Sunday, January 15, 2006

Jesus Called



An example of one of the fine fridge magnets and other stuff you can find at Miss Poppy's



Whether or not the Jesus portrayed in the gospels actually existed there is no doubt that the message Jesus preaches in the Bible is almost exactly the opposite of the message preached by today's Religious Right. Jesus' message is one of compassion and forgiveness. He is shown as ministering to the morally fallen and the socially outcast. Jesus advocates giving money to the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and giving shelter to the homeless.

The Religious Right seems to be following a moral code almost exactly the opposite of the one the gospel Jesus preaches. The book of Revelation warns about the coming of the Anti-Christ whom many would follow in the last days. If the Anti-Christ is the opposite of Christ would those who follow him preach a message of pride and assertiveness? Would the Anti-Christ's followers oppose government programs to help the needy in order to not "foster dependency"? Would they oppose high schools allowing unwed mothers back into the classroom in order to not send the "wrong moral message?"

Unfortunately, Jesus probably won't be calling anyone on the phone. All we can hope for is that people will start to recognize the disconnect between what the Bible says and their church is preaching and vote with their feet out the door.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You have probably seen Al Franken's very funny lampoon of the "Christian" right's version of Jesus: "The Gospel of the Supply Side Jesus".
If you haven't seen it, you can find it here:
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/03/09/17_franken.html