Actually that’s not really true; I have no idea what Jesus
thinks about you. How would I or anyone else for that matter. I was raised
Catholic and am currently an atheist. But recently, and no thanks to the words and
actions of certain Christians, I have been considering my own spiritual
beliefs. I’ll get to that later but for now I want to talk about that group of
Christians.
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Dammit Jim I'm a blogger not a Theologian |
I know I am on thin ice here talking about Jesus but I know a lot of people
(my son included) who believe in Jesus as their savior and follow his
teachings. I see their commitment to Jesus’ value system and instructions
regarding the treatment of the poor.
“Overall, Jesus talks
about mercy to those weaker and needier than oneself 24 times, tells people not
to judge others 34 times, tells people to love and forgive even their enemies
53 times, tells people to love their neighbors as themselves and treat others
like you would want to be treated 19 times, and tells people to help the poor
and/or spurn riches and the wealthy 128 times.”
It’s also hard not to notice a group of Christians who
through their actions and words either do not appear to focus on the above
aspects of Jesus’ teachings or somehow they have a different understanding. It
seems that in defense of “conservative principles” they often quote from the
Old Testament to support their beliefs. The Old and New Testaments seem very
different to me. I will quote Mike Lux again to help me with my point.
“Conservative
Christians' primary argument regarding Jesus and politics is that all he cared
about was spiritual matters and an individual's relationship with God. As a
result, they say, all those references from Jesus about helping the poor relate
only to private charity, not to society as a whole. Their belief is that Jesus,
and the New Testament in general, is focused on one thing and one thing only:
how do people get into heaven.
The Jesus of the New
Testament was of course extremely concerned with spiritual matters: there is no
doubt whatsoever about his role or interest in the issues of the day, that the
spiritual well-being of his followers was a major interest of his. How much he
was involved with or interested in the political situation of the day is a
matter of much debate and interpretation. Some say it was a lot and others that
it was pretty limited or, as conservatives would say, not at all. However, much
of a priority or focus it was, though, if you actually read the Gospels, it is
clear that Jesus' main concern in terms of the people whose fates he cared
about was for the poor, the oppressed, and the outcast. Comment after comment
and story after story in the Gospels about Jesus relates to the treatment of
the poor, generosity to those in need, mercy to the outcast, and scorn for the
wealthy and powerful. And his philosophy is embedded with the central
importance of taking care of others, loving others, treating others as you
would want to be treated. There is no virtue of selfishness here, there is no
"greed is good," there is no invisible hand of the market or looking
out for Number One first. There is nothing about poor people being lazy,
nothing about the undeserving poor being leeches on society, nothing about how
I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps so everyone else should, too. There is
nothing about how in nature, "the lions eat the weak," and therefore
we shouldn't help the poor because it weakens them. There is nothing about
charity or welfare corrupting a person's spirit. Old Testament – animal sacrifice,
masturbation, trashing gay people, and hanging out with women who are
menstruating. New Testament But mercy, kindness, and concern for the poor and
the weak and the outcast seems to matter a lot more, with literally several
hundred verses referencing those agenda items. If you are a progressive, that
is a pretty good ratio.”
I have seen it written that Jesus never condemned
homosexuality or abortion for that matter.
Obviously there were issues of his time – perhaps his message of
forgiveness or not judging covered those topics? Just saying? He certainly wasn’t
taking up the cause for the job creators was he?
I am pretty unsure about Jesus’ DNA but I can’t see the harm in following his teachings or Gandhi or Buddha for that matter.
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Ray Wylie Hubbard - awesome Texas songwriter |
"Buddha was not a Christian,
but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist." –from the song “Conversation
with the Devil” by Ray Wylie Hubbard
That we,
as the collective us – we are the government, do we really want to pass the
buck on who feeds the poor or provide help to the less fortunate? How does that
fit in with the words of the great teachers? Tell that to the next homeless
person you see, or the father who lost his job and can't feed his children.
"Sorry man, you shouldn't get help from the big bad government. You should
get it from the people individually.
Back to my own spirituality issue – lately I have been
wondering about the existence of some “omni” like being. Not for the need for
any organized religion but just whether there is a God. I’m sure Jesus lived I
just sure not sure about his DNA. A dear friend of mine (BFBF) suggested
considering Pascal’s wager as a good place to start.
Pascal's Wager (also known
as Pascal's Gambit) is a suggestion posed by the French philosopher,
mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal that since the existence of God
cannot be proved (or disproved) through reason, but since in his view there was
much to be gained from wagering that God exists (and little to be gained from
wagering that God doesn't exist), a rational person should simply wager that
God exists (and live accordingly).
I appreciated BFBF’s support and I am not sure where my spiritual journey will take me but I will turn to Mike Lux again for ending this post.
“I decided about four decades ago that since there was no way for sure about the nature of God or the soul or all that metaphysical stuff, I wasn't going to spend much time thinking, caring, or worrying about it. If that sends one to hell, at least I'll be there with a lot of my favorite people”.
Hmmmmm......some interesting thoughts. But I will end on this one....I will miss you cuz I hope not to be seeing you in hell. :)
ReplyDeleteOK, how am I supposed to resist this one? Pascal's wager is interesting. Shouldn't you also apply it to Allah then? How about the Angel Moroni (I love that one)? How about Zeus? I went to a college that was originally founded by 7th Day Adventists. There was a hill outside the town that had some significance and twice while I was there the world was supposed to end and there were herds of dumbasses sitting out there waiting. After the second time I met a guy in a sub shop who was bemoaning the fact that the world had not ended and that he had sold everything. I asked him "If the world was ending why did you sell everything?". He looked at my uncomprehendingly like a cow at a passing train (to quote one of my favorite songs). I think if people want to believe in magic fairies, fine. Just keep it to yourself and don't push it on others, evolution is real, the earth is 4.5 billion years old, the age of the universe is 13.75 years, and the world is filled to the brim with pain and suffering.
ReplyDeleteI loved huffingingpost numbers...I will use them when I have my "conversations" with my Republican friends...Always felt there was a little hypocrisy when Republicans reference "Christianity"...
ReplyDeleteFYI - I go with the Pascal wager...I'm not sure it's the God in the bible...BUT there is something that eliminates the randomness of no "God"...Hey I could even be talked into reincarnation of some sort...Yep ! I really could...
Cuz