Advice from Jesus
May 31, 2009 by Bill
Bush said: “Jesus came into my heart and changed my life.” The gullible will believe this nonsense. It is frightening, pathetic and a sick commentary to think that men running for President of the United States actually believe such fantasy. If they really believed that nonsense in asking for the advice of Jesus, here is what they would find for “advice” in that “word of God”, the bible, in the words of Jesus:
- FAMILY VALUES: “unless you hate your mother and father…your wife and children…you are NO disciple of mine” signed, Jesus (Luke 14:26)
- DEFENSE: “If someone strikes you on the right cheek…turn the other cheek to him also” signed, Jesus (Matthew 5:39)
- WELFARE: “give to everyone who begs from you…” signed, Jesus (Matthew 5:42)
- ECONOMY: “Don’t worry about life…what you are to eat…or about your body, what you are going to wear…life is more than food and clothing” signed, Jesus (Luke 12:22)
- CHURCH AND STATE SEPARATION: “give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and give to God the things that are God’s” signed, Jesus (Mark 12:17)
- SCHOOL PRAYER: “when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to God in secret” signed, Jesus (Matthew 6:6)
- PARADING RELIGION: “you hypocrites, the prostitutes will enter heaven before you” signed, Jesus (Matthew 21:31)
Need I go on with this nonsensical comedy of their claim to look to Jesus for advice? Jesus said absolutely NOTHING about abortion or homosexuality. But considering his very humanistic views and statements about the rights of human beings over legalistic laws, and considering his respect for women as revealed in passage after passage in both the Synoptic and Gnostic gospels, there is no doubt he would honor a woman’s right to choose. Homosexuality he did not consider important enough to even talk about, showing the same respect for human freedom.
There was one ’sin’ that comes through time after time in the words of Jesus, the ’sin’ of greed. Bush and Cheney might pass that on to their oil buddies who want to blast to pieces the magnificent Alaska wilderness.
To anyone with an I.Q. above 10, Bush is obviously paying no attention to what “Jesus would do” and are living in the smog of hypocrisy.
Is the American public so gullible as to believe all of the God and Jesus nonsense they blabber about? Alas…and tragically…I fear they are.
Arrogance and the moral high ground
May 17, 2009 by Bill
In a remarkable speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Salman Rushdie presented one of the great truths of our time. He said this:
“Special-interest groups, claiming the moral high-ground, now demand the protection of the censor. The fundamentalist Christian Right say we must ‘respect’ their beliefs and agenda. Criticism is placed off limits, they say, as being ‘disrespectful.’ Citizens of free societies, democracies, do not preserve their freedom by pussyfooting around their fellow citizens’ opinions. Skepticism and freedom are indissolubly linked. And it is the skepticism of journalists, their unwillingness to be impressed, that is their most important contribution to the freedom of the free world. It is the disrespect of journalists for power… for orthodoxy… for party lines… for ideologies… for vanity… for arrogance… for folly… for pretension… for corruption and for stupidity that I would like to celebrate…and that I urge you all, in the name of freedom to preserve…”
With that brilliant paragraph in mind I am writing today, part two of my last column in the News-Press on the arrogance, pretension and vanity of many of the Christian clergy who claim they speak for the “moral high ground.” The fantasy of the clergy is that they have the moral high ground due to their indoctrination… training and ideology. They forget that their is a vast chasm between indoctrination, training and education. The vast majority of clergy have only been indoctrinated with what their particular denomination wanted them to propagate and sustain. And they have been “trained” as a minister to function at weddings, funerals, invocations and so forth. They enter the ministry “trained” and “indoctrinated,” totally immune to what it means to be religiously “educated”.
About 95 percent of ministers who are called “Dr” are not really doctors at all and have not earned either a doctor’s degree or a Ph.D. I have only known one minister in the last 50 years who had an earned Ph.D in Religious Studies. The doctorate tacked on the name of the majority of ministers is an honorary degree usually presented by some small church college in their own denomination. Or else it can be bought from any number of small non-accredited schools for 50 bucks. The vast majority of ministers are not biblical scholars. They cannot read Hebrew or Greek. When I use that word “scholar” I am referring to those scholars who are studied and are looked upon as competent authorities in the Departments of Religion in the major universities of the world or major theological seminaries…non-denominational.
The corruption of the Christian clergy
May 10, 2009 by Bill
I watched it increasing year after year while serving Presbyterian and Congregational churches as an ordained minister. I considered their increasing involvement with politics and politicians as a corruption of the Christian clergy. To me the involvement totally negated their calling to nourish the spiritual life of the congregation and the community. It reached a point that I finally left the organized church and organized religion to pursue my own spiritual quest free of dogmatic authoritarianism and doctrine. I could give many examples of other ministers who have made the same decision.
I think back to one event that pushed me in this direction. I was invited to speak at the annual conference of Lutheran ministers in Tacoma, WA. My invitation was due to their interest in the columns I wrote for the Tacoma News Tribune. I knew I would never be invited back again so this was my one opportunity to face them with some questions for my own, and possibly their education.
I asked them first…”how many of you actually believe that when you are preaching in your pulpit that you are really speaking for God and God is talking through you, as His instrument?” Over three quarters of the group held up their hand. I continued: “How many of you feel that since you are speaking for God, you have the moral high ground with your pronouncements on social issues…political issues…and moral values?” Almost all of the group held up their hands. I continued: “this is not a silly question for me…but how many of you can explain how a light bulb works?” Not a one held up his hand. I continued: “You cannot even explain a light bulb…and yet you are living with the fantasy and delusion that the power…and energy…and the creative force and mystery behind millions of galaxies in this universe beyond comprehension is speaking through you on this little insignificant grain of sand called Earth”? There was silence in the auditorium. I continued: “how many of you feel that when you quote the bible for your political and social and religious pronouncements you are taking the moral high road?” as opposed to the average citizen? Again, a majority of hands raised. I continued: “and it does not bother you or cause you any concern that the bible is filled with libidinous poetry…four letter words…grotesque accounts of murder…horrible violence…bestiality…infidelity…whoring…crime…revenge…contradictions by the thousands…and nonsense…as well as genocide…? And you still feel that this archaic book gives you the authority to take the high moral ground in your pronouncements on issues…?” Again, there was silence in the auditorium.
Read more
