Counter the Radical Right

[AlecBGreen]

They love to quote the bible. Im a Christian Democrat...I can too! When any asshat republican tries to say the GOP is representing Christianity, feel free to use any one of these.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. --Matthew 5 : 5

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. --Matthew 5: 9

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you¡­ --Matthew 5 : 43, 44

Thus, when you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¡­ And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¨CMatthew 6:2, 5

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal¡­ --Matthew 6:19

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. ¨CMatthew 6:24

¡­freely ye have received, freely give. ¨CMatthew 10:8

¡­the tree is known by its fruit. ¨CMatthew 12:33

And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. --Matthew 19:23, 24 (sounds pretty clear to me, eh?)

And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. ¨CMatthew 22:35-40

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. 26 You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? ¨CMatthew 23:23-33

Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. ¨CMatthew 26:52

You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men." 9 And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! ¨CMark 7:8, 9

And he said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. ¨CMark 10:11, 12 (funny how some never mention this one¡­)

And in his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places 39 and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation. ¨CMark 12:38-40

And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 "Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. "Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh. 22 "Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets. 24 "But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 "Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger. "Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 26 "Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets. ¨CLuke 6:20-26

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. ¨CLuke 6:32-36

For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ¨CLuke 9:25

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. ¨CLuke 12:2, 3

And he said to them, "Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. ¨CLuke 12:15

He also said to the multitudes, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming'; and so it happens. 55 And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, 'There will be scorching heat'; and it happens. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? ¨CLuke 12:54-56 (Global warming anyone?)

He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just. ¨CLuke 14:12-14

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. ¨CLuke 18: 9-14

He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. 3 And he said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had. ¨CLuke 21:1-4

In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. ¨CJohn 2:14-16 (my favorite picture of Jesus ¡­ screaming, scattering money, flaying asses, flipping over tables ¡­ HOW DARE YOU TURN MY FATHER¡¯S HOUSE INTO A MARKET!).

For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. ¨CJohn 3:20

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be wasted.¡± ¨CJohn 6:12

The world ¡­ hates me because I testify of it that its works are evil. ¨CJohn 7: 7

Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ¨CJohn 8:43-45

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. ¨CJohn 13:34, 35

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¨CJohn 15:12

This I command you, to love one another. ¨CJohn 15:17 (3 TIMES in one book. You think maybe this could be considered his MAIN commandment.

¡­ the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ¨CJohn 16:2 (Michael Sheppard RIP)

This is only the 4 gospels of Christ. There's plenty more where this came from! Ill add some goodies from the Psalms in a bit. Until then, heres one more to whet your whistle.

For there is no truth in their mouth; their heart is destruction, their throat is an open sepulchre, they flatter with their tongue. --Psalm 5: 9

PEACE
-Alec

[wookie294]

1. I'm an atheist, but your quotes are useful

I like throwing the Bible back at the fake Christians. It's great! Thanks for those quotes. I've saved them for future use in my squabbles with reich wingers.

[Sapphire Blue]

2. And Matthew 25:40

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

[NewJeffCT]

3. question - a few years back...

A few years back on Howard Stern, he confronted a woman that had been photographed with her very young son (under 10 years old) holding up signs that would make Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps proud...

However, when Stern confronted this Fundie woman with quotes from the Bible, she said something like it was superceded by something else, but I can't remember it for the life of me. Stern was prepared for Bible debate, but not this book or whatever that superceded parts of the Bible later.

Do you have any clue what I'm talking about?

great post, by the way.

[Fovea]

4. Thanks

As a Wiccan, I hear so little of the Christian doctrine these days compared to self congratulatory, self serving, screed.

It's nice to hear someone who professes the faith of their messiah, rather than screaming the hate of their false prophet.

I hold to a very difficult to follow commandment that starts with an injuntion to harm none. Harming none sounds easy, until you think about what harms others. The core truths of the great faiths all teach interconnectedness, and mercy to others is devotion to the divine.

[fasttense]

5. So many quotes about loving one another,

numerous quotes about how money corrupts, thousands of quotes about helping the poor, tons of quotes about hypocrites. I wonder what bible brush and the fundies read?

[foursquare]

6. How do you respond to this...

This is what one of my coworkers said, and I didn't know how to respond:

"When you tax someone, you are taking their money by force. They really have no choice to NOT give the government, and will be heavily punished if they don't."

"The use of tax dollars to help the poor is therefore the involuntary taking of someone's else's money to help the needy"

" It is then, the height of hypocrisy to take someone else's money by taxation, and then say YOU are doing something by doing some good deed. Nowhere does Jesus advocate this sort of involuntary charity by force. "

I wasn't sure how to respond at this point,so we agreed to disagree.
It turns out this guy actually does a lot with one of the local charitys, and gets his family involved too. He is actually a much nicer person than he sounds.

[newyawker99]

7. Hi foursquare!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[foursquare]

8. Thank You.

Hi right back at you.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. tell him to call you when he gets back from the Oort Cloud

[mcctatas]

10. I don't have a bible handy but...

there is a passage where Jesus says "Render therefor unto Caeser the things that are Caeser's, and unto God the things which are God's" (LK 20:25 I think) in regards to taxation. The most common reply to this is that he was advocating tithing to church before paying taxes, and other arguments as well...but to borrow a term from the repukes, if you want to be a "strict constructionist" with the text..seems pretty pro-taxes to me.