Why the Gentle Jesus can Bite my Ass and how He Pissed me off...

[catnhatnh]

Tonight I received an E-mail through my Mom that instead of tying "HIM" to some right wing bullshit actually devolved thru 5 attached messages to what finally became an empty page, other than a GIF file of a flying elephant.....In short, a pile of people I like and respect passed to me some total bullshit idea wrapped in patriotism and childhood memories of a gentle God, and an advertisement for people who think they both own and get it.
I think back to a time when, as a stone, worthless alcoholic, I hung with a pack of black (primarily) Vietnam vets....We sat next to a package store and we passed bottles and wine and 40 ouncers and whatever food we had....We passed food and booze and thoughts and if you passed ANYTHING you knew that what you passed was both finite and welcomed.Get that-wasn't nobody there that could make a sandwich, or bag of chips, or bottle of booze to miraculously expand to feed thousands or even the 5-6 there....unlike the "Gentle Jesus" each bite or swallow consumed actually cost the giver...
So what I approach is a Republican God whose only supposed true goodness derives from his execution....if you can raise the dead or feed a multitude without strain than these become a mere parlor trick produced at no cost.They supply only their version of a death, for "your sins" and an unsupported report of a resurrection given less support than a magicians trick.
A true messiah would never expect unproven belief-one of his "apostles" was given the chance to examine his wounds after his resurrection and became a saint???....And If I now fail to believe either Him or Doubting Thomas I should go to Hell???
So here it is...They send me the words of my childhood Jesus to bring me into a belief that war (that a peace-loving Jesus would have hated) or supporting hatred for immigrants (something about a "Good Samaritan " a well meaning barbarian would oppose) or other ridiculous bullshit that no true "christian" would support....
I don't need their 2000 year old Jesus....I can know of my own that killing is bad and that stealing oil is bad. And that in a vast plan for a planet all have a right and a ticket to ride-we ALL deserve life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness....that means food and clothing and housing and healthcare...and if you are brown or black it means something about melanin, not about right or wrong.

[Colobo]

1. I still prefer Jesus to Muhammad. Agnosticism is best, anyway.

[yellerpup]

2. You've got it all right. Every bit of it.

Sorry for your suffering. I'm not a Christian, but what I know of Jesus, I don't think he would want such a well-grounded, ethical person to be so pissed off in his name. :hug:

[Colobo]

3. Jesus and Dennis Kucinich would like each other a lot.

[yellerpup]

8. I say "Amen" to that! eom

[Sarah Ibarruri]

4. Absolutely true, all of it. nt

[Gman]

5. Even though I'm a practicing Catholic

what you wrote is absolutely fantastic. In the end, Jesus is who you perceive Him to be and what your relationship (if any) with him is.

Ian Anderson wrote in Wind Up:


When I was young and they packed me off to school
and taught me how not to play the game,
I didn't mind if they groomed me for success,
or if they said that I was a fool.
So I left there in the morning
with their God tucked underneath my arm --
their half-assed smiles and the book of rules.
So I asked this God a question
and by way of firm reply,
He said -- I'm not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.
So to my old headmaster (and to anyone who cares):
before I'm through I'd like to say my prayers --
I don't believe you:
you had the whole damn thing all wrong --
He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sundays.
Well you can excomunicate me on my way to Sunday school
and have all the bishops harmonize these lines --


Anderson spoke of the Church of England which is very similar to the Catholic Church, as we all know the history.

So while I'm a practicing Catholic, this excerpt has always been my contention about a deity.

BTW... K&R

[JVS]

7. What he wrote is foul blasphemy

[JVS]

6. "without strain"

Looks like strain to me.

[sampsonblk]

9. K&R for the lessons of real life

[displacedtexan]

10. Back when Joan Baez went to jail for protesting...

She lead a Sunday church service and sang songs. One of the other
prisoners stood up and said, "I think I'm God, and you're God,
and we're all God. And God is sick and tired of us killing (or hurting-- I forget) each other."

Then the chaplain said, "You're sadly mistaken."
***

I'll never forget that story.