I think biblical scholarship is very important, especially when we operate outside of our normal area of expertise. This passage by itself would not prove anything, but it might lay some foundation for others later on to make the argument that parts of the early church recognized the sinfulness inherent to slavery. I should add, the passage in 'The Shepherd of Hermas' text I reference is found in 50:8. This could also be referring to some kind of debt forgiveness, but I'm not sure. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #elca
I get accused of twisting the bible to fit political narratives which is pretty funny, because reading the bible is what changed my political viewpoints. When Jesus says we're called to serve everyone, I think it's important than we listen to him. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #ELCA
Does the average person have the ability to change the systems of sin they’re wrapped up in? Certainly, though again, we have to be careful of hypocrisy here. It’s easy to claim that other people should have fought against said systems, while we do no such thing in our own lives. All Americans are complicit in the crimes of our government, unless we are doing everything we can to prevent these crimes. When we view our actions in a very charitable light, and view others actions as fundamentally evil, we are sinning against our neighbor. Do some people deserve consequences for their actions? Yes. Many more people should have had *consequences* at Nuremberg. Likewise for many wars America has fought. Jesus calls us all to account for the harm we’ve caused. Let’s just remember that all of us are caught up in these systems of sin, and still receive God’s mercy despite that (Lutheran’s call this idea Law and Gospel). #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #elca
Jesus calls us to love our neighbor, and Martin Luther suggests we should view our neighbor in the best light possible. Now for people who have no such qualms about the policies of the Trump Administration, and seem to relish the cruelty of the current regime, using the WWII epithet might be more appropriate. However, when everybody we disagree with is given the same label, that label loses most of its power. There’s a lot to be angry about in our country, but coalition building is going to go a lot farther than going with a ‘perfect’, but miniscule ideological group. I’ll also add that horrific party did a lot of terrible things before what they are ultimately known for, such as book burnings, harassing queer people, and throwing their enemies in jail, so it is somewhat accurate to use that term for people who are doing those things. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #elca
Caveat: First, I’m not an economist, nor a social scientist. I’m just a pastor who wants to live in a world where people have their basic needs met so they can thrive, each in their own way. I’ll add there’s a lot more going on here than I can name (or even understand). Texas is number 2 on the list of millionaires (no income tax) and Florida is number 4 (also no income tax). While the lack of income tax probably draws some people in, I think regardless of taxes, both these states would have a high proportion of millionaires, simply due to their population and relative appeal. I’m sure there’s been some moving from high tax states to low tax states, but high tax states offer a lot of advantages over low tax states. Nice things cost money, if anyone should know that, it’s the wealthiest Americans. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #elca
Please ask your own ‘confirmation’ questions in the comments, they might make it into a future video! Shout out to Joe for this good question from a few months ago. Also, this whole conversation is loosely inspired, but certainly not word for word. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #elca #lutheran
It is always tricky to talk about violence generally, and I know this seems like I’m waffleing, considering my last video. However, in my opinion these two problems (slavery & SA) are substantially different. American Chattel Slavery is persistent (people aren’t slaves sometimes), geographically situated (often tied to a plantation), and easier to prove. SA is irregular (doesn’t always happen continually), dispersed (not tied to any area), and difficult to prove. John Brown could roll up to a plantation and easily figure out who was enslaved. It would be much harder for him to determine who had been SA’d, given that those actions were often between two individuals.
Does this mean we should let perpetrators of SA go? Certainly not, their victims deserve retribution, and others need to see the consequences of harming others. I just think we should not default to violence, given the complexity. However, sometimes it may be warranted. Much of my hesitancy around starting with violence for people accused of SA comes from studying the history of lynching in the US. It was very common for a black man (or boy in many horrific cases) to be accused of SA a white woman, then to be murdered by a racist mob. These stories are often ignored by white Americans, but it is our generational sin. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #elca #lutheran
First, credit to KC Defender on IG for originally posting about this.
Second, the vast majority of Christians who use violence are not using it to liberate the oppressed, they’re doing it to hold onto or gain power. That is sinful, and we need to repent of the greed that leads to it.
Third, this is decidedly not about the attempt made last night, whether it was legitimate or staged. I’m just speaking about John Brown’s action and the actions of the US after the evil Confederacy was defeated.
Fourth, John Brown was right. Read W.E.B. Du Bois’ biography if you want to get a better understanding of the man. He was one of the few white Christians who viewed Black Americans as human beings is his time, and certainly does not get enough credit. He did not lean into violence due to his violent nature, he started with advocacy, then couldn’t bear to see his siblings in Christ under the whip of slavery. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #elca #lutheran
(sorry I had to repost this due to a thumbnail mistake)
AI is going to centralize power in a way that is very detrimental for the majority of people. Unless there are substantial safeguards put in place, this is going to create a massive power imbalance between the large corporations that control these AI models, and the vast majority of workers who are totally replaceable by said AI models. I’m not even mentioning the risk of some scifi AI overlord, or the way that AI is a detriment to our own ability to think. Look at the history of labor in the United States, and find me a time when workers lost substantial power in the economy and ultimately benefited from that loss of power. Capitalism is all about extracting wealth from the working class, and when that working class has no more value to offer, they are discarded (look at rural America as an example of this). I honestly don’t have a good solution to this, but I think having an effective tax code would be a good start.
There certainly are some good uses for AI (the captions to this video were generated that way) but I think ultimately the negatives are far going to outweigh the positives, unless we put significant safeguards in place.
America should not participate in the murder of the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Those responsible for war crimes and atrocities must be held accountable. End US aid to Israel. #progressiveclergy #pastorpauldrees #elca #lutheran
The Pastor Lab is this week! If you would like to learn more about posting on social media, please sign up at pauldrees.com ! It's ok if you're not a member of the clergy, but just know this is mostly focused for people who are serving in that role. Registration is 25 dollars, and we have partial and full scholarships available! We hope to see you there! #progressiveclergy #podcastsandpastors #howdoilookgoodontheinternet
