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Sean Faircloth:
Attack of the Theocrats!
I'm not a Christian, so ultimately it's nothing to me what Jesus' opinions might have been, but I do have to say that his teachings strike me as liberal and even anti-conservative. How do conservatives reconcile 'turn the other cheek' with 'go to war'? Or 'sell all you have and give to the poor' with 'give nothing to the poor, because if they're poor it's their own fault for not working hard enough (oh they might be poor for reasons beyond their control? fingers in ears la la la la la I can't hear you). Jesus' teaching here wasn't, as some say, particular to the special case of the individual he was addressing, because he generalized it with 'for it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven'. I don't even agree with the liberals who say Jesus had conservative views on homosexuality, because Jesus didn't mention homosexuality. It was Paul who introduced the anti-gay and anti-woman verses in the New Testament.
Jesus was a pacifist and a socialist who fought against the conservative establishment of his time. In fact, if I was to criticize him for anything, it would be because he took pacifism and socialism too far.
Permalink Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:11:43 UTC | #924701