A friend who styles himself as “Reverend” on one of his Facebook pages posted this meme as a comment that it was “Pervasive…”

I now think I initially misread the word as persuasive. That is probably what baited my confusion and response.

Here is the meme he posted, which was just the following text without a picture:

• “The relationship with Jesus sold to people mirrors that of a relationship with an abusive partner, The same mental tricks are used. You're nothing without me, you aren't worthy of my love, you need me to be whole, I can save you, only I know what you need, you must submit to me, if you leave me there will be hell to pay. It's a scam, and an obvious one to a thinking mind.”

I had saw another posting when responding to a thought about heaven, it seemed to me as if he was lukewarm on the idea of heaven. I cant quite understand that. I have a great respect for long established faiths, such as the faith of Biblical Christians, or Old Testament Jewish people. I dont really understand modern takes such as “Reformed Judaism”. They really seem to me to lose the fundamental characteristics of the faiths, and are just so much invention, no better than any other new age faith.

So I wrote:

• The most negative possible spin on so many positive things. Oi vey! If all that is true and all there is to it, why bother at all with bible, reverend, church etc.? You are entirely free, if God, Jesus, and the Bible really is this terrible to ignore them, just have a good life now, and who cares about the after…. Its kinda like refusing to breath because air is polluted. But even that doesnt do justice to this brand of twist….
• sorry Raj, I really do respect your request to have a safe space here, these are obviously issues real people contend with. I have even thought on these ideas myself, noticed the possibilities to say things like this, bride of christ, all that. Weird vain thinking I didnt feel the need to further indulge.
• But I was kinda floored the other day to see you have a “reverend raj” account, and yet made a comment that seemed at best very lukewarm about the idea of heaven. How can this be? The sentiments in this meme, if taken to throw out everything in the Bible that could be related, dont seem to leave much left. For me, I dont entirely agree with the church you left behind, but this meme is such a stretch of misrepresentation of so much, it seems like Satans best way to douse everything associated. What is left to base any hope on?

My friend wrote back:

• to Garnet R Chaney - You are attaching a set of interpretations as truth. The Bible, church, ordination, carry a multiplicity of meanings. I have chosen to free myself from the orthodoxy of my upbringing.

I wrote back:

• I now realize I think I misread your original word as saying “Persuasive” not “Pervasive”. I apologize, my own misreading of that word is what I think threw me into a loop.. However, I am aware that you have formed some unique perspectives, and I am interested in a more substantive opinion from you on the answers you have found to the issues raised in the meme.

Someone else responded with Meme spin on how the list of books in the Bible was arrived at. I moved that discussion to another page.