Christians who only do good to get into heaven are inherently bad people.
Jesus: Did I fucking stutter?
American Christians are insane. All the churches where I live (Sweden) are pro immigration and were a huge help during the 2015 immigration crisis. They point to the parable of the good Samaritan where Jesus meets a Samaritan who is not just a foreigner, he believes in a blasphemous religion to boot. But nevertheless Jesus helps him. If Jesus helped a foreigner of a rivalling religion then why shouldn't the modern day church help muslim syrians.
You might be crossing some stories there's the Samaritan woman at the well, which Jesus has a conversation with a Samaritan woman and asks for help getting water from Jacob's Well. There's also the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story jesus created about a who stops and helps the person on the road beaten by robbers after 2 jewish people, a priest and a levite, pass the beaten man by, citing ritual cleanliness or thinking the guy is bait for more robbers.
Still your point stands about both being about treating everyone kindly regardless of nation or religion.
Thank you. I certainly mixed it up a bit. It was around 9-10 years ago that I read the bible for fun.
In Jesus's parable it's the Good Samaritan who helps out the Jewish man who's been beaten and robbed and left for dead, after two supposedly-pious Jews walk on by. So where they weren't even willing to help their "neighbor," the Samaritan helps his "enemy."
I suppose a nitpicking Evangelical could claim it only means they should have helped the person of their own religion, and that particular Samaritan was "one of the good ones" like the few people who are useful to you and semi-exempt from your general racism. They'd be wrong, of course.
The Catholic Church and several of the mainline Christian denominations (Episcopal, UCC, Presbyterian, plus Unitarian which isn't 100% Christian) have been helpful to immigrants, including undocumented people, in these trying times. Not to say they don't have their own problems, in history and the present.
This is why I laugh loudly and from the belly when the old "atheists have no spiritual guide to frame morality" chestnut rears its head in any conversation.
Always eyeing someone suspicious who basically says that they would murder, steal and rape if it wasn't for their religion.
What do I do?
Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
If there's a hell, there's a special place in it for "Christians" who fervently oppose the literal words of their deity
I'm curious what the replies to him were.
The scribe quoted "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" and then, "Love your neighbor as yourself."
"You have answered correctly" Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
The scribe then asked "And who is my neighbor?"
Jesus replied "It is whoever you are hoping I don't say it is."
with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind
That's the problem right there.
Even the old testament has plenty in this. For example:
Exodus 22:21. “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt."
My point being they don't even know what the book they claim to praise so much even says.
To the rest of us, this tells us that xenophobia and animosity against immigrants have been social problems for a very long time.
That doesn't count because I've never been to Egypt
The coptic Christians also skating by on a technicality
What's wrong, it's exactly what the book says:
11 And Jesus said unto them, "Verily, blessed are the rich, for they have earned their righteousness, but away with the poor, for they are a burden upon the realm. And if a stranger cometh from across the border, seek not to break bread with him, but demand first his papers and cast him out into the wilderness. For I say unto thee: Worship Mammon above all else, for Compassion yieldeth no return on investment."
Nationalist Chrstians
Nat-C’s, if you will
YOINK!
I don't know if I've told this joke in this community before, but here goes. A man is driving through Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles. He comes across a fallen tree and stops. Before he knows what's happening, men in balaclavas and with automatic rifles are shouting at him and banging on the window of his car.
"Are you a catholic or a protestant?" One of the masked men asks. The man in the car, knows the wrong answer could get him shot.
"I'm an atheist." Says the man.
"Are you catholic atheist or a protestant atheist?" Shouts the masked man.
I strongly suspect a lot of American Christians aren't particularly religious. Instead they're using religious affiliation, and Christian symbols, as signifiers of an ethnic/sectarian identity. That's why the man in the post above, doesn't care about non-white Christians, doesn't care about what the bible says he should do, and likely doesn't care that his leaders are often immoral people who regularly commit blasphemy and heresy. For him being a Christian means belonging to a white protestant American ethnic group, that God is on their side, and not much more.
It's fundamentally not that different to Ratko Mladić, who had previously been a longstanding and reputable member of the communist party, and who people said wasn't religious, claiming he was defending Christianity against Islam when he became the Butcher of Bosnia. Or Putin, the former KGB operative, claiming he's defending Christian values against Western decadence in Ukraine.
That reminds me of my favorite Emo Philips joke:
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"
He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"
Northern Conservative†Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
Church is by far the biggest third place. It's Christian Club where people hang out with other community members a couple hours a week, and in a healthy Church it can result in very powerful, positive, and effective community building. You can have millionaires and grocery bangers treating each other as equals prepping for a BBQ or singing in the choir.
The religion itself often ends up being quietly secondary to the community building, and I still don't know what replaces the Church for the non-religious. I've been to gatherings of like-minded people that weren't Church, but the regularity and diversity of people in a healthy Church (regardless of the specific faith) is something I haven't seen elsewhere, and I do think it's something that can be good for society.
I knew the CEO of a pretty big corporation who was in Sunday School classes with ex-cons and burger flippers, and that experience made them all see each other in a different light that was good for everyone. It taught the poor and the powerful that they were all just people. It made the powerless more willing to stand up to their "betters" and the powerful more empathetic to people who weren't as fortunate.
Interestingly they never ask for the kid’s immigration status before raping them.
Presumably they know the immigration status of their own kids.
A few months ago they were talking about "committing the sin of empathy". Nothing will surprise me after that.
Ask Jesus if he's also a legal good citizen American fighting for the true American kingdom
That was close , I almost helped an innocent child with the equivalent of some lost pocket change... Thanks Jesus.
Always conservatives
What do I do?
Have you tried killing yourself?
Well, it's a simple question. Where do your loyalties lie? Like one of your guitar guys (Johnny Mellencamp) said back in the 1980's...'You've gotta stand for something or you'll fall for anything'.
And they wonder why so many of their kids have fucked right off and joined the opposition. It'd be funny if it wasn't such a mess.
What you do is read the fucking manual.
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
I do not know that Matt von something... is him known?
The author could be genuinely stupid, but is there really no hope he be just inventing the story to help christians steping out of nationalism?
I am not religious at all, but I think religious people reading him are pushed to a sentiment of anger toward the logic he describes which gives more importance to the hate toward migrants than to the religious duties... And he writes a bit too well to really ask what he should do in that case. Isn't it?
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