“I never imagined that the Baptists I knew in my youth would come to seem mellow, almost slackers by comparison”

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I’ve talked to people who say they’ve happily dispensed with God, and don’t even find the general idea comprehensible. But a few, having announced they’re free of cant, spend many nervous hours assembling authority structures and a sense of righteousness by bricolage and Fitbit, nonfiction book clubs and Facebook likes.

I never imagined that the Baptists I knew in my youth would come to seem mellow, almost slackers by comparison. Of course they promoted Jesus as a once-and-done, plug-and-play solver of problems — another questionable approach.

Megan Hustad, “The Church of TED”, The New York Times (15 March 2015), SR4.

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