"As a follower of Jesus Christ I have to disagree with you, for he said...

[hadrons]

I was surfing both the TV and the Internet the other day and kept seeing the same three things coming up from callers, debaters and pundits; that this is a nation formed under God and we must stop the baby murdering, sex education in our schools and keep gays from enjoying the same rights as anyone else. In the middle of all that I also got a phone call from my Sister-in-Law who expounded on the same three issues. You know, Jesus never mentioned any of those things. Nor, like religious conservatives, did he advocate war, executions, violence and always giving the most benefits to the most well off. It seems here in America most people have rewritten Christianity to adhere to their own selfish, intolerant violent nature. They have completely missed the point of what Jesus was about; peace, love, mercy, compassion, non violence, forgiveness and above all, ending the circle of vengeance. COMPLETELY MISSED THE ENTIRE POINT OF IT.

In the days after 911 I believed it would be a reminder to all Americans regarding the violent intolerant history of fundamentalist religion and the insanity of what state religions propagate. I was as wrong as anyone could possibly be, for instead of seeing the horror, we have embraced it and are now lining up to out do the evil doers in the name of God. Considering property damage, death count, wounded and using weapons of mass destruction we have now surpassed them in double digit magnitudes.

There seem to be two separate and unequal forms of Christianity in America, those who believe in Jesus and those who follow him. The first group has completely missed his point, seeing it only as a form of personal redemption and intolerant politics. And where is the other group? I suppose there are few Methodists, Unitarians and Catholic liberation theologians, but all sixteen of them don't really count for much.

The point being; just about every single issue made by Christian conservatives can be very easily thwarted by saying, "As a follower of Jesus Christ I have to disagree with you, for he said..."

http://rackjite.com

[StephanieMarie]

1. ...be sure to capitalize the "H" in "He said", and you've got 'em

[Jackpine Radical]

5. I've often wondered...

How do you pronounce a capital H? With an explosive burst of air sort of like a cough?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. How do you turn the other cheek with cluster bombs and shock

and awe??

While some believe that the hydrogen economy is way off, I see it as already here... and that will be the best revenge for what has happened .... not only will it enable the advent of new businesses, it will whittle down the power mongers that have kept us in chains for so long... remember the gaslines.... remember the gaslines... some in Iraq are waiting 3 days for gasoline... can you imagine sleeping in your car so that you can get some gas so that you can drive your taxi and make a living???? INSANE.

the H is for Hydrogen

[AlinPA]

2. I think the so called "conservative Christians" don't really follow Jesus'

teachings, rather it seems they follow some twisted version of theirs of the Old Testament.

[havocmom]

4. Thay also forgot he taught to pray privately, in a closet,

not loudly in public. Don't recall him voicing an opinion on school prayers.

Think he also made some reference to paying taxes like citizens are supposed to and some sort of recommendation about not throwing stones.

edited to add:
RW xians must've gone to a whole different Sunday School than I did. :shrug:

[Casandra]

3. Thank You

Thank you for this wonderful post! I too am agast at the RR and their espousing all this violence, intolerance, bigotry and vengance, all in the name of God/Jesus and any other person's name they can use. My heart weeps for this country and what it has turned into. I weep for every soldier over there, every death, every injury and every young 'mind' that has been forever altered by this experience of being in Iraq!

The day it all came to me, so abruptly was the day I heard Jerry Falwell, sitting in a chair on Fox...saying "Let's just blow up the whole country and do it in the name of God"! I was shocked, so shocked..it really got clear to me at that point!

I am so sorry for the families...even the misguided ones, that have to deal daily with sitting on the home front and worrying if their loved one will ever come home.

I wait too..as I have a son in law there. He wonders also, if he'll be coming home dead or alive. ..and all this in the name of God/Jesus.

[tanyev]

7. Hi, Casandra!

Welcome to DU!!! :hi:

[yardwork]

8. Welcome to DU, Casandra!

I think that the majority of Christians in this country don't agree with the hate agenda being pushed in their names.

I've noticed some growing awareness even on the part of fundamentalist Christians who supported W.

[LevelB]

11. I certainly do not agree with it.

I need a bracelet - WWJT

Who Would Jesus Torture?

B.

[mhr]

14. Let's Hope Your Son In Law Makes It Home Safely

eom

[old blue]

9. The irony is,

If you were to cast the New Testament in today's world, those who most loudly claim to be "Christians" would be exactly the people calling for Jesus to bear that cross.

Somehow the Jesus who gave the sermon on the mount (hey, if that's not sex education, I don't know what is!) doesn't strike me as the type to slap a W04 sticker on his SUV.

[aePrime]

10. You indirectly hit on something that drives me mad

this is a nation formed under God

Many of the Christians (and others) either truly believe this, or knowingly lie about it. Sure, some of the founding fathers were Christian, but many were not. I wish I had specific numbers.

For example, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, was a Deist (as I believe several other of the founding fathers were). A Deist is not a Christian.

Many believe that George Washington wasn't a Christian either. He went to church, but always left before communion. When the preacher confronted him on this fact, he stopped going altogether.

[saltpoint]

12. Many fundamentalists open their big mouths wide --

-- and swallow whatever their idiot pastors tell them to swallow.

Their pastors' agenda tends to replace any actual passages from the New Testament, and so the rest of the nation has to put up with these robotic morons bitching about sex education and prayer in schools.

Many fundamentalists don't know any more about Jesus' teachings than my dog.

And they're not as cool as my dog, either.

[mhr]

13. Fundamentalist American Christians - No Use For Them On This Earth!

Great post!

[TexasLawyer]

15. Jerry Falwell on CNN...

The classic example of Christ's teachings being subverted and twisted--

"Well, I'm for (peace) too. But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord."

As I've seen on a few clever bumper stickers...

"What Would Jesus Bomb?"