In Matthew chapter 5 verses 10 through 12 Jesus brings up a topic that I think

maybe meant one thing back in the day and maybe conjures different mental images now

he said blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness different mental images now. He said,

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil

against you because of me.

Rejoyce and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted

the prophets who were before you.

I think persecution meant something different back in the day than maybe it means right now, or maybe it means the exact same thing, but our brains

just go to different places for contemporary cultural reasons.

So let's see if in this little 10 minute podcast we can run the uncomfortable meter all the

way up to 10.

I think we can do it.

Here's how. I want to talk about victimhood and the currency of victimhood that gets traded for political power and social power in this day and age.

I know, you're already uncomfortable, right?

Me too, but I think this is going to work out.

It used to be that when something bad happened to you, that was bad because something bad happened

to you.

Then in the age of mass media and especially in the age of the internet, we figured out that it's actually maybe beneficial sometimes

to have something bad happen to you because that can be a very helpful optic.

So in my brain that divides things into two categories. You have

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