HOLY WAR?

[Davis Fleetwood]

TRUE or FALSE: it may have been ok to believe that the creator of the universe wrote a book of laws to guide us years ago. when we fought wars with picaxe's, go ahead and believe what you want.

with nukes on the table- and the BIBLE declaring that the RAPTURE is coming and the RAPTURE is beautiful- belief in GOD becomes incompatible with the long term survival of the human species.

Questions for the comment section.... 1. POST YOUR FAVORITE JESUS or BIBLE QUOTE 2. To what extent should the teachings of Jesus inform U.S. Foreign policy? 3. Is the bible the "WORD OF THE LORD?" if so, who are mere men to interpret it? 4. How has JESUS enriched your life? 5. How has JESUS harmed your life?

6.- Is Sarah Palin's faith different than Barack Obama's?


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[Kendra]

Amen!

For the record, I'll make clear I am no longer a Christian by any means- BUT, I know my shit.

1.) The Beatitudes and ALL of Revelation (I enjoy things that scare the shit out of me).
2.) Jesus was a pacifist, if we are all ready fighting wars in his name, then the followers don't really understand their leader. Jesus interprets Mosiac Law and for obvious reasons (in conjunction with the picaxe comment) we should not be following archaic law in modern times, at least not without questioning it. BUT, Jesus went on to preach the "Antithesis of the Law", the differentiation between law and grace, and frankly, the differentiation between the law established by Moses in Jewish times, and the "grace" established by Jesus in the dawn of Christianity. Again, if we were to exercise the words of Jesus as our foreign policy, we would exercise such policies as, "Love your enemies, bless them that despitefully use you," and, "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also," and, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." As Cyrus Scofield says, "The mingling of [law and grace] in the current teaching of the day spoils both, for law is robbed of its terror, and grace of its freeness." Ironically, I think people have more of a grip on terror, than freedom.

3. The Bible is the word of mere men interpreted by mere men.

4. Me being raised on the teachings of Jesus has made me...tolerant.

5. Me being raised on the teachings of Jesus has made me....a pacifist. Also, I'm fighting to deconstruct the bourgeois morality thats making me oppress myself and others. Still working on that...

6. I don't care about anything Sarah Palin believes in because I don't believe in her. And Obama is a Muslim.

Peace!

[Tony PhilosophyoverPolitics]

number 5 is my idea, asshole. youre so lucky youre my best friend.

But I do enjoy your religious insight... the unfortunate thing about todays liberals is their inability to see that the question of god is just that- a question. it is meant to be an exercise in theology, just like metaphysics is an exercise in reality. Faith is not blind belief in god, faith ( just like love.. hope.. fear...) is a human created concept which by definition can be the way a person percieves his reality, and grace is his self-awareness to his fortunate fate. Glad to have another philosopher/existentialist on here.

Fellow followers of the progressive mind... do not abrasively cut down the believers in christ. as kendra as pointed out, it is not the belief in christ himself that has ruined our international policy and overall total world view- it is the manipulation of millions of people by a ruling class that has created a false image of the christian god for his profit.

I agree that horrible things have been done in the name of christ. But this is a scapegoat, it absolves humanity of its responsibility. Our consequence is one that I, the progressive, suffers alongside you. These consequences carry the burden of a heavy disgust for things done in the name of the son of man. Throughout all of eurocentric idealogical history- the imperialism, the denial of life, the claim to property, and the destructive genocidal policies have been carried out by the elite- and GOD has been a tool to only REINFORCE these autrocities amongst the poorer, less educated subjects.

Be aware that I, like kendra... see god as a philosophical curiosity moreso than a religion, and am NOT a christian. And though christ as a model of living or as a model of morality is under dispute by the reactionary left (who feeling betrayed by our government and the straussian right have DAMNED the idea of god into the ground) we, intellectuals and skeptical scholars of the new left, should not misjudge the idea of god due to the fascade of religious fanatics claiming the right of holy war against the muslims.

"Where god sees clearly, Man walks into the Fog.."

Man will always be in fog, and we can never consult god or the idea of god for direction. But we must continue on into the grey of the fog, and consult only ourselves, our history, and our humanity in the matter.

I say, we BRING THE WAR HOME.

[Never]

I agree with you on Sarah palin. shes just some evil witch in a fairy tale some young video game-fried child cooked up in a nitemare.

[Freida Bee]

1. Post your favorite Jesus or Bible Quote:

"Do unto others and fuck the status quo." (He said that, right?)

2. To what extent should the teachings of Jesus inform U.S. Foreign policy?

Perhaps 100%. We should never lift a hand in violence against our neighbors, foreign or domestic. We should feed out neighbors before we feed ourselves and we should heal the sick.

3. Is the bible the "WORD OF THE LORD?" if so, who are mere men to interpret it?

Only to the extent that the words of each and everyone of us is an extension of the divine in bodily form, making the Bible as much the word of God as "The National Enquirer" or this -> "potato."

Are you suggesting that, rather, women should interpret the Bible?

4. How has JESUS enriched your life?

About fifteen years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter, I had been a vegetarian for about five years, but was having some health problems in my pregnancy, eczema on my face and losing weight in mid-pregnancy, mainly. I had had a couple dreams in which Jesus appeared around that time. In one he was a homeless woman and then in this one, he was standing next to me in this big pagan fire circle, where many people we standing as well. People were passing around a pretty big leg of some sort of meat and taking bites on it. I had read that Jesus himself was likely raised a vegetarian by the Essenes before that, but he took a bite and passed it to me and asked me, "But, do you want to eat meat?" I started crying, said, "Yes," and took a bite. Starting the next day, I began eating a little fish and within a week my health problems improved. I ate meat moderately for a few years after that, began to restrict the types mostly later and have been back to being a vegetarian for about a year now. I'll always appreciate our exchange, but other than that, I have never seen him again.

5. How has JESUS harmed your life?

Like I said, that's all the interaction I've ever had with him.

6. Is Sarah Palin's faith different than Barack Obama's?

Faith in what? Humanity, the common man or woman, the survival of the species on this planet? They are very different people, so I can't imagine their anyhting abstract is exactly the same.

I know I'm being an ass here, but I am of the personal belief that atheism is a dogma and as much as I have rejected the dogma of Christianity.

I think the atheist, theist argument is moot, because there has never been a agreement on the definition of the word "God." I answer these questions with my definition and perspective of an historical sexy Jesus in my head, which simply could not be the same as yours. Define "hope." Define "trust." I define "God" as being an unseen, but felt, kinda energetic force that connects every fabric of the universe. I'm thinking there might be consciousness in that too. I do not presume that my definition is any more valid or invalid than anyone else's.

Do I think we should run governments based on that? Pretty much I think we should stick to working with terms upon which we have agreed upon definitions.

[Freida Bee]

(Dang, I can't figure out how to take advantage of that cool 15 minutes left to edit my comment thing. Just pretend that those are all coherent sentences. I see many are not.)

[jesse vigilante]

"Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of a religion."

It says in the first amendment of our constitution that religion has no place in government, and most of our founding fathers were in fact scientific deists, (an old term for agnostic.) And yet, every easter day, we celebrate the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead and took a seat in congress.

Our dollar bill, our pledge of alligance, our foreign policy, our fucking education system, all of these reflect the US as a "christian nation". But the US is not a christian nation. The bible was written by over 50 different authors, pieced together 300 years after the death of Jesus Christ, and now is trying to replace the constitution as our governing document.

This is all suburban 1950s bullshit, when our leaders tried to differentiate the country morally from "those soviet commie bastards" by trying to baptize us all, and now, 50 years later, we are still suffering the consequences. 1954, "under god" was added to the pledge of allegiance. 1956, "in god we trust" added to the dollar bill along with the phrase "god has approved of our undertakings" in latin. We know exactly when the Jesus craze started in this country. Now I'm just waiting for it to end.

The fact that Sarah Palin believes that the world was created in seven days frightens me. This woman could be our president. We'd be just as safe with a scientologist in the white house. They haven't held any crusades-yet.

Three cheers for being a devout atheist!

[Ken]

Jesse, you're right, they play us like idiots and steal our rights blindy as we're too preoccupied buying disigner coach bags and other bullshit. it's like they think we're all sidetracked by this nostalgic view of USA #1, the stock market needing our help, and the fact that religion justifies everything...sad part is a majority of us are sidetracked like this

what ever happened to Greek mythology? at least their gods made mistakes we could learn from

[wannabechef]

1. It's been too long since I read the bible to quote anything good.

2. Again, not up on my Christian Theology. Ask again later.

3. I believe that since the majority of people who adhere to the Christian faith have thrown out various things from the Bible (fun rules about dealing with menstruation, stoning disobedient children, etc.) that it's evident that the whole flock has strayed or that the "Word of God" is flexible and must change to meet the needs of new times and new situations... or it's just another in a long line of "...superstitions and hokey religions."

4. Jesus has enriched my life by providing that one Church that my friends went to and they took me there once and we made cookies. Oh, and that palm frond I got one time at another church that I went to with my mom.

5. Jesus has harmed my life by making me with having to sit through a lunch period in a Public High School having a teacher try to convert me to Christianity. As a clear violation of law, this has inflicted untold emotional harm on me. Oh, and the psychological trauma of being told countless times that I'm going to hell.

6. Well, duh. Everyone knows Obama's a secret Muslim.

I pray at the alter of Sarcasm and Smart-assedness.

[Never]

1) Love never fails. thats the best ever I think XD (hippy moment)
2) not at all. if I remember correctly wasn't the goverment supposed to stay away from religion? don't follow that crowd it'll get you into trouble :/
3) is the bible the word of the lord? no it was the word of the men writing a story about the word of well.... a lot of people. mere men? In my opinion we are much more than just mere. we are the creators of our on reality, the shifters of the very building blocks that make up our world and everything beyond. I wouldn't really call us mere.
4) how has jesus enriched my life.... hrmmm. Well I think that jesus himself has never directly effected me. but a very religious woman who lives across from me is apparently very close to jesus. And before she "found the lord" she was in a really bad place. That woman has done a lot for me and I love her very much. were it not for "Jesus" I don't believe she would be the person she is today
5) Once again Jesus has never done anything to me, at all. Christianity and its many siblings have inspired some people to be rather awful around me but besides that I don't really worry all that much about it.
6) Well who is to say that any two faiths are alike? I would have to honestly meet both Barack and Sarah to really understand their beliefs but no I don't believe they are much alike at all.

[Willie]

I asked my therapist what the difference between a religious thought and a delusion of grandeur is. By what we could gather from the DSM IV and Webster, religion is merely a delusion shared by more than one person. So this brings me to my bigger point; I've just recieved word that I am the way and the light. I didn't know it until this instant, but if you worship me, you'll never taste death. I don't presently have much to show you in terms of magical abilities; I'm hoping I cam pick up a few tricks from that mind freak guy on TV. I'm going to need 12 guys to go around telling stories of my greatness. Don't write anything just yet. I'd like you to spread the stories and let them circulate for 200 years or so before they get written down. By the way, it's a little embarassing to talk about but even with all my other-worldly talents, I'm having trouble managing my finances. Could you please send some money? Keep praying and I'll keep listening. Peace.