Having fun with church names and more

As I've said a number of times here and elsewhere, I'm not a Gnu Atheist.

I understand psychology of religion, and its evolutionary background, for one thing.

For another, per religion and "-isms," and observations like that of Camus in "The Rebel," Gnu Atheism is itself quasi-religious in its sociology if not lacking metaphysical beliefs, and many Gnus might be lost without the idea of a god against whom to rebel.

I also appreciate the spirit of the psychology of religion. Between personal CDs and my YouTube library, I have a dozen or so requiems and nearly two dozen other masses, along with Jewish and Sufi Muslim sacred music.

That said, I have no problem poking the Religious Right in America in the eyeball when it leaves it open.

First, we have all these cowboy churches. No cowgirl churches? No cowboy plus cowgirl churches?

Should we have a Brokeback Jesus Cowboy Church then?

Second, we have all these "Bible" churches, like Believers Bible Church. Ignoring their own names for their assemblies, I'd just love to see a Believers Tanakh Church or a Believers Quran Church.

Within that genre, I saw the "Real Life Bible Church." As if a church is going to talk about fake life? This reminds me of all the restaurants offering "authentic" Mexican food. Like you're going to get Chinese food instead? Chow mein disguised as fajitas?

Third, these Bible verses that get quotes, especially the anti-abortion ones. (As most of the Religious Right is hugely pro-death penalty, hugely anti-gun control and hugely anti-national health care, these folks are anti-abortion. Not pro-life.) The ones that are full of lies because there's not a single verse in either one of the two Christian testaments that is explicitly about abortion.

Like Jeremiah 1:5:
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

I respond:
After I had been out of the womb long enough, and learned to read things on my own, and think things on my own, I knew that you didn't exist.

Bible autographing is a thing?

Everybody and their grandmother mentioned in the Biblical genealogy of Two Corinithians has by now heard of Trump autographing Bibles for Alabama tornado victims.

This:

President Trump is signing bibles for  volunteers and survivors at a Baptist church in Alabama. pic.twitter.com/9b8VfyZiKF

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) March 8, 2019

is yet another reason this leftist, contra Arlie Russell Hochschild and fellow librulz, doesn't do "listening tours."

And actually, Trump autographing bibles (did he sign the first page of "Two Corinthians"? did he get his "cracker" [of the many crackers there]?) is only half as vulgar and one quarter as irreligious as the people who asked him for the autographs.

And, it's not just "the left" calling Trump out, contra fellow travelers at Red State:

I don’t know who it is a worse commentary on: Trump actually signing Bibles in Alabama, or the people asking him to sign a Bible.  Lordy Moses.

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) March 8, 2019

That said, if Obama also did it, even for MLK's family, it's still theologically grotesque in my corner of the world.

But, that's Merikan Xianity, especially Southern style, in my corner of the world.

And, having grown up Lutheran, not Baptist or Church of Christ, even before becoming a secularist, it's not really "my corner of the world"; I just live here.

And, if the "Mammon" of which Jesus warned includes fame as well as money, this secularist, looking from the outside, says it is un-christian. It's also halfway to being a success gospel.

I have little doubt that Episcopalians and Catholics, as well as Lutherans, north or south, would look askance.