I was just thinking about how, if Jesus Christ were running for President, I would probably vote for the other candidate. The process of thought was that I was arguing in my mind with a friend who can't stand Barack Obama largely because Obama said he prays each night. Oddly, given the context, I imagined myself saying -- look are you going to wait until Jesus Christ returns and runs for President or ... welllll let me rephrase that (my friend is, as you have noticed, not a big fan of Jesus). Thinking further, I realised that I would probably vote against Jesus (in the Democratic primary I don't know about the general) because he was an absolute pacifist and I strongly disagree.
Then I surfed over to DailyKos and, by some miracle, Devilstower gave me a sign that I definitely wouldn't vote for Jesus (at least not in the Democratic primary)
Damn You Rich!
by Devilstower
Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 02:57:01 PM PDT
Damn you rich! You already have your compensation.
Damn you who are well-fed! You will know hunger.
Damn you who laugh now! You will weep and grieve.
Damn you when everybody speaks well of you!
A rant from a radical preacher? Without a doubt. Someone on the Obama campaign? Well, Sen. Obama says so. That's the Scholars Translation of Luke 6:24-26, and the speaker is Jesus of Nazareth.
To Jesus I say: No the rich don't deserve damnation, they* deserve progressive taxation. And what is wrong with laughing ?
Ok I admit I should have said "we" not "they" since by the standards of the last time you were on earth I am super rich.
To Devilstower I say: I much prefer those who follow the teachings of Christ to those who are sure they are Christians but invert most of them, but I prefer reasonable people to either.
To God I say: Ok you've given me another sign. I have no one to blame for my atheism but myself. If I appear in front of Peter, I won't whine or make excuses or claim I wasn't told.
* Actually I should say "we" not they as by the standards of 30 AD I am super rich.
3 comments:
Obama was asked in a public "Town Meeting" if he is a Muslim. Here is what he should have said:
"I'm not a Muslim but there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim. Although I am a deeply religious man, this is a personal matter and I don't feel the need to discuss this further."
Now let's look at how he responded:
"I pray to Jesus every night."
If asked about his sexual preference he might say:
"I have sex with my wife every night and never with a man."
There is no possibility of Jesus making it very far on any ticket as most Christians are clearly not pacifists. It's actually one of the qualities I admire most about Jesus.
Americans are attacked every day and the national doesn't fall to pieces. We only go crazy when a foreigner(s) attacks us. This over-reaction is purely based on xenophobia. It is not only irrational but counterproductive.
If you are a politician and your short term goal is to get elected or re-elected, I could see how playing on the unnatural fear of people born somewhere else on this planet might be used to your advantage but I contend that violence almost always is met with more violence and thus is not the most effective way to settle a dispute. That is why I am a pacifist. It also seems hypocritical to be killing all these people abroad who are mostly innocent bystanders while we would never accept our government treating our own citizens this way.
No matter what you think of someone you are killing; that person may have parents, a wife, and children who did nothing to harm you. All of these people will be affected by this brutal, immoral act of hatred for generations to come.
I agree with anonymous 1. This is interesting, because I know who he is and we had a rather bitter e-mail exchange on the topic of Obama saying he prayed to Jesus.
Blog comment threads are not known for civility, but, this time, this one has been relatively positive and constructive.
I don't agree with anonymous 2 about what the word "pacifist" means. To me, it can only mean absolutely pacifist, that is unwilling to fight war ever. To me, to be a pacifist one would have to refuse to fight ruthless invaders no matter how genocidal.
If it is sufficient to oppose fighting some wars to be a pacifist, then everyone is a pacifist.
I think it is clear that one has to oppose all actual historical war efforts to be a pacifist. I wonder whether anonymous 2 thinks it was wrong to fight Hitler.
Post a Comment