Divorce may be one of Jesus' most difficult teachings and one of the most weaponized. In Part 13 of Unlearning Empire, we wrestle with what Jesus actually says about divorce, the patriarchal world behind the text, and the shame Christianity has placed on people whose marriages ended. Marriage is sacred. And so are the human beings inside it.

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What does Jesus' command "Do not swear at all" have to do with a world of spin, propaganda, alternative facts, and "God said"? In Part 14 of Unlearning Empire, we explore how Jesus moves beyond simply telling the truth toward becoming the kind of people whose lives can be trusted. In a culture built on manipulating reality, truth becomes an act of resistance.

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What if "turn the other cheek" was never meant to teach oppressed people how to become better victims? For centuries, these words of Jesus have been used to tell people to stay quiet, endure abuse, and submit to oppression. But what if Jesus was actually teaching something far more disruptive, a way to resist evil without becoming what we resist? Maybe turning the other cheek isn't surrender. Maybe it's resistance.

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They told us Jesus said sexual desire was dirty. Don't lust. Don't touch yourself. Don't look. Don't think about it. And women? Cover up so you don't cause men to stumble. But what if we got this passage completely backward? Jesus isn't teaching us to fear our sexuality. He's teaching us how to take responsibility for its power.

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Jesus said if you're angry, you're liable to judgment. If you call someone a fool, you're in danger of hell. What do we do with that? In Part 11 of Unlearning Empire, we talk about anger, dehumanization, reconciliation, and how these words of Jesus have been used to silence the very people who have every right to be angry.

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In Part 10 of Unlearning Empire, we explore biblical authority, interpretation, and why the point may not be to simply quote the words but to become them.

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Jesus didn't call the powerful the salt and light of the world. He gave those names to the people the empire overlooks. What if changing the world has less to do with gaining power and more to do with preserving what is good and revealing another way to be human?

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What if what American Christianity calls persecution is actually the loss of privilege? In Part 8 of Unlearning Empire, we explore Jesus' final Beatitude and why justice, mercy, peace, and truth inevitably collide with empire. Persecution was never Christianity's greatest threat. Power was.

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