Jesus taught the importance of selflessness and humility, manners, empathy and sympathy, mercy, open-heartedness, peace, the questioning of justice, comfort for the persecuted and afflicted, and everything that is anathema to the current fundamentalist movement.
American fundamentalists use small passages from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, conveniently ignoring verses of those same books which they find inconvenient, and condemn those who oppose their corporate dismantling of our once-great nation by saying we are unpatriotic and unchristian.
At his sermon on the mount, Jesus is believed to have offered his most important message, which is presented this way:
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall posses the land.
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I never hear any American fundamentalist (clergyman, politician, citizen or activist) discuss those beatitudes or present them as a philosophy by which Americans should live.
I do, however, hear stories like this one: The story of a little girl attending the private Ontario Christian School, in California, who has been expelled because her mother is a lesbian. Seems so-called Christians now punish the children of homosexuals, too. Why are so-called Christians preaching antiquated tracts of hate and eschewing the message of love and tolerance put forth by their savior?
The Wikipedia Entry about Beatitudes.
Dick Mac Recommends:
Mere Christianity
C. S. Lewis
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