Pub Theology 11/18/25 -- Jesus ex machina

First a disclaimer: Despite appearances to the contrary, this is neither a book review nor an endorsement of the new book by actor, comedian, and political commentator John Fugelsang titled "Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person's Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds." From the title you get the general idea of where the author is going with this. Fugelsang's story is a compelling one. He was raised in a large politically, ethnically, religiously, and racially diverse family as a progressive Roman Catholic by a mother who was a former nun and a father who was a former Franciscan monk. As he puts it in the introduction to his book, "I am here because two people broke a promise to God." What he wrestles with in this book is how to come to terms with, and then fight back against, what he views as the hijacking of Christianity and the abandonment of the faith that Jesus taught by religious and political leaders who have perverted the religion in the pursuit of their own power and selfish interests. In the introduction, Fugelsang writes: "This is a book about what Christianity started out as, what it became, and why it's still worth fighting for. ... The extreme right uses Jesus' name as camouflage. This is a guide to camouflage removal." In building our conversation this week around this book, I acknowledge from the start that none of us have (probably) read it. My copy is on its way thanks to The House of Bezos. In the meantime, you can read Fugelsang's introduction by clicking on this link . You can also watch Fugelsang's appearance on The Daily Show by following this link. But I think we can still have a quality discussion around some of what he raises. First, before we talk about the message, let's talk about the messenger. Fugelsang admits that he is no member of the clergy, nor scholar, nor theologian. So what qualifies him to write this book and level the critiques he makes? In short, does the messenger matter? Some quotes from the book will also serve as spurs to our conversation. “I generally trust people who are seeking the truth; I tend to be wary of those who claim they’ve found it.” “I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.” (Quoting Susan B. Anthony) “In focusing on what cannot be proven, many Christians fall into the trap of a Christianity that’s more about defending the supernatural than embodying the moral teachings of Jesus. It’s not the miracles driving people away from religion, it’s the Christians who don’t live by Jesus’s words about how we’re supposed to treat each other.” “[R]emember—if your church isn’t telling you to love your enemies but keeps telling you who your enemies are, you’re not really in a church.” “And that’s the point. We’re called to follow Christ, not the Bible. In fact, please understand this: the Bible does not tell us to follow the Bible. The Bible tells us to follow Christ. But Biblical Christians follow the Bible. They do not, in fact, attempt to follow Christ.” “Not only are Christians supposed to prioritize following Jesus’s words above the other parts of the Bible, that’s also quite literally why this religion got its name.” “These were the fundamentalists, the power-hungry grifters who took advantage of the fact that most people don’t know the Bible all that well. They were charlatans, frauds, hypocrites, and villains. And they made for great TV.” “Spiritual people use religion to become better people. Fundamentalists use religion to pretend they’re better than other people.” “And I was taught—relentlessly—that Christianity was about the things Jesus prioritized: Service to others. Forgiveness. Caring for the poor, the sick, the stranger, the prisoner. Fighting injustice with nonviolence, like Dr. King and Gandhi. Standing up for the less fortunate, like Dorothy Day and Catholic Charities. Love. Empathy. Compassion.” Obviously, no collection of cherry-picked quotations can capture the totality of Fugelsang's argument. But it can be our jumping off point for discussion. Join us tomorrow evening, Tuesday Oct. 7, starting at 7pm at Irish Tavern in downtown Lake Orion.