Don't F**k With Jesus
"Don’t F**k With Jesus" by Shawn McCraney explores the distortions and myths surrounding Jesus of Nazareth, aiming to uncover his true essence beyond religious misrepresentations and historical malignments. The book challenges contemporary cultural and personal portrayals of Jesus as being far a afield from biblical accuracy, emphasizing his radical nature and his challenge to societal norms and power structures. It addresses misconceptions about his name, deity, message, and return, as well as cultural and doctrinal distortions.
Sample: Don't F**k With Jesus: A Brief History
I was raised a Mormon; that is, a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I lived the faith for forty years, doing all of the expected things—a full-time mission, temple marriage, local callings—the whole shebang. But all along, to some degree or another, I was a seeker of truth and a questioner of the strange "this-stuff-doesn’t-add-up-to-me" history and doctrines. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Mormonism and questioning aren’t conducive to a lifelong meaningful relationship, and in 2001 I left that religious empire for what can only be described as non-denominational American Evangelicalism.
I spent seven full years there—even went to a full-time Bible college for two of those years—as a means to try and really see firsthand what the Christian faith was all about. Freshly poured cement looks so nice and clean while it’s wet, but once it begins to dry, the inevitable cracks start to appear. After several years (and like my experience in Mormonism), the deep faults in American Evangelicalism began to surface and only grew deeper with time.
It has taken twenty-five years of personal study, teaching through the New Testament verse by verse, and hosting a weekly streaming show on a YouTube channel for me to now see the forest instead of just the trees when it comes to what we call Christianity. My conclusion is this: organized religion has f**ked with Jesus in a number of unconscionable ways.
Understand, I wanted and sought a direct, unencumbered relationship with God through His Son for much of my life. I got that and it’s not going anywhere for far too many reasons to articulate. But what I discovered along the way from the hands of religious men and women I trusted is frankly shocking. So shocking that the only way to really capture what they have done is to call it f**kery, a more vulgar expression than, bullsh*t.
This book contains some short summaries of what I have discovered. Because I have spent decades reading and teaching through the Bible and have relentlessly eschewed unfounded religious tradition, exposing it as often as necessary, I will appeal somewhat to what that collection of writings we call the Bible says contextually to support my findings – not by citing chapter and verse all that much – but to general principles in plain English.
If you want to keep your religious delusions of Jesus alive in your life, don’t read this book. “Just keep talkin bout Jeezus,” – I love you the same. But if you are like me, and you actually care about the truth (with a capital T) read on. Then get mad.
I’ve chosen to stand up to all the religious bullsh*t that good, God-seeking people have been fed for, in some cases, thousands of years, because I think, in the end, something good can happen as a result. It’s something that the real Jesus taught, when He said, “The truth (with a capital T) will set you free.”