Applying the Rule at the Highest Level

I have written about how one of the most surprising -- at least to me -- reactions to The No Asshole Rule has been the small, but vehement, group of religious folks who have endorsed the book.  Richard Beck over at Experimental Theology has been especially supportive, first writing a post about how he read from The No Asshole Rule in a bible studies class to make the point that the book's main message was quite similar to the famous 1 Corinthians passage.

Richard ends the post as follows:

So, we reflected on all this in my Sunday School class.  And after reflection on the No Asshole Rule, I read these famous words:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs...

Basically, don't be an asshole.

I was most interested to see that Richard's post generated 8 other quite supportive comments, many applauding him for his open-mindedness (I agree heartily). And comments on Richard's follow-up post suggest that he inspired at least one other person to raise the rule in a bible studies class.

I also had some interesting exchanges with a Presbyterian minister who thanked me for writing the book and reported that, although he didn't quite think it was appropriate to discuss in a sermon, the problem of "jerks" plagued every congregation that he had worked with, and that he was having one-on-one conversations with people about the book, and its implications for running the church.

In that spirit, someone sent me the above Bizarro cartoon, which shows the "delete button" being pushed at the gates of heaven.  The message seems to be that being a believer isn't enough.

Comments

[Jerome Alexander]

I guess none of this applies to authors of best selling books who have become pseudo-celebrities.

Come back down to earth a little!

[Lewis Green]

Being an asshole isn't limited to seculars and atheists. I guess you already knew that. But what appears to be surprising to you is that we believers either don't notice and when we do forgiveness of their behaviour keeps them for being jerks ever again.

We notice them, and while we do often forgive them, they continue to be jerks.

I did my graduate work in theology and have served as a lay minister in the Catholic Church. I love all my brothers and sisters but sometimes would like to kick a few of them in the butt.