Progressive Methodism: Founded on Love, Part 1
"Christianity is a lifestyle - a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established "religion" (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one's "personal Lord and Savior" . . . The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great." Richard Rohr(1) A couple of weeks ago, in the flurry of responses to the monumental mistake made at the Special Session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church, I wrote a post affirming several basic points about what I think should characterize a Progressive Methodism as part of a Progressive Christian movement. Today I want to focus on the first affirmation, "Love." What I wrote in that post was: It is all about love. It begins with love. Its basi...