Jesus unambiguously preached mercy and forgiveness. These are supposed to be cardinal virtues of the Christian faith. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of the death penalty, draconian sentencing, punitive punishment over rehabilitation, and the governmental use of torture. Jesus exhorted humans to be loving, peaceful, and non-violent. And yet Evangelicals are the group of Americans most supportive of easy-access weaponry, little-to-no regulation of handgun and semi-automatic gun ownership, not to mention the violent military invasion of various countries around the world. Jesus was very clear that the pursuit of wealth was inimical to the Kingdom of God, that the rich are to be condemned, and that to be a follower of Him means to give one's money to the poor. And yet Evangelicals are the most supportive of corporate greed and capitalistic excess, and they are the most opposed to institutional help for the nation's poor -- especially poor children. They hate anything that smacks of "socialism," even though that is essentially what their Savior preached. They despise food stamp programs, subsidies for schools, hospitals, job training -- anything that might dare to help out those in need. Even though helping out those in need was exactly what Jesus urged humans to do. In short, Evangelicals are that segment of America which is the most pro-militaristic, pro-gun, and pro-corporate, while simultaneously claiming to be most ardent lovers of the Prince of Peace.
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I love Jesus
I just don't believe he was a god. In fact, I look at him as the first outspoken atheist. But there are those who hate Jesus (no, not the Muslims).
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I could not agree more strongly with this critique.
ReplyDeleteAgree with your post, but as a critical thinking police officer (:p) I see red immediately when you said he was the first outspoken atheist.
ReplyDeleteSimilarity does not equal true analogy.
Atheist is defined as someone without a god or gods. Jesus spoke of god not only as in believing in his existence but as if he was his son. Reason for your claim please?
There are actual words for whatever similarities to atheists that Jesus might have in your view. Anti-religious establishment?
Sry for ranting, I'm just a sucker for using critical thinking and that includes describing the concepts in your thoughts with reasonably precise words.
Stian.
Jesus did speak in terms of himself being the son of God, but he also said we are all God's children. Much of what he said was a rebellion against the teachings and God of the Old Testament, which he, like any thinking person, found excessively cruel; his own teachings are diametrical to those of OT. So he phrased his own views in terms of God, because that was the only way to get through to anybody, but one can take out God of the New Testament and get pretty much the same idea (take away silly miracles, which are really neither here nor there).
ReplyDeleteOT-- I hope if you have family in Japan that you have heard from them, and they are all alright!
ReplyDeleteYes, they are all alright, thanks for asking. They live in Gifu, so far away from the east coast.
ReplyDeleteよかったあ。。。 横浜 も 大丈夫です！
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