Associated Press wrote:The president-elect of the Christian Coalition of America has declined the job, saying the organization would not let him expand its agenda beyond opposing abortion and gay marriage. The Rev. Joel Hunter said he had hoped to focus on issues such as poverty and the environment. "These are issues that Jesus would want us to care about," said Hunter.
Uptight fundamentalists more concerned with peoples sex lives than actually helping those who aren't very well off financially or getting their hands dirty with some real work? Color me shocked.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
General Zod wrote:Uptight fundamentalists more concerned with peoples sex lives than actually helping those who aren't very well off financially or getting their hands dirty with some real work? Color me shocked.
Ghetto edit: Color me unsurprised. Not shocked. Meh.
"It's you Americans. There's something about nipples you hate. If this were Germany, we'd be romping around naked on the stage here."
American Christianity has pretty much totally jettisoned Jesus' views on wealth and poverty. That's why they don't want this guy pushing that angle, because even though they won't come out and say it, they believe that when it comes to poverty issues, Jesus was full of shit.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Darth Wong wrote:American Christianity has pretty much totally jettisoned Jesus' views on wealth and poverty. That's why they don't want this guy pushing that angle, because even though they won't come out and say it, they believe that when it comes to poverty issues, Jesus was full of shit.
Exactly what part of Christs teachings do they still hold on to? From what I've seen, they are more than happy to be the persecutor, rather than the persecuted, they are perfectly willing to see people executed for crimes with not a word of forgiveness, and they will happily 'love thy neighbor' unless that neighbor is a homosexual, an athiest, or any other form of 'heathen'.
We pissing our pants yet?
-Negan
You got your shittin' pants on? Because you’re about to Shit. Your. Pants!
-Negan
He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.
-George Bernard Shaw
Darth Wong wrote:American Christianity has pretty much totally jettisoned Jesus' views on wealth and poverty. That's why they don't want this guy pushing that angle, because even though they won't come out and say it, they believe that when it comes to poverty issues, Jesus was full of shit.
Don't forget, American fundamentalism is mostly Calvinist. Calvin was the guy who managed to somehow get from the Beatitudes ("blessed are the poor") to "If you're rich, it means God loves you better than poor people" (I'm not making that up). It dovetails nicely with the Horatio Alger myth which is central to the American Dream: anyone in America can be rich if he just works hard enough. Combine those viewpoints, and you get a world view in which the rich are all hard workers who all earned their fortunes and are entitled to them because they're a blessing from God, while the poor are lazy sinners who deserve pity and prayer, but nothing else.
Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves…We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.--Ada Louise Huxtable, "Farewell to Penn Station", New York Times editorial, 30 October 1963 X-Ray Blues
Flagg wrote:Exactly what part of Christs teachings do they still hold on to? From what I've seen, they are more than happy to be the persecutor, rather than the persecuted, they are perfectly willing to see people executed for crimes with not a word of forgiveness, and they will happily 'love thy neighbor' unless that neighbor is a homosexual, an athiest, or any other form of 'heathen'.
They hold onto the ideology of converting everyone in sight, and that the only way to get to heaven is to be part of Team Jesus.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
Flagg wrote:Exactly what part of Christs teachings do they still hold on to? From what I've seen, they are more than happy to be the persecutor, rather than the persecuted, they are perfectly willing to see people executed for crimes with not a word of forgiveness, and they will happily 'love thy neighbor' unless that neighbor is a homosexual, an athiest, or any other form of 'heathen'.
They hold onto the ideology of converting everyone in sight, and that the only way to get to heaven is to be part of Team Jesus.
Yeah, and it's so fucking endearing, isn;t it?
We pissing our pants yet?
-Negan
You got your shittin' pants on? Because you’re about to Shit. Your. Pants!
-Negan
He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.
-George Bernard Shaw
Darth Wong wrote:American Christianity has pretty much totally jettisoned Jesus' views on wealth and poverty. That's why they don't want this guy pushing that angle, because even though they won't come out and say it, they believe that when it comes to poverty issues, Jesus was full of shit.
Exactly what part of Christs teachings do they still hold on to? From what I've seen, they are more than happy to be the persecutor, rather than the persecuted, they are perfectly willing to see people executed for crimes with not a word of forgiveness, and they will happily 'love thy neighbor' unless that neighbor is a homosexual, an athiest, or any other form of 'heathen'.
Essentially, everything other than "I come not to bring peace but bearing a sword", the stage magic, and the Cruicifixition and Resurrection, has been jettisoned from Fundie theology. To them, Jesus is an immortal, all-powerful David Copperfield with AK-47s in both hands.
When ballots have fairly and constitutionally decided, there can be no successful appeal back to bullets.
—Abraham Lincoln
People pray so that God won't crush them like bugs.
—Dr. Gregory House
Oil an emergency?! It's about time, Brigadier, that the leaders of this planet of yours realised that to remain dependent upon a mineral slime simply doesn't make sense.
—The Doctor "Terror Of The Zygons" (1975)
I'm still waiting for the Christians to sell everything they own and give it to the poor, God will provide afterall.
I'm sure out of the billion or so Christians out there it's been done before by someone, but I'm an atheist, it's not my job to go out looking for those people.
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
Wicked Pilot wrote:I'm still waiting for the Christians to sell everything they own and give it to the poor, God will provide afterall.
I'm sure out of the billion or so Christians out there it's been done before by someone, but I'm an atheist, it's not my job to go out looking for those people.
Actually, considering the Jeses was portrayed as very compassionate to the socially maligned (prostitutes, people suffering disease, etc) the modern Evangelical Christian attitude of scorn and arrogant self-righteousness in the face of the suffering of the wretched seems to prove that they have fuck all to do with Jesus.
Something about Libertarianism always bothered me. Then one day, I realized what it was:
Libertarian philosophy can be boiled down to the phrase, "Work Will Make You Free."
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around! If all you want to do is have some harmless, mindless fun, go H3RE INST3ADZ0RZ!! Grrr! Fight my Brute, you pansy!
Coyote wrote:Actually, considering the Jeses was portrayed as very compassionate to the socially maligned (prostitutes, people suffering disease, etc) the modern Evangelical Christian attitude of scorn and arrogant self-righteousness in the face of the suffering of the wretched seems to prove that they have fuck all to do with Jesus.
Ironically they have much more in common with the orthodox Jewish temples which Jesus was at odds with.
As has been said, today's firebrand interprets compassion as "saving" sinners. Saving in their case meaning converting them to following their exact world view or persecuting them ruthlessly.
"I do not understand why everything in this script must inevitably explode."~Teal'c
Cao Cao wrote:Ironically they have much more in common with the orthodox Jewish temples which Jesus was at odds with.
I was discussing this news story with a friend last night, and when she remarked that the GOP has become Christian only in the sense that they believe in God, I noted that it reminded me a lot of the Pharisees -- the GOP believes in God very loudly.
EDIT: Goddamned typodemons
Last edited by Surlethe on 2006-12-01 12:07am, edited 1 time in total.
A Government founded upon justice, and recognizing the equal rights of all men; claiming higher authority for existence, or sanction for its laws, that nature, reason, and the regularly ascertained will of the people; steadily refusing to put its sword and purse in the service of any religious creed or family is a standing offense to most of the Governments of the world, and to some narrow and bigoted people among ourselves.
Very loudly and very publicly. The Pharisees could have only hoped to be seen on TV watched by millions as they prayed and went through the motions for the benefit of the audience, showing off their righteousness.
Nowadays, the Evangelicals have turned the church away from being a "hospital for sinners" and instead made it a "fortress for saints". A guy like Jesus showing up, dirty and stinky, talking about volunteering in homeless shelters and providing homes for foster children would be looked down on as a radical if not driven out entirely.
Something about Libertarianism always bothered me. Then one day, I realized what it was:
Libertarian philosophy can be boiled down to the phrase, "Work Will Make You Free."
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around! If all you want to do is have some harmless, mindless fun, go H3RE INST3ADZ0RZ!! Grrr! Fight my Brute, you pansy!
Interesting. Didn't look that far back, as it only appeared today in my paper... slow news day?
A guy like Jesus showing up, dirty and stinky, talking about volunteering in homeless shelters and providing homes for foster children would be looked down on as a radical if not driven out entirely.
A guy like Jesus would be too smart to go to that kind of church and expect much.
The actual Jesus would go in and turn over some tables, the terrorist!
