Reply #355: Referencing "Jeebus" is not ridicule of him ... [View All]

... or of you, but of people who use religion as a substitute for thinking: basically the right-wingers who are hijacking your religion. As you say, these are the modern day "Pharisees." This also goes for expressions like holy-roller, Bible-thumper, church-waller, Fundies and the Church of St. Pedophile.

Speaking solely for myself, I have no desire to drive a wedge between secular and religious liberals. Ultimately, we are after the same things: a society that respects individuals, the Earth and other nations. When I read the New Testement, I frankly think it has socialism written all over it. It also strikes me that Jesus' real message is to remove artificial barriers among people and within religion. Jesus was not a priest, yet he claimed to speak for God. He did not hang around with the best people, but the worst: infidels, extortionists, adulterers, terrorists, slackers, lepers. He put faithful Romans, mercenaries, about his own people. He told people to be prepared to fight with their relatives, a radical notion in a patriarchal society. He put common sense above technical requirements of the Judaism of the time. He warned of the dangers of wealth and status.

Having said that, skeptics, atheists, agnostics, witches and most other minority religions are constantly being assaulted by popular culture which presumes that everyone is religious and if not Christian, then Jewish. It permiates our society, our politics and even our language. When you feel like atheists are being disrespectful, try to have some empathy for those of us who are constantly being pushed and marginalized. It is easy to see why we get angry sometimes, even if it is inapproriately expressed.

Since you brought it up, yes the Jesus of the cannonical Bible espoused many good ethics, some of which are revolutionary. The concepts of forgiving offenses and loving ones enemy still seem to allude modern Christians. Unfortunately, he also espoused the disfunctional notion that there is virtue in suffering. This idea is amplified in the Epistles and expressly affirmed by recent pronouncements of the Pope. I cannot begin to express how destructive this idea is to the human condition as it justifies all manner of cruelty. For my own part, I see no reason to suppose there is any validity in the concept of original sin, the need for redemption, or a dualistic human nature, carnal versus spiritual. I do not consider faith a virtue and I do not take the Bible's or any church's word for anything. You might want to consider whether or not it is such a good idea to have so much of your own personal identity tied up in this one ancient philosopher.