What Jesus says about the Poor:
Matthew 25:34-36 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
Maybe we should rethink what to hate?
Thanks to George and Lyssa: Jesus kept a prostitute from being stoned.
The New and Old Testaments do say that gay sex is an abomination, but they also say that about eating shrimp and a myriad of other things we take for granted. Sinners that we all are.
(I’m guessing that eating at Red Lobster with your same-sex partner is REALLY an abomination).
I see homophobia diminishing a lot in the last 10-20 years. It’s dying out nicely. Like racism, it’s less and less present among upcoming generations, as we continue to traverse the Information Age. If the Duck Dynasty guy’s comments are what passes for offensive nowadays … we’ve come a long way.
@Rick Bentley
Am not a biblical scholar by any means and yes, there are three references that most scholars believe refer to homosexuality, both male and female: Romans 1:26–27, 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, and 1 Timothy 1:9–10. These were all written by the Paul the Apostle (Saul of Tarsus-a Pharisee) who never even knew Christ and had been prosecuting “Christians” and the new Christian church. So it might well be said that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality but rather Paul did but some have chosen to credit these passages to Christ. Why did Paul bring this up? I guess one would have to ask Paul but maybe he just had a hangup about homosexuality.
And of course the LBGT community has chosen to interpret them to suit their own case.
P.S. (I’m guessing that eating at Red Lobster with your same-sex partner is REALLY an abomination). Only if you ate shellfish. 😉
Abomination is roughly the equivalent of “taboo”. Abominations include divorce, love of money dietary practices and various forms of animal sacrifice. It also includes dishonest trade – Now there’s something to think about.
Again, focusing on what others shouldn’t do isn’t practicing Christianity. “…forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE who trespass against us.” Unfortunately for many what God ask us to DO is much harder than posting a personal interpretation of His word on Facebook.
Since this is an open thread, at the risk of being a boor, I’m going to post my shrimp/homosexuality bit that I put together years ago. Thankfully, it’s dated; I haven’t heard a politicians bash gay people in a good while.
Leviticus 11:10
‘But anything in the seas or rivers that does not have fins and scales, regard as an abomination. Do not eat their meat and regard their carcasses as an abomination.”
Leviticus 18:22
“ Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination. ”
I guess eating shrimp with your same-sex partner is REALLY an abomination …
According to all this Biblical logic raping young girls is less offensive than dinner at Red Lobster. To each their own within the boundaries of US law if you want to believe that.
Do you get bothered when people eat shrimp? Do most people? Should Congress be considering a “Defense of Shrimp” act?
Does “Shrimpophobia” exist in some parallel universe? Let’s imagine life in that universe if we can :
Bills are moving through Congress right now to prohibit the sale and consumption of shrimp and lobsters. At the Federal level, Congress is moving towards a ban on crab legs, and Obama and McCain are quietly moving towards a line of “If you want to eat seafood other than fish, do it in the privacy of your own home, but for God’s sake don’t do it in public and don’t let anyone know. Don’t wave this abomination in people’s faces”.
McCain stated out loud to a cheering audience “If you feel you have to eat this stuff, at least do the rest of us the favor of pretending you’re eating something else. How am I supposed to explain to my children and grandchildren what you’re eating and why?”
The military is moving towards a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on consumption of crawfish.
Meanwhile activists are doing their best to push the envelope. In San Francisco, underground crab shacks are popping up where ecstasy-addled revelers pick crabs and wrap the carcasses in cardboard paper, then clear out in the early morning light. “For 50 dollars a night, it’s a good buzz” said one young participant. “It tastes even better if you take some amyl nitrate and dip the meat in butter”. And controversy looms over two new art exhibits being funded in part by taxpayer dollars through the NEA – “Shrimp Christ”, an impressionistic picture of Christ drawn with shrimp tails, and “Total Abomination”, an exhibit of black-and-white photographs of young boys eating lobster.
And the connection between starfish and pentagrams has not gone unnoticed by fundamentalists – “The Devil Lives Under the Sea” is a popular T-Shirt among fundmentalist Christians. “Our decadent, eat-everything society has gone too far. That’s why God attacked us” stated Pat Robertson in response to a query about the 9/11 attacks. “If God had meant for man to eat crabs, he would have attached shell hammers to our arms instead of fingers. It’s downright unnatural” stated James Dobson.
Hmm. Is that parallel universe a reasonable possibility? Or is that scenario just too crazy.
.
@Rick Bentley
Thanks! Just what’s needed on Christmas Eve!
Cool Yule, dude!!!
We have all been warned. Now where does lobster fit in?
Lobster is Satan’s tool, and a gateway food.
Cajuns have special dispensation for Crawfish.
An adulteress. And after he saved her from stoning, he told her to go and sin no more.
Like I said about the atheists.
What did you say about atheists?
Who decides who is an atheist?
We have lobster every Christmas Eve.
An atheist does….obviously. But I usually don’t really focus much on it unless said atheist posts some of his or her anti-religious diatribes on a blog. Then you have to ask who is this sucker who seems to make it his passion to try to tear down the faith of others.
Are you discussing Rick? In his defense, I don’t think he makes it his passion to tear down the religion of others. I am not even sure he has actually said he is an atheist. His opinion is shared in context. He doesn’t just launch into attacks on religion.
On the other hand, those of us who are not literalists when it comes to the Bible are often thought of as less than Christian, perhaps even atheists by some. Many, many Christians and Jews feel that the scriptures are symbolic and parables written by early man.
I would venture to say labeling someone an atheist because of these feelings is really a presumptuous stretch. I don’t do real well coming out of the gate with Adam and Eve. In fact, when I was taking what would be the equivalent of protestant catechism class as a teen ager, we were told it was symbolic…early man trying to understand his existence.
It’s less of a passion than it used to be. But I retain a self-image and projected image of someone who is “rational”, and “contrary”, and “direct”, so I do it.
My real beliefs are :
1. Religion is dying out and becoming gradually irrelevant as a social force.
2. Good and bad people believe, and disbelieve. Not much correlation between belief/non-belief and being a good person.
3. I feel every right to express my opinions, and maybe sometimes make someone think, or even help someone “lose their faith”, but in the end my own life is not really some paragon of rational behavior or self-satisfaction, and I assure you I am not doing this with any evangelical fervor. People are going to do what works for them – hopefully.
The older I get the more I see people as going through the same cycles of life. Some call it depression or ennui, some call it trials of faith. It’s all the same thing. We all go up and down; we all feel the emptiness of life and the universe; we all look for ways to dull loneliness and pain.
In the end we do die alone, love is transitory and somewhat illusory, and we deteriorate into worm food. How we distract ourtselves from those facts and dull the inherent pain of life ends up being a lot of what defines individual people and their lives. “We are all aware of the great universal truths; how we choose to cope is what defines us”. For those who choose the religious path, godspeed to you unless and until you’re hurting other people.
Good thoughts. I do agree religion is dying and becoming less and less of a social force in the US – using it as a weapon is hastening its death. Not so much in some parts of the world. Do no harm is a good plan.
Lyssa, I agree about using religion as a weapon hurting religion. There is just too much of that nowadays. I actually see it as an invasion of one’s space. Oddly enough, I find the Jehovah’s Witnesses to be almost less intrusive than some religions that don’t have the rep for appearing at your door.
The ones who have caught me the past couple of years have taken “I am not interested but thank you for thinking of me” very well and left. There was no back up plan. I can’t fault them for that, just so they take no the first time.
Jews have the right idea–they don’t evangelize. My grandchildren love going to Elena’s for holidays. She makes it warm and welcoming and fun. She doesn’t evangelize.
Maybe some of the evangelizers ought to try that approach.
I think Mormons take that approach? So I hear.
Moon, I guess you and Lyssa don’t count Islam as a religion. One that continues to grow despite Christianity’s best efforts.
I don’t know what Rick means by, “I think Mormons take that approach.” They have a huge missionary program. The generally go out, “Two by two.” You’ve seen them, black pants, white shirt, black tie. Very conservative and warm hearted.
I don’t think I would want to live in Rick’s world–kinda reminds me of another person some of us know and have grown to seriously dislike.
George, you are going to call me a liar…but I used to live next door to a very large Mormon family. I got along real well with several of their teenage kids and they told me they had a gift for me. I said “what’s that?” They then asked me how many Mormon missionaries had stopped by my house. I said I can’t think of any who have stopped by. They then asked me if I knew why. I said no. That’s when they told me they had given me the gift of Mormon Insurance.
Those kids had told all the missionaries who somehow touched base with that family that we were hopeless cases and not to waste their time. That gift still makes me smile. I am not so sure our house number has been registered somewhere in Salt Lake City on a do not call on list. Those folks moved 15 years ago. The Insurance is still working. If it stops working, I will know who took it away.
There are 613 commandments that “good Jews” are suppose to follow. Really, are we going down that road in order to prove who is the real religious follower.
How about we only follow one, the one by Rabbi Hillel who Jesus greatly admired.
Ah, do unto others as you would have them do unto you….
@George S. Harris
I deliberately said US keeping the Middle East in mind.
It’s been proven that you can support most any position you want by quoting the Bible. Using the word “facts” in reference to biblical writings is obviously problematic. The Bible was written by a man. When you take these truths together, you can see the problem that results from trying to base a civilization on the Bible, by using it as some sort of “rulebook.”
Maybe we should rely on our own best nature when deciding on how to treat our fellow humans (and all other creatures). After all, don’t each of us have the benefit of “divine intervention” if we allow it into our lives?