If Jesus is so important, why don't believers take him seriously?
By Carl S. ~
Let's face some important facts: First of all, to a great deal of the religious in this world, Jesus is irrelevant. The Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, non-theists and Deists regard the Jesus figure as just a special religious teacher, deny he existed, or ignore him altogether. Secondly, even those who honor him as a great teacher or god, disregard his commands. Thirdly, he is not taken seriously whenever the everyday practicalities of living are applied. (And even though some religions honor him as a great teacher, he wasn't; he did poorly in communicating and left a muddled legacy.)
For instance: The “faithful” are not actually faithfully hating father, mother, brother and sister and their own lives, in order to become Jesus' disciples. Nor are they cutting off their offending hands, plucking out offending eyes, or castrating themselves in order to be rewarded in heaven, rather than be denied entrance fully physically, “offendingly” intact. They are not turning the other cheek, and thereby inviting further hits and/or, rewarding their offenders. They are not selling all they have to give to those who have not, nor putting up their treasures in heaven, rather than here on Earth.
Does anyone really believe that the prelates of the Catholic church, heads of the Russian Orthodox church, televangelists and powerful imams of Islam actually are denying themselves treasures on Earth for eternal rewards, as they tell others to do, just as Jesus is said to have required? And how is it that the pope asserts atheists can enter heaven without believing in Jesus, since Jesus said otherwise? Obviously, the pope and other clerics of the same opinion, do not take Jesus seriously on this.
Jesus said whoever harms the child who believes in him shall have a stone tied to him and be thrown into the sea. How is it then that pedophile priests are protected, not condemned or punished for their crimes, if Jesus is taken seriously? Why have young girls who had children out of wedlock been condemned as whores and immoral by Christian clerics, and their children taken from them, when Jesus was friendly to and hung around with prostitutes and the rejects of society?
Why do the sects of Christianity call Jesus “the prince of peace”, when he declared that he had come not to bring peace but a sword, to set members of households against one another because of him? Obviously, they are not seriously listening.
Jesus kept telling his disciples that he would return and the world would end, “soon.” [...] But no believer pays attention to those contradictions.Jesus made it very clear that unless his followers forgave they would not themselves be forgiven. Yet, how many of them really forgive and not seek revenge? Do Christian members of gangs, the mafia, drug traffickers, really forgive and not seek to take revenge? Were the crusaders known for forgiving their enemies? Did Jesus' words of “forgive them for they know not what they do” have any effect on keeping the Jews from being branded “Christ-killers” and persecuted and murdered because of this label?
Jesus kept telling his disciples that he would return and the world would end, “soon.” All the gospel writers and St. Paul did a sloppy job of conveying his words and didn't go back to edit what they wrote, which left a mess. But why bother editing when the world was ending and nobody would notice? Now look at what a fine mess this is. But no believer pays attention to those contradictions.
One writer on the histories of religions remarked that once a figure is elevated to the status of a god, that figure's words become overshadowed by the status. The emphasis is on the god and belief in him. In fact, this would explain why nobody is paying serious attention to Jesus. He has become, through the fanciful mind of Paul of Tarsus, a god, so that all that really matters is that, 1. one believes in this god to be personally saved from the consequences of whatever nasty things one does, and 2. one gets a personal eternal reward of happiness to boot, for merely believing in him. The fanciful and delusional mind of St. Paul ignored or wasn't aware of a real Jesus, and created a Christ Jesus God of his own, and thereby, a new religion. Believers worship that particular god.
Those who have refused to pretend to believe in that god have sometimes been deprived of property, tortured, and murdered. Obviously, it's an insecure god who is that threatened by someone who won't pretend to believe in him, while he is invisible. Is this just what Jesus preached should happen?
Let's face it: Who wants to listen to a Son of Man anyhow?
For instance: The “faithful” are not actually faithfully hating father, mother, brother and sister and their own lives, in order to become Jesus' disciples. Nor are they cutting off their offending hands, plucking out offending eyes, or castrating themselves in order to be rewarded in heaven, rather than be denied entrance fully physically, “offendingly” intact. They are not turning the other cheek, and thereby inviting further hits and/or, rewarding their offenders. They are not selling all they have to give to those who have not, nor putting up their treasures in heaven, rather than here on Earth.
Does anyone really believe that the prelates of the Catholic church, heads of the Russian Orthodox church, televangelists and powerful imams of Islam actually are denying themselves treasures on Earth for eternal rewards, as they tell others to do, just as Jesus is said to have required? And how is it that the pope asserts atheists can enter heaven without believing in Jesus, since Jesus said otherwise? Obviously, the pope and other clerics of the same opinion, do not take Jesus seriously on this.
Jesus said whoever harms the child who believes in him shall have a stone tied to him and be thrown into the sea. How is it then that pedophile priests are protected, not condemned or punished for their crimes, if Jesus is taken seriously? Why have young girls who had children out of wedlock been condemned as whores and immoral by Christian clerics, and their children taken from them, when Jesus was friendly to and hung around with prostitutes and the rejects of society?
Why do the sects of Christianity call Jesus “the prince of peace”, when he declared that he had come not to bring peace but a sword, to set members of households against one another because of him? Obviously, they are not seriously listening.
Jesus kept telling his disciples that he would return and the world would end, “soon.” [...] But no believer pays attention to those contradictions.Jesus made it very clear that unless his followers forgave they would not themselves be forgiven. Yet, how many of them really forgive and not seek revenge? Do Christian members of gangs, the mafia, drug traffickers, really forgive and not seek to take revenge? Were the crusaders known for forgiving their enemies? Did Jesus' words of “forgive them for they know not what they do” have any effect on keeping the Jews from being branded “Christ-killers” and persecuted and murdered because of this label?
Jesus kept telling his disciples that he would return and the world would end, “soon.” All the gospel writers and St. Paul did a sloppy job of conveying his words and didn't go back to edit what they wrote, which left a mess. But why bother editing when the world was ending and nobody would notice? Now look at what a fine mess this is. But no believer pays attention to those contradictions.
One writer on the histories of religions remarked that once a figure is elevated to the status of a god, that figure's words become overshadowed by the status. The emphasis is on the god and belief in him. In fact, this would explain why nobody is paying serious attention to Jesus. He has become, through the fanciful mind of Paul of Tarsus, a god, so that all that really matters is that, 1. one believes in this god to be personally saved from the consequences of whatever nasty things one does, and 2. one gets a personal eternal reward of happiness to boot, for merely believing in him. The fanciful and delusional mind of St. Paul ignored or wasn't aware of a real Jesus, and created a Christ Jesus God of his own, and thereby, a new religion. Believers worship that particular god.
Those who have refused to pretend to believe in that god have sometimes been deprived of property, tortured, and murdered. Obviously, it's an insecure god who is that threatened by someone who won't pretend to believe in him, while he is invisible. Is this just what Jesus preached should happen?
Let's face it: Who wants to listen to a Son of Man anyhow?