Tag Archive for 'bible'

Jesus, a Commie?

Published on October 18, 2011 in Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

A friend shared this photo on Facebook the other day. It had a thesis-length description about how the ‘Occupy movement’ has hijacked Jesus Christ and made him out to be a socialist/communist/Marxist. I thought the argument was ridiculous. Just about every group has hijacked the character of Jesus at one time or another, and molded him into something that would support their cultural beliefs.

In the Bible, you find a lot of places where Jesus spoke about business and money. For instants, this parable found in Matthew 25:24-26:

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

Those verses and many others like them seem to support the idea of a capitalist Jesus. The only problem is you have just as many verses in the Bible that show Jesus healing the sick and not charging a dime for it (universal healthcare), or instructing his followers to sell their belongings to take care of the poor. Then you have Jesus chasing the money changers out of the temple. And not to mention the way the first Christians lived. Take a look at Acts 4:32:

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. 

“They had all things in common,” the last time I checked that was the definition of ‘communism.’ So, let’s face it, there’s biblical evidence that Jesus was ‘bi-economical, meaning… he swung both ways. The way I see it, just about everyone loves the biblical character of Jesus Christ. Christians of all denominations, practitioners of other religions, hell, even atheists love the guy. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, taught people to love their enemies (and that’s a far cry from the culture of his day)…. what’s not to like. It makes sense that people of just about all creeds would want to have such a powerful and respected figure in their corner. That is why I believe that most of us are guilty of repurposing Jesus for our own ends.

I don’t know if Jesus Christ was a real person. The evidence seems to indicate that there was a real flesh and blood man by the name of Jesus, preaching and teaching in ancient Palestine around the time that he was supposed to have lived. I personally believe this to be true, however, I believe that most of the stuff written about him in the Bible is embellished. Thomas Jefferson, one of the ‘founding fathers’ didn’t believe in the mystical stories of Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and performing miracles, but he loved a lot of the moral instruction that Jesus gave. He published a revised version of the Bible that is commonly refered to as ‘the Jefferson Bible,’ where he edited the supernatural components out. I know a lot of modern-day Christians would be repulsed by such an idea, but you should know that the Bible is one of the most heavily edited books of all time. Kings and governments have been taking stuff out and changing things in it for their own benefit ever since it was put together. Hell, even when the Bible was canonized at the council of Nicaea, a lot of the sacred books that were connected to the collection of books that we now call ‘the Bible’ were left out. If you don’t believe me, look it up.

So, whether or not Jesus was the son of God or just a revolutionary teacher who was executed by the state…. I do love and try to live by some of the things that he is believed to have said. Here are a few of my favorite Jesus lines:

  • You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.
  • Do to others as you would have them do to you.
  • A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
  • All who draw the sword will die by the sword.
  • Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

 

People are more important than beliefs

Published on October 12, 2011 in A Day in the Life, Philosophy and Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

I finally made it to Wednesday. It’s been busy this week. I fell behind in my blogging a little bit. I actually have been working on three different drafts, but they all seem to be going in a direction that I’m not sure I want to go. For some reason, even though I don’t intend it to, my writing seems to be getting, well, nasty. I don’t mean filthy, I mean… mean.

For instants, one of the drafts I’m working on is about the book of Jonah from the Bible. We had a church service on it last Sunday, and Denice and I ended up discussing it over a delicious lunch at the Soccer Taco. She believes that story is literal, and I spent the entire time explaining all the reasons why there’s no way a guy could survive in a fish/whale/ocean dwelling creature’s stomach for three days and nights and live to tell about it. The discussion went nowhere as usual. She held firm in her belief in the story and I ended up feeling like a jerk for trying to sway her away from it. Anyway, I have been working on a post about the Jonah story for about three days now. I almost posted it a couple of times, but when I proofed it I felt ashamed at the meanness of my words. I’m not going to go into the details of what I was planning on saying, but let’s just say I was going to take some cheap-shots. I have decided that I am better than that, so I will be self-censoring my thoughts on the subject until I am believe I am capable of expressing them in a more constructive way.

I used to watch debates between theists and atheists on Youtube all the time. The arguments would go back and forth without either side budging an inch on their positions. It was entertaining at first, but after a while it became highly irritating. At some point I gave up on the whole concept of debate. I gave it up because it us ultimately fruitless. There is no scientific argument that can convince a theist to give up his or her deeply held beliefs. Their beliefs are a part of their culture… their very identity. And likewise, there is no supernatural experience that you can share or ancient story that you can tell that will convince an atheist to give up their linear reasoning. It is what makes them who they are. Debates are a waste of time, for they rarely bring change to either side.

I have looked back on my experience of departing from the Christian faith many times, trying to figure out just what it was that made a hard-core believer like me change. It’s a very hard thing in deed to put your finger on. I suppose at some point I accepted the possibility that I could be wrong. Once I admitted to that possibility, the self-policing part of my mind relaxed, and then it just all started to fall apart. I went from knowing everything to knowing nothing, to being sure about nothing. It was a scary time. Hell, it still is, but it’s exciting. The world is not nearly as well lit now, but it’s full of mystery again. It’s full of potential. Since I have stopped believing, I have learned about many other belief systems and ways of thinking, things that I used to insulate myself from. Basically I’ve learned that people will believe just about anything that their culture tells them is true. This is true for me and every other human being. It’s just how we’re wired. The thing that I am trying to learn now is to accept people the way they are, and not give in to the urge to make them like me. I am who I am, and I need to let them be who they are. What I do want to do though is seek out the things that we all have in common, and use those things to build meaningful relationships with my fellow human beings. I believe that this is my straight and narrow path, and I intend on walking it.

When Swingers come a swinging

Published on September 30, 2011 in A Day in the Life. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

My wife was approached by a known ‘swinger’ yesterday. She apparently wanted her to “come over to her house” this weekend, to “have a good time.” Denice was pretty embarrassed by the request, and didn’t know how to respond.

I don’t know exactly what the lady had in mind, but I’m assuming, “have a good time” to a swinger probably involves some sort of kinky sex… possibly involving more than two participants. When I was a Christian fundamentalist, being propositioned like this would have most likely triggered a hostile, knee-jerk reaction from me. Back then I was pretty by the book about sex. It was only supposed to happen with two people, of different genders, and only within the confines of a church/state sanctioned marital union. Oh, and only the missionary position, in the dark was kosher.

I remember getting hit on once by a gay fellow. Well, it was more flirting that getting ‘hit on,’ but I didn’t respect the difference back then. I blasted the guy. I think I may have even pulled Leviticus 18:22 on him. Looking back on the encounter today, I regret my behavior. This guy was really nice, and in spite of my rudeness, was respectful of my beliefs. Today, I would have handled things much differently. I think I would feel honored that someone, whether male or female, found me attractive and/or interesting enough to inquire about getting to know me on an intimate level. I would probably thank them for their interest, but explain to them that I am already in a very fulfilling relationship.

Joshua… the mighty warrior of God

Published on September 25, 2011 in A Day in the Life and Religion. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I heard that Einstein was asked once, “Do you believe in God?” to which he replied, “Which one?”

Today was a pretty typical Sunday for me. I spent roughly three hours in church; singing songs, praying prayers, and reciting incantations. The lesson for today was found in the book of Joshua. I believe the point of the lesson is that Joshua was a great man of God, who didn’t wine, did what he was told to do, and got stuff done. They didn’t really go into exactly what he was getting done. I’m kind of glad they didn’t, seeing that there were small children present.

The book of Joshua is one of the bloodiest books in the Bible. It was the beginning of Israel’s conquest of Canaan, and it is loaded with graphic accounts of wholesale slaughter. Basically, it paints a clear picture of one nation’s systematic and unprovoked genocide of an entire region. They slaughtered men, women, and children – all at the command of their God. It’s some pretty brutal stuff, and unless you can watch a Saw movie on a full stomach… I wouldn’t recommend it.

The ironic thing that I saw in all this is that this message was being preached in a self-proclaimed ‘black church.’ I remember when I was studying the emerging slave trade in Africa, one of the big motivators/rationals for enslaving the natives and treating them horribly was that they were like the inhabitants of Canaan, and God had given Africa to them just as he gave Canaan to Israel. It worked as a great justification for engaging in all manner of cruelty and inhumanity.

In my humble opinion, I don’t believe a God that was good would issue commands to murder, rape, pillage, and enslave entire civilizations.