okay, so: former christian clergy and current head of a pagan cult (i worship the god of convergent evolution, blasphemy, gluttony, and atheism) current membership 4, 5 when my mormon mother is humoring me and comes to the crab shack for lunch. my current job is church musician because the instrument [not gonna say which. ask and i’ll say yes] i play is very very expensive, i can’t afford one (i literally only have ever met one individual who owns one) and churches tend to own them. i can trade my services for an hour a week of practice time and two songs performance time a month unless i can figure out a way to move at least 2500 miles to ply my musical trade for real. or someone wants to give me 76 grand for an instrument.
christianity’s commandment to love people does not conflict with the paradox of tolerance. you’re not just commanded to love your neighbors, you’re commanded to love your enemies.
there’s a lot of cultural bullshit in the turn the other cheek and etc shit in the parables jesus teaches. like, slapping someone on the right cheek was a small insult, but slapping them on the left cheek was a big one. so turning the other cheek doesn’t just mean give them another chance to hurt you, it’s teaching the christians of that time that if someone is insulting you by slapping you in the face, a very culturally specific insult, give them the other cheek and invite them to make it a bigger insult. be like “hey i know i’m a christian and all. show everyone around here how big and tough you are picking on me”. i try to think about it. i’ve tried it. Deescalation through escalation.

like Giles Corey.