Check out this very short but to-the-maddening-point article in the UK's Guardian newspaper by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame (courtesy, as always, of my friend Left Coast Bob):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2100802,00.html
** *A true land of opportunity*
Where there's death and destruction, there's profit - as security
companies in Iraq know only too well
**********
I suppose what really burns me up is that these people claim to be Christians. I suppose they could be, if you consider Christianity limited to a few parts of the Old Testament where violence, sexism, and elitism rule. (Remember that part about an eye for an eye? Read it again. Because that same verse states that you only have to give up an eye if you take one from a rich person. If you put out the eye of a common man, you must "pay one large piece of silver.")
Sure, they're right in line with the verses that call for the insemination of one's sister-in-law if your bro isn't up to the job; the killing of your neighbor if s/he plants the wrong crop at the wrong time, etc.
But let's consider the rest of it - e.g., Jesus's message.
Have these corporate Christians ever read the scriptures? No, I suppose they all think if Christ were on Earth today he'd be a corporate attorney for an oil company, driving around in an SUV, running red lights and mowing down pedestrians in crosswalks while talking on his cell phones.
Get real, people. Most likely he'd be visiting people in prison, riding a bike, shopping at Goodwill and protesting war, environmental destruction, and other human evils. He'd probably refuse to vote or join a political party.
Remember the part where he turned over the tables in the temple? See, he hated corruption and greed, rich people taking advantage of poor people. That's my acupuncturist's theory about why "they strung him up," as she (a self-described "radical feminist Christian") puts it. He went against big business.
But then again, the people founding companies based on killing would probably have sided with Pontius Pilate, wouldn't they?
1 comment:
I think you are missing one key point here. You are thinking the definition of "Christian" is "one who studies the Bible in order to discover the will of God for their lives...how they should think and act, what principles should guide their lives". However, the modern definition of "Christian" has slightly been changed to read "1. A person who joins a social club which generally meets on Sundays. This club benefits you with respectability and the ability to cloak any action whatsoever by simply referring to it but requires no other adjustment to your life or values. 2. Archaic reference to a nearly extinct people who followed a strict moral code. Modern Christians often receive the benefit of the reflected good feelings this sect generated."
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