I know this is bizarre for an avowed, if closeted, atheist, but it's sometimes necessary to look at what one's opponents really believe.
"For unto whomever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to
whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more." The first half of this has to do with punishing servants, yet aren't these "Christian" conservatives claiming to be servants of God? Also, they believe in Hell, and some believe in Purgatory. Also, they believe in Leviticus when it suits them, hence their insane stance against gay marriage and often abject hatred of the entire LGBT community. How about Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy
people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD." This was reiterated in Matthew 22:39 and elsewhere should they then say "oh, it's the OLD Testament. Most of it doesn't apply these days."
I think about Mitt Romney and his time as a vulture capitalist. I think about the people he was "good at firing" and his net worth in the low 9 figures, and I wonder how many children could be fed for 1/4 that, or how many people could have affordable health care if he were taxed as heavily as the working class. I say working class because there is no middle class worth mentioning any more. Unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required, yet he and his allies have done everything they could, by lobbying and by working to get friendly legislators elected to avoid just that.
I close with a quote by Gandhi: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Having been raised in the same faith as Romney, Luke 12:48 is one of those lessons that has stuck with me. It was something I remember being discussed often through my childhood and teen years. Looking at Romney, Santorum, and what a colossal dick he is (Sorry Charles P. Pierce, but it's a great line), and their fellow fringe-dwellers, I like their Christ, and I don't like those Christians, because they are so unlike their Christ.
3 comments:
to quote a great man who the name of which has been forgotten - "And how."
Even worse, I was raised Mormon. One of the scriptures that was repeatedly referenced in our lessons was Luke 12:48, because it went to the core of who we at least should be as people. I see Mitt Romney, and I see a Mormon so completely unlike those I've known and respected in my life. Where was he during Sunday school? How did he become a Stake President (roughly equivalent to a Catholic bishop) without understanding that? Then again, today's Mormon church is not very much like the one I remember from my childhood. I'll save that critique for another time.
Matthew 7:16
You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
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