A couple of my friends took my last two diatribes about organized religion as an indictment of all Christians and of Christianity. That could not be farther from my actual perspective and I am sorry that I did not articulate my position more clearly. Language is my second form of communicating, with the first consisting largely of grunts and other bodily noises.
My problem is not with Christians or with Christianity, but with organized religion in general, the business that has become of it, and the fact that Christianity has been hijacked and stood on its head by the far right.
My friends also forced me to dust off one of my copies of the Bible, so I could stop paraphrasing and just state the Word as best as my Revised Standard Version will state it. This is how I feel about what has happened to Christianity. I hope it makes sense to you as well.
Mark It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God
Mark And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who bought in the temple and he overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
Mark11:17 My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.
Mark 12:38 Be ware of the scribes who like to go about in long robes and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the synagogue and places of honor at feasts who devour widow’s houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.
Mark 13:06 Many will come in my name saying, I am he! And they will lead many astray.
Matthew 5:03 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:04 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:06 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Matthew Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:08 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:09 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.
Matthew You have hears that it was said to the men of old ‘you shall not kill, and whosoever kills, shall be liable to judgment. Matthew 5:22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother, shall be liable to judgment; whosoever insults his brother…]
Matthew 5:38 Do not resist one who is evil but if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Matthew Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew Be ware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them.
Matthew 6:02 Thus, when you give alms; sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that you may be praised by men. Matthew …so that your alms may be in secret.
Matthew 6:05 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for the love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at street corners, that they may be seen by men.
Matthew 6:06 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
Matthew 6:07 And in praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Matthew Do not lay upon yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.
Matthew 7:01 Judge not, that you be not judged.
Matthew 7:03 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
Matthew 7:05 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:08 For everyone who asks, receives, and he who knocks, it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will you give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will you give him a serpent?
Mathew 7:12 So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so for them; for this is the law and the prophets.
Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
What has happened in our world that has taken these words and trashed them, all for the sake of money and power? You can’t just say these words, you have to live them and I don’t know too many people who even remember these words, or the present patently obvious irony, much less live their lives by them. Quite the opposite, I am afraid and I blame the business-fueled theocracy which is being shoved down our throats by the religious right.
They have hijacked Christianity and have made it the diametric opposite of what Jesus taught and for which he died. And that is what I fear so much. True Christians are not pedophile priests, or charlatans like Tammy Baker, or Oral Roberts, or Pat Robertson, or Terry Jones, or Joseph Smith, or L. Ron Hubbard, or any politician who wants to cut taxes for the wealthy and place the burden on the middle class, the old, the sick, and the poor. How can you claim to be a Christian and then sit back and let this happen to your fellow human beings?
That is my point. I am sorry that it took me three tries to make it.
J. Brandeis Sperandeo
No comments:
Post a Comment