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| Copyright: Antony McCallum |
I think we found the root of our present predicament. And no, it´s not the bloke on the picture above! It´s an altogether different guy...
Matthew 5:38-44
>>>Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;>>>
Was Jesus mad, bad or God? If these are the actual words of Jesus, I´d say he was mad. "Love thy quislings as yourself and win the Darwin Award" is such good advice to Western man (or woman, or any human) in the year 2021. Right?
And no, Jesus isn´t talking about other Christians (other Christians were erring brothers, not enemies), he wasn´t talking about ascesis (he preached the Sermon on the Mount to "the multitude" which isn´t called upon to be ascetics), nor did he take the position that you don´t have to forgive unrepentant sinners (an argument I often heard from Christians).
Here´s a scary idea: what if Jesus says what he means and means what he says? Now, go out and apply his principles to grooming gangs, terrorists, Antifa rioters, the Deep State, the SJWs cancelling your sweet little ass, the politicians serving them...
Right.
Perhaps the world needs more paganism, after all. But sure, we could compromise and create a paganizing form of Christianity, if you like that better!
But love our enemies? Show agape to unrepentant sinners?
Nupe.
Christianity as psy op to weaken other tribes perhaps? But who was first with using it like this in that case? The romans? And if so, did they have a plan for how to not "get high on their own supply"?
ReplyDeleteNo, I think the Church assimilated so much of paganism and Realpolitik that it could work as a state religion of kings and emperors. Or even the religion of rebels.
ReplyDeleteThe mischief probably started with certain kinds of radical Protestants, and was later taken over by secular liberals. Still, it can´t be a coincidence that the only culture willing to self-sacrifice for other cultures to the point of self-extinction (or which at least preaches that kind of message, hypocritically) is the culture which has the Sermon on the Mount...
Maybe the Sermon works for ascetics, or within a very small Christian community, but it becomes dysfunctional on the larger scale.
Unless you de facto amend it and/or don´t really care. Then you get Christian emperors, crusaders, or even converted Vikings, who are all quite capable of surviving anything!