Thursday, March 22, 2012
AMENDMENT XXVIII
The Constitution of the United States applies exclusively to Citizens of the United States as defined in Amendment XIV and shall not be construed to apply to any other persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations or other entities, nor shall the rights guaranteed therein be extended to any other persons, groups of persons, organizations, corporations or other entities.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Christian Values
Have you ever given much thought to Christian values and to what extent do those who preach the loudest actually practice the teachings of Christ? To understand true Christian values, you have to go back to what Christ taught his followers. Those teachings can be summarized as
o Love of God
o Love of mankind
o Forgiveness
o Charity
o Fidelity in marriage
o Golden Rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
As one observes Christian fundamentalists, one notices that while preaching the love of God, they show far more love of material wealth, power and pleasure than of God. But this is exactly what God forbade in the first commandment and what Jesus taught his followers not to do. So what does that say about modern Christian values?
As one further observes the attitudes of Christian fundamentalists toward others, one notices far more intolerance, hate and vindictiveness toward those who don't adhere to their particular dogma and real love for very few people (and only so long as they walk the straight and narrow). So what does that say about the modern Christian value of love of all mankind?
Proceeding to forgiveness, all we hear from Christian fundamentalists is condemnation and damnation of all who don't adhere to their particular brand of dogma. Where is forgiveness in all this?
Now about charity, where is the charity in those who would deprive 25% of the nation's population of adequate health care. (Remember, Jesus spent a lot of time healing the sick and he healed poor people as well as rich people and didn't ask for money). Where is the charity of those who would deprive the elderly, the sick or disadvantaged of the basic necessities of life? (What about giving alms to the poor - not just to get a tax write-off. What about casting off all thy wealth in order to enter the kingdom of God? What happened to all that?)
About fidelity in marriage, it seems to be ok for some to philander so long as you don't get caught and you preach the correct dogma. It is even ok to reward some philanderers with offers of high office and praise them along the way.
Finally, there is the golden rule: To what extent do Christian fundamentalists actually practice the golden rule. This rule, which is mentioned more than once in the New Testament (Matthew and Luke) is one of the most important rules in all civilization and is not unique to Christianity but is taught in all major religions. Observe how the modern Christian fundamentalist treats others and then ask him if that's the way he would like to be treated. The answer I have received to this question is "Well, that's the way he would have treated me." Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? (Pun intended. It probably came from just that place.)
Now let me summarize what I observe to be the modern Christian fundamentalists' values.
o Love of material wealth and pleasure above all things
o Love only those who conform to your dogma (and only so long as they do)
o Damn and condemn everyone else
o Greed and self enrichment are virtuous and praiseworthy.
o Philandering is acceptable and worthy of high office only if you preach the right dogma.
o New Golden Rule: "do unto others before they do unto you"
Now I'm not a religious person, but I firmly support Christian values as taught in the New Testament. Unfortunately, those values are not consistent with the values I observe expressed by the behavior of Christian fundamentalists, and I have to agree with Mohandas Ghandi who once said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
In conclusion, I find almost nothing that is Christ-like in Christian fundamentalism.
o Love of God
o Love of mankind
o Forgiveness
o Charity
o Fidelity in marriage
o Golden Rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
As one observes Christian fundamentalists, one notices that while preaching the love of God, they show far more love of material wealth, power and pleasure than of God. But this is exactly what God forbade in the first commandment and what Jesus taught his followers not to do. So what does that say about modern Christian values?
As one further observes the attitudes of Christian fundamentalists toward others, one notices far more intolerance, hate and vindictiveness toward those who don't adhere to their particular dogma and real love for very few people (and only so long as they walk the straight and narrow). So what does that say about the modern Christian value of love of all mankind?
Proceeding to forgiveness, all we hear from Christian fundamentalists is condemnation and damnation of all who don't adhere to their particular brand of dogma. Where is forgiveness in all this?
Now about charity, where is the charity in those who would deprive 25% of the nation's population of adequate health care. (Remember, Jesus spent a lot of time healing the sick and he healed poor people as well as rich people and didn't ask for money). Where is the charity of those who would deprive the elderly, the sick or disadvantaged of the basic necessities of life? (What about giving alms to the poor - not just to get a tax write-off. What about casting off all thy wealth in order to enter the kingdom of God? What happened to all that?)
About fidelity in marriage, it seems to be ok for some to philander so long as you don't get caught and you preach the correct dogma. It is even ok to reward some philanderers with offers of high office and praise them along the way.
Finally, there is the golden rule: To what extent do Christian fundamentalists actually practice the golden rule. This rule, which is mentioned more than once in the New Testament (Matthew and Luke) is one of the most important rules in all civilization and is not unique to Christianity but is taught in all major religions. Observe how the modern Christian fundamentalist treats others and then ask him if that's the way he would like to be treated. The answer I have received to this question is "Well, that's the way he would have treated me." Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? (Pun intended. It probably came from just that place.)
Now let me summarize what I observe to be the modern Christian fundamentalists' values.
o Love of material wealth and pleasure above all things
o Love only those who conform to your dogma (and only so long as they do)
o Damn and condemn everyone else
o Greed and self enrichment are virtuous and praiseworthy.
o Philandering is acceptable and worthy of high office only if you preach the right dogma.
o New Golden Rule: "do unto others before they do unto you"
Now I'm not a religious person, but I firmly support Christian values as taught in the New Testament. Unfortunately, those values are not consistent with the values I observe expressed by the behavior of Christian fundamentalists, and I have to agree with Mohandas Ghandi who once said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
In conclusion, I find almost nothing that is Christ-like in Christian fundamentalism.
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