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Aaron Lord

devlord@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year, 9 months ago

software dev in northern california • former worship leader now exvangelical, though the bulk of my reading history is theology • fiddle player 🎻 • INTJ • he/him

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Aaron Lord's books

To Read (View all 185)

Taylor Lorenz: Extremely Online (Hardcover, 2023, Simon & Schuster)
John Bradshaw: Dog Sense (Paperback, 2014, Basic Books)
Bessel van der Kolk, Bessel A. Van Der Kolk: The Body Keeps the Score (2014, Viking)

Currently Reading (View all 19)

Robert M. Sapolsky: Determined (2023, Penguin Publishing Group)
James S.A. Corey: The Mercy of Gods (AudiobookFormat, 2024, Recorded Books)
Scott Rosenberg: Dreaming in Code (2007, Crown)

Read (View all 264)

Talia Lavin: Wild Faith (Hardcover, 2024, Grand Central Publishing)
April Ajoy: Star-Spangled Jesus (2024, Worthy Publishing)
Blake Chastain: Exvangelical and Beyond (2024, Penguin Publishing Group)

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avatar for devlord Aaron Lord boosted

reviewed Good without God by Greg M. Epstein

Greg M. Epstein: Good without God (2009, William Morrow)

Review of 'Good without God' on 'Goodreads'

It gets a bit too touchy-feely in the second half. I should have expected it since the author is a humanist "chaplain". He wants humanists to do the things religious people do—meet on Sundays, have buildings, do weddings and funerals—basically turning humanism into something that is not secular at all, but just another faith in a pluralistic inter-faith society. Might as well just go full-bore Unitarian. Frankly, I'd rather spend my Sundays watching football or mowing the lawn... And if I wanted to give away my money I'd help other poor people instead of contributing to YABF (yet another building fund).

finished reading The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta

Tim Alberta: The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (Hardcover, 2023, Harper)

The award-winning journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic follows up his New York Times …

A great book. I am an exvangelical. Alberta has admitted he has not “deconstructed “, though he writes, “Biblical Christianity requires a constant reassessing of one’s beliefs and biases; deconstruction is something that should be done every single day.” Even though I left the church a decade ago, I still hold so much of church culture in myself. So I was able to understand where Alberta was coming from. This book is a great takedown of Trumpism and right-wing evangelicalism, if you can get past the author’s pro-life stance.

I just wish it had a different cover. Alberta’s intended audience is the Church. But there’s no way I could send a copy of this book to my dad, who really needs to read it. He’d throw it away on sight.

quoted The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta

Tim Alberta: The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism (Hardcover, 2023, Harper)

The award-winning journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic follows up his New York Times …

"When Trump mentioned Pence and the evangelical audience booed their brother in Christ, I said to myself, this is the final compromise," Thomas told me. "Here is your brother. Here is a man who worships the Lord that you claim to worship. Here is a man who goes to church every Sunday. Here is a man who has had only one wife and never been accused of being unfaithful. And you're booing him? As opposed to a serial adulterer? A man who uses the worst language you can think of and does every other thing you oppose? Explain that to me from a biblical perspective. Please."

— The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by  (Page 203)

quoted It's OK to Be Angry about Capitalism by Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders, Nichols, John: It's OK to Be Angry about Capitalism (2023, Crown Publishing Group, The, Crown)

Greed is not good. Massive income and wealth inequality is not good. Buying elections is not good. Profiting from human illness is not good. Charging people the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs is not good. Exploiting workers is not good. Monopolization of the economy by a handful of corporations is not good. Ignoring the needs of the most vulnerable among us-children, the elderly, and people with disabilities—is not good. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia are not good. For-profit prisons that make money by locking up poor people are not good. Wars and excessive military budgets are not good. Carbon emissions that destroy our planet are not good.

— It's OK to Be Angry about Capitalism by , (Page 99)

replied to Dr. Ferrous's status

@DrFerrous@hachyderm.io Calling it "evolution" was apt for me while I progressed away from young-earth creationism to old-earth evolutionary creationism and conservative politics to left-wing, all while remaining a Christian. But once I left it behind, the actual "tearing down" of the evangelical ways of thinking I was brought up with has required this "deconstruction." Even after 10 years of being an atheist I still have to catch myself sometimes to avoid old thought patterns.

reviewed Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies by David P. Gushee

No cover

David P. Gushee: Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies (2023, Eerdmans Publishing Company, William B.)

A proper takedown of Christian Nationalism, but it seems to be for a specific audience

Gushee correctly points out the errors in Christian Nationalism, but avoids the term because he dislikes it. He describes it as "authoritarian reactionary Christianity," which I dislike because "reactionary" seems to put them on the defensive justifiably, whereas in my opinion, Christian nationalists haven't been wronged and have nothing to defend themselves for.

His solution to the growing problem is a covenental approach towards society (as in Covenant Theology, see Puritans, Reformed Baptists), nurtured by participation in a Baptist polity. That is, as people are brought up in the church to participate in a local congregational church government, they are in training for a democratic participation/covenant in the broader community. But the covenental approach is decidedly religious in nature and fails to take the atheist into account, other than acknowledging separation of church and state and that "all are equal." It doesn't offer Enlightenment solutions because the covenant itself is …

finished reading Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies by David P. Gushee

No cover

David P. Gushee: Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies (2023, Eerdmans Publishing Company, William B.)

Gushee correctly points out the errors in Christian Nationalism, but avoids the term because he dislikes it. He describes it as "authoritarian reactionary Christianity," which I dislike because "reactionary" seems to put them on the defensive justifiably, whereas IMO they haven't been wronged and have nothing to defend themselves for.

His solution to the growing problem is a covenental approach towards society (as in Covenant Theology), nurtured by participation in a Baptist polity. But the covenental approach is decidedly religious in nature and fails to take the atheist into account, other than acknowledging separation of church and state and that "all are equal."

quoted Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies by David P. Gushee

No cover

David P. Gushee: Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies (2023, Eerdmans Publishing Company, William B.)

The Baptists had. insisted that the way Jesus made disciples was by teaching and persuasion, not by co-ercion. They held that the government has no competence in religion, and when it seeks to enforce faith it creates wars of religion and hypocrites who claim a faith they do not actually hold. ... Flollowing a thicker Jesus rules out coercion and thus contributes to religious liberty. The sovereignty of God through all of life requires Christian responsibility in every area and thus bestows democracy to society. -Glen Harold Stassen (2012)

— Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies by  (Page 144)

A firm rebuke of #ChristianNationalism