by
Mark
Wilson/Getty
Images)
Like
John
Fugelsang,
I
was
raised
strictly
Catholic.
However,
a
lot
of
variation
falls
under
the
umbrella
of
“strictly
Catholic,”
and
the
unique
backstory
of
his
parents
early
in
his
book
“Separation
of
Church
and
Hate”
is
worth
the
purchase
price
alone.
Furgelsang
definitely
put
in
his
time
promoting
the
book,
and
I’d
heard
him
speak
in
the
course
of
a
number
of
media
appearances
before
I
finally
picked
up
a
copy
a
little
over
a
week
ago.
I
was
about
halfway
through
when
Donald
Trump
posted
his
lengthy
tirade
trashing
the
pope
and
posted
an
AI
slop
image
depicting
himself
as
Jesus
Christ.
Trump’s
blasphemous
social
media
posts
didn’t
especially
bother
me.
I
abandoned
Catholicism
about
13
years
ago,
and
even
if
I
hadn’t,
I
am
far
more
indignant
about
Trump’s
real-world
outrages
than
his
disgusting
presence
in
cyberspace.
When
the
president
has
already
sent
unaccountable
masked
goons
to
murder
American
citizens
in
the
streets,
what’s
yet
another
display
of
distasteful
idolatry
on
the
internet?
That
being
said,
I
went
to
a
Catholic
law
school,
almost
all
of
my
family
members
are
still
Catholic,
and
I
understand
anyone
of
any
religion
being
upset
about
a
sitting
president
mocking
one
current
and
one
former
head
of
their
church.
It’s
not
difficult
to
empathize
with
those
who
were
displeased
to
see
Trump
baselessly
attack
the
pope
and
compare
himself
to
Jesus.
“Separation
of
Church
and
Hate”
was
the
perfect
thing
to
be
reading
as
this
latest
Trump
controversy
unfolded.
It
has
been
easy
to
be
resentful
of
the
highly
religious
among
us
for
causing
this
mess
to
begin
with.
Churchgoing
Catholics
went
for
Trump
over
Kamala
Harris
55%
to
43%.
Protestants
voted
for
Trump
62%
to
36%.
Fugelsang
made
it
a
lot
easier
for
me
to
accept
that
a
relatively
small
number
of
zealots
who
don’t
actually
practice
what
Jesus
taught
are
largely
responsible
for
these
margins.
I’ve
read
the
Bible.
Yeah,
all
of
it.
While
this
puts
me
far
ahead
of
most
people
who
claim
to
believe
in
this
stuff,
it’s
a
hard
holy
book
to
follow.
The
Bible
is
so
full
of
contradictions,
nonsense,
rules
that
don’t
and
were
never
meant
to
apply
to
21st
century
Christians,
irrelevant
measurements,
and
exhaustive
lineages
that
it
really
self-dilutes
the
part
that
matters:
the
teachings
of
Jesus.
Fugelsang
does
great
work
in
separating
the
wheat
from
the
chaff
in
the
source
material
and
in
explaining
why
it
makes
sense
to
do
so
even
(maybe
especially)
from
a
believer’s
perspective.
Jesus
was
a
radical.
He
preached
nonviolence.
He
championed
the
poor,
questioned
authority,
and
was
definitely
anti-wealth.
He
was
against
the
death
penalty.
He
was
pro-woman
2,000
years
before
it
finally
just
barely
started
to
become
cool.
He
never
mentioned
abortion.
He
never
said
anything
anti-gay.
In
fact,
in
one
story
Jesus
went
out
of
His
way
to
heal
a
young
man
who,
based
on
the
context
and
the
historical
conventions
of
the
time,
was
likely
the
homosexual
lover
of
a
Roman.
Any
Christian
would
benefit
from
reading
“Separation
of
Church
and
Hate.”
But
so
would
any
nonbeliever.
Like
it
or
not,
we
all
have
to
share
the
world
with
people
of
many
different
faiths,
or
no
faith
at
all,
and
whatever
you
believe,
Jesus
makes
a
lot
of
good
points
simply
as
a
philosopher.
When
I
finish
“Separation
of
Church
and
Hate,”
I’m
not
going
back
to
Mass.
But
it’s
already
reminded
me
that,
when
you
stop
selectively
focusing
on
the
parts
of
the
Bible
that
are
clearly
wrong
as
applied
to
modern
life
and
faith
(much
of
the
Old
Testament
isn’t
a
healthy
place
to
dwell)
and
instead
focus
on
Christ’s
actual
deeds
and
teachings,
Jesus
clearly
had
so
much
staying
power
for
a
reason.
Treat
others
as
you
would
like
to
be
treated
—
doesn’t
get
much
more
profound
than
that.
Now
if
only
we
could
get
a
few
more
self-identified
Christians
to
really
try
to
live
by
it.
Whether
you’re
Christian
or
not,
pick
up
a
copy
of
Fugelsang’s
book
if
you
want
to
counter
the
poison
that
is
Trump’s
self-deifying
social
media
presence.
I
guarantee
that
Fugelsang’s
actions
as
an
author
are
a
lot
closer
to
what
Jesus
would
have
done
under
present
circumstances
than
whatever
it
is
Trump
is
doing
lately.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].