characters and Scripture to prioritize.

On one of my hometown visits, someone from high school told me that it's impossible to be both religious and a liberal; I told him I felt the same way, provided a substitution of the word "liberal" for "conservative." In a way, we were both right.

A strength of Russell's book is that it modernizes the Biblical language to such an extent that passages seem like they could be from the mouths of (admittedly brash) Republican or Democratic Party presidential candidates. Some of the Republicans include Moses and Paul, both of whom are very concerned about how people behave, especially sexually; Ezra, who doesn't like foreigners and is all about securing borders; Nehemiah, who preaches hard work and actually builds the type of U.S.-Mexico border fence would make many in the GOP pea-green with envy; and Peter, John, and Jude who worry about false prophets and non-believers (i.e., people who think differently than they do) and warn Christians to stay away from them in a way that's reminiscent of Pat Robertson warning against feminists. Seriously.

Here's Russell's John, in his third letter: It’s always good when Christians can put aside their differences to help each other. The less we have to rely on pagans for help, the better. When a non-believer takes you in, they may start out feeding you dinner or making your bed, but it’s just a matter of time before they want you to join in their blood dances, or chicken worship, or whatever. 

And here's Pat Robertson: Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.

Some of the Democrats include Amos, who takes particular aim at both income inequality and prosperity theology; Micah, whose beef is also with income inequality — and self-righteousness; Zechariah, who is all about welfare programs; Jesus, who thinks we should just love and understand each other rather than try to pass laws about things that don't matter (*cough* defense-of-marriage laws *cough*); and James, who just wants you to be a community organizer and feed people already, damnit. Because this is my post, I'm pulling most of my quotes from and for the liberals, because they're my favorites.

Amos: God doesn’t give a heavenly shit about your church camps or your animal sacrifices as long as you’re evicting his people from their homes . . . So if somebody gets rich taking bribes or foreclosing on some old widow’s farm, you think that’s proof of their holiness? And if they sell the widow’s children to a salt mine, those kids must have had it coming? What planet do you live on? . . . A few dead widows and starving children may seem like a small price to pay so the rest of you can eat fresh grapes all year round, but let me tell you, wealth is temporary. The economy rises and it falls. Someday when the party comes to an end—and it always comes to an end— when our silky robes are in the pawn shop, and our strip malls are ghost towns, when that day comes, the only thing of value our people will have is the way we treat each other.

Micah: God doesn’t need any more boar meat or lamp oil. In fact, there are only three things God wants from you. Are you listening? Here it is, the entire Jewish religion in a nutshell: 1. Build a just society where the rich and powerful don’t get to treat the rest of us like livestock. 2. Don’t get all too cool for school whenever God tries to tell you something. Be humble. You’re never so holy that you can’t improve a little. And finally, 3. For gravy’s sake, help each other out once in a while. Don’t you understand? We’re here on Earth to make life better for each other.

Zechariah: God wants our obedience, but more than that, he wants a people who genuinely love him, and treat each other with respect. It doesn’t work to sing inside the temple and curse the widow begging on the steps.

Jesus: God isn’t interested in your laws. He doesn’t care about your sales figures. The only things God wants from you are the very things you lack: love and understanding.

James: Despite whatever Paul may have told you, don’t think that having faith in Jesus Christ means you can simply stumble into Heaven like a drunk crashing on the couch. God doesn’t give out medals just for believing the right things . . . What God wants from you isn’t your belief, but your dedication. Faith is nice, but by itself, it’s worthless. If you’re one of these Christians who’s full of faith, but who lets widows and orphans starve to death, you need to either start doing Christ’s work or start calling yourself something else. Faith without action is dead. There is no proof of your faith except for action . . . Nor should you judge each other. There is only one qualified judge in the entire Universe and that is God. So when you judge somebody, you’re basically telling God that you can do his job better.

Note: There are also, of course, conservative voices that say some really great things, as well as liberal voices that say some really head-scratching (and even downright disturbing things), because: humanization (i.e., revisit ^Micah's point^ about humility).

2. Evangelical Christians would have to recognize that the Bible is, in parts, not all that different from myths we read as kids, in that humans assume God suffers from their own prejudices and deals out rewards and punishments, from above, as he sees fit. Then, they'd have to move beyond that.

Russell's book reads like a Christian version of Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes — if Hamilton had more of a flair for comedy. Just like the Greek gods, the Judeo-Christian God is at various points fickle and jealous. He's open to bribes and is a bit of a gambler. He takes sides and has regrets. A few examples:

In which God regrets: When God saw the millions of dead bodies littering the ground, he wondered if maybe he’d overreacted. So God wanted to make it right. But what could he do? What could possibly make up for killing nearly every living thing on the planet? Finally, it occurred to him. He created this really sweet rainbow as a promise to never flood the Earth again. Everyone loves rainbows, right? 

In which God is open to bribes: The time had come for Solomon to build God his temple. God had given Solomon a set of blueprints to work from, and Solomon put tens of thousands of people to work on the building. When it was finished, it was a world class temple. Its interior walls were tastefully lined with carved cedar, except for the room where the Ark was going to be kept, where the walls were lined with solid gold. A little flashy, but that’s the way God liked things.

In which God takes a side: Elisha was bald and touchy about it. A lot of bald men are. When he arrived at the town of Bethel, he was teased by a group of boys who called him “baldy.” Elisha responded to their taunts by summoning a team of wild she-bears. The bears mauled the boys to death, leaving the bloody remains of forty-two children littered on the ground. Nobody knows why Elisha didn’t just summon a full head of hair.

All of the above is in the Bible, of course, but it's a lot more subtle and easy to ignore in a 1200+ page book than in a 200+ page book. In Russell's version, the idea that God — in a moment of bad temper — would kill either millions of people or a group of boys or that he is flashy is ridiculous, as is the whole reward-punishment system, as though God is some sort of heavenly Santa with a nice & naughty list. Moving beyond those ideas may be hard for fundamentalists, but it is possible and sounds something like this:

Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Gandhi: if God is one, as we believe, then he is the only God of all his people, whether they acknowledge him as such or not. God does not need us to protect him. Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks. God remains God, whether God has worshippers or not. ~ Archbishop Desmond Tutu

3. Evangelical Christians would have to recognize that there are passages in the Bible (re: forgiveness, love, and understanding) in which this very human book seems to get stamped with something more . . . divine. And then they'd have to give a lot of things a rest (e.g., hating on gay people, Beyoncé, Muslims, et al. — and, yes: I'm looking at you, Mike Huckabee).

Because you can't do ^any of those Huckabee-ish things^ when these ideas are stated oh-so-clearly (and multiple times) in both the Old and New Testaments:

From King Solomon: It’s enough to make one cynical, I know, but don’t give in to cynicism just yet. For I will let you in on one more secret I’ve discovered during my long and meaningless lifetime: Just because life is pointless, that doesn’t mean you get to sit around all day moaning about it. There’s still work to be done. You should still help the oppressed, take care of the abandoned, and make each other happy if and when you can. Just because there’s no point to any of it doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do.

About Jesus: While people loved his street magic, Jesus also started teaching his own religious philosophy, which rankled a lot of people. “I like the free fish and bread,” they’d complain, “But can’t he just leave religion out of it?” Jesus could not leave religion out of it. He went around telling people that all that really mattered was how much they loved God and how well they treated one another, which especially bothered the Pharisees, who considered themselves to be holy men because they meticulously followed all the thousands of rules laid out by Moses . . . Jesus had a lot of ideas about religion. His most important idea, though, was forgiveness. The ancient world in which he lived was all about revenge, killing, and constantly appeasing gods who would strike you with lightning just to watch you glow in the dark. Jesus thought, “Wouldn’t life be nice if we all simply forgave each other? If I forgave you, I wouldn’t feel the need for revenge. If you forgave me, I wouldn’t need to be looking over my shoulder all the time. If God forgave all of us, we would more love him as a father than fear him as a cosmic policeman . . . The old way is all about an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say if someone slaps you, offer him a shot at the other cheek. If he sues you for a coat, give him two. Why not? Sure, you’ll be down two coats, but mentally speaking, you’ll be able to move on. Let the other dude be consumed by guilt and pettiness for the rest of his life. Who needs it?”

In short, None, the evangelical Christian's favorite verse about Jesus being "the way, the truth, and the life" and "the only way to the Father" isn't about what they think it's about (i.e., an exclusive ticket to a country club in the sky). As Russell's Jesus would say:

"Metaphors, people!"

Rather, it means that following Jesus's example of reckless love and compassion is how we transcend what's human and become connected to what's divine. That's a truth worth sharing, one that costs much less than $200 — and is worth so much more.

Full review here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/6/17/1393734/-Why-GOD-IS-DISAPPOINTED-IN-YOU-is-a-Book-Every-Evangelical-Christian-Should-Read?

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Excerpt from the excerpt;

About Jesus: While people loved his street magic, Jesus also started teaching his own religious philosophy, which rankled a lot of people. “I like the free fish and bread,” they’d complain, “But can’t he just leave religion out of it?” Jesus could not leave religion out of it. He went around telling people that all that really mattered was how much they loved God and how well they treated one another, which especially bothered the Pharisees, who considered themselves to be holy men because they meticulously followed all the thousands of rules laid out by Moses . . . Jesus had a lot of ideas about religion. His most important idea, though, was forgiveness. The ancient world in which he lived was all about revenge, killing, and constantly appeasing gods who would strike you with lightning just to watch you glow in the dark. Jesus thought, “Wouldn’t life be nice if we all simply forgave each other? If I forgave you, I wouldn’t feel the need for revenge. If you forgave me, I wouldn’t need to be looking over my shoulder all the time. If God forgave all of us, we would more love him as a father than fear him as a cosmic policeman . . . The old way is all about an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say if someone slaps you, offer him a shot at the other cheek. If he sues you for a coat, give him two. Why not? Sure, you’ll be down two coats, but mentally speaking, you’ll be able to move on. Let the other dude be consumed by guilt and pettiness for the rest of his life. Who needs it?”

Brad Warner was inspired to paraphrase the 800 year old Shobogenzo after being shown how the Bible was paraphrased in God Is Disappointed In You. He says this in the beginning of Don't Be A Jerk which is how I discovered God Is Disappointed In You.