How Tyrants Weaponized the “One Body”

Hey! They Skipped a Verse!

The Roman Catholic Lectionary is a rather interesting thing at times. This week, a verse quietly disappeared from the readings for Trinity Sunday, and that omission reveals a lot about moral evolution, generational trauma, and the uncomfortable reality that even religious institutions edit their sacred traditions to match changing human values! The fact is that ancient ideas about inherited punishment eventually collided with growing concepts of compassion and individual accountability. But this isn’t just about ancient times because all of this still matters today as we struggle to break cycles of harm in our own families, communities, and societies! One of the things I find genuinely fascinating about organized religion is how often it quietly edits itself while simultaneously insisting that its truths are eternal and unchanging. And honestly, nowhere is that more visible than in the Lectionary readings used in many churches. For those unfamiliar, a Lectionary is simply a pre-selected schedule of scripture readings used during worship services. It determines which passages get read publicly and which ones… mysteriously remain out of sight… kind of like that weird cousin who eats by himself in front of the TV during Thanksgiving dinner. This week’s reading from Exodus is a perfect example. In the Roman Catholic Lectionary, the reading jumps from Exodus 34:6 directly to verse 8. That seems harmless enough until you realize that verse 7 is doing the theological equivalent of pounding on the locked door it was shoved behind, screaming, “Hey! You skipped something important! Don’t forget me!” Well, we’re not going to ignore it or just skip over it. We’re going to take a good hard look at Exodus 34:7 and talk about exactly what it means… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe [https://www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

More Than Good Intentions

Service is much more than kindness or charity. Real service means standing beside imperfect people, building peace in divided communities, and giving something real of yourself to help others flourish. Have you ever noticed how often people talk about love, compassion, and caring for others… while rarely being willing to sacrifice anything meaningful to actually help? We live in a world overflowing with inspirational slogans, social media outrage, and empty “thoughts and prayers.” But real service costs us time, comfort, energy, patience, or resources. And that kind of service has become surprisingly rare. Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.” As we reflect on the readings for Trinity Sunday, we’ll explore what genuine service actually looks like: standing beside imperfect people, doing the exhausting work of peacemaking, and giving something real of ourselves to help sustain our communities. In this episode, we’re asking a difficult but deeply practical question: What happens when caring becomes performative instead of sacrificial? Because honestly, it’s hard to build healthy families, communities, or societies when everybody wants the appearance of compassion without paying any of the actual cost. CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe [https://www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

How Tyrants Weaponized the “One Body”

What if one of Christianity’s most famous metaphors was also one of history’s most effective tools for social control? Unfortunately, the “one body, many parts” imagery from 1 Corinthians has been used by empires, kings, churches, and modern corporations to convince ordinary people to “know their place” for the good of the system. “We are all one body.” It sounds beautiful, right? A message of unity, care, and radical empathy. But what happens when a tyrant uses that exact same phrase to keep you in your place? For thousands of years, rulers, kings, and modern CEOs have weaponized the Bible’s “one body” metaphor to argue that because you are the “foot,” your holy duty is to walk in the dirt and never question the “head.” I think it’s time to pull back the curtain on how a text meant for “community care” became history’s ultimate tool for social control and how corporate culture still uses it against you today. From Ancient Rome to modern workplace culture, empathy and interdependence has been twisted into obedience. This is a fact. The question we face now is how to reclaim those ideas in ways that actually support human dignity, equality, and flourishing! So, let’s dive into that… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe [https://www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The Courage to Understand

What if empathy is more than kindness? This week’s readings explore the difficult work of crossing tribal divides, valuing human differences, and showing up for people in moments of fear and pain. In a world driven by outrage and isolation, empathy may be one of the most radical and necessary human skills we have left. Have you noticed how difficult it has become for people to truly listen to one another? We live in a world where everybody is talking, arguing, posting, reacting, and defending their tribe, but very few people seem willing to slow down long enough to understand somebody else’s experience. Fear, outrage, politics, religion, culture, and social media have all combined to make empathy feel less like a strength and more like a liability. Welcome to Mythologizing the Bible, where we’ll be taking a look at three readings from the Christian Bible through the lens of “sacred myth.” As we reflect on the readings for Pentecost Sunday, we’ll explore what empathy really requires of us: learning how to cross cultural divides, value human differences, and show up for people in moments of fear, pain, and vulnerability. In this episode, we’re asking an uncomfortable but important question: What happens to families, communities, and entire societies when people stop seeing each other as human beings and start treating one another like enemies, outsiders, or obstacles to overcome? Because honestly, we’re watching that happen all around us right now. CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe [https://www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

THE GOSPEL OF EMPIRE

What if the “Great Commission” wasn’t primarily about love or community but about conquest? I think it’s time we explore how Christianity’s most celebrated mandate became the ideological engine for colonialism, cultural erasure, and modern “savior” politics. And I also think it’s time for Christians to challenge themselves to imagine a form of community that’s built on solidarity instead of conversion! For centuries, Western civilization has wrapped its worst atrocities in the language of supreme benevolence. We are taught to look at the ‘Great Commission’ of Matthew 28, the command to go and make disciples of all nations, as a beautiful blueprint for global love, charity, and connection. But what if the most celebrated mandate in Christian history isn’t a message of community at all? What if it is actually the foundational operating system for global supremacy, cultural erasure, and cosmic colonialism? In this episode, I bust through the beautiful stained glass image of the Great Commission to expose how five verses in the Gospel of Matthew provided the psychological and legal permission to conquer the world, and why mainstream believers are still running that exact same operating system today. So, let’s talk about Cosmic Colonialism… in this episode of Afterthoughts! CODA Project is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to CODA Project at www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe [https://www.thecodaproject.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]