He preached peace, turning the other cheek, helping those who are less fortunate, rendering unto Caesar what is Ceaesar's (paying taxes), loving your enemies and your neighbor, and being kind to each other.

Doesn't all that run counter to Conservatism?

The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/132/story_13245_1.html

"Supply Side Jesus".....priceless.

inspiration for prosperity cult. It's about worshiping money.

These guys are strictly Old Testament and Revelations.

Jesus was a community organizer ...

Pontius Pilate was a governor ...

It was one of Paul's visions from God, years after Jesus' death, that instructed him to write (in his New Testament letters) that the message of Jesus was now also available to non-Jews (Gentiles).

Being predominantly Gentile, the theologians that American evangelicals and fundamentalists mainly follow teach the words of Paul, not Jesus. The words of Jesus in the four gospels are usually interpreted by these people as having been intended for Jesus' Jewish followers.

(Again, those words of Jesus that are quoted in the first four books of the New Testament were spoken to local Jews, and were spoken years before Paul became a follower, announced that non-Jews could become followers of Jesus, and started writing most of the rest of the New Testament books.)

This is how they can quote the New Testament without necessarily following Jesus.

Traditional Christians (Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican-Episcopalian, Lutheran) are more likely to think of Christianity as being centered around the words of its founder, but the born-again, rapture crowd loves its own special theology.

They have forgiven Jesus for his sins.

but have only heard what their preachers have told them it says.

People twist their religious views to conform to their own personal philosophy, NOT vice versa.

And trust me, I know what you speak of, being an avid reader of "wacky" books.

http://www.hughblumenfeld.com/

Long-Haired Radical Socialist Jew
by Hugh Blumenfeld

Well Jesus was a homeless lad
With an unwed mother and an absent dad
And I really don't think he would have gotten that far
If Newt, Pat and Jesse had followed that star

Refrain: So let's all sing out praises to
That long-haired radical socialist Jew

When Jesus taught the people he
Would never charge a tuition fee
He just took some fishes and some bread
And made up free school lunches instead
So let's all sing out praises to....

He healed the blind and made them see
He brought the lame folks to their feet
Rich and poor, any time, anywhere
Just pioneering that free health care
So let's all sing out praises to....

Jesus hung with a low-life crowd
But those working stiffs sure did him proud
Some were murderers, thieves and whores
But at least they didn't do it as legislators
So let's all sing out praises to....

Jesus lived in troubled times
the religious right was on the rise
Oh what could have saved him from his terrible fate?
Separation of church and state.
So let's all sing out praises to....

Sometimes I fall into deep despair
When I hear those hypocrites on the air
But every Sunday
gives me hope
When pastor, deacon, priest, and pope
Are all singing out their praises to
Some long-haired radical socialist Jew.
They're singing out their praises to..oooo..oooo..Some long-haired radical socialist Jew.

after I say that Jesus wasn't blond, blue-eyed and didn't speak American English. And that, if he actually existed, he probably looked more like Osama Bin Laden than Owen Wilson or Brad Pitt.

love. He pretty much sounds like a hippie.

so they ignore Christ to the greatest degree possible, dabble with Paul, but mostly stick with selected Old Testament cuts to keep the masses in line.

I despise the American Taliban because they drive people away from Christ, even those they attract to church because again they run away from Jesus almost at all times.

They distort all truth and turn love into hate.

It's about what he did for THEM. Dying for THEIR SINS. It has nothing to do with the example he set in his life.

Republicans are more like the opposite of Jesus than anything.

They say and do everything in opposition to what Jesus stood for.

Most Christians do not get it, do not understand it, and do not want to. They read the old testament, which... if you really follow what Jesus told his followers then the old testament is now irrelevant.

They think the Bible was written by the hand of God instead of other men.

They also claim "eye for an eye" but never "he who is without sin may cast the first stone"

Jesus was anti death penalty

Jesus was about feeding the poor

Jesus was about seperation of church and state

Jesus was about accepting everyone and loving everyone

Jesus would be so upset if he saw what modern Christians have done with his philosophies and teachings.

Most of them do NOT know what the Bible says because, as someone who has gone to church for years, I can tell you that most of them have never READ the Bible.

That is why I do not go to church any longer. I am still Christian, and still love Jesus... (because he was a total liberal like me :) )

but I don't need to be in a room full of angry people to do so.

Yet I know what the compassionate man Jesus taught. It just doesn't jibe with what modern, Fundy Christians are taught.

That's why it is an impossibility to be a "Compassionate Conservative". Those two words are mutually exclusive.

If Christ returned today, He'd be crucified again by the very same people who claim to have Him at the center of their lives. And that includes almost all religious organizations and their leaders.