The Problem with Some Christians

This whole end of the world-Armageddon-Anti-Christ mass delusion some Christians have perpetrated on us is actually more damaging to America and the world than it is humorous or  good subject for ridicule. It creates in conservative Christians the need to be righteous and pious and to them, I believe, it means controlling us by stepping on the rest of us.

Believing in a Messiah is akin to a drug addict believing that someone is going to come and cure him of his drug addiction and he won’t have to do anything. That’s not how recovery works and that’s not how the world will work.

My theory is supported by something in the Bible, Psalm 95. According to Wikipedia: “A common modern rabbinic interpretation is that there is a potential messiah in every generation. The Talmud, which often uses stories to make a moral point (aggadah), tells of a highly respected rabbi who found the Messiah at the gates of Rome and asked him, "When will you finally come?" He was quite surprised when he was told, "Today." Overjoyed and full of anticipation, the man waited all day. The next day he returned, disappointed and puzzled, and asked, "You said messiah would come 'today' but he didn't come! What happened?" The Messiah replied, "Scripture says, 'Today, 'if you will but hearken to His voice.'”

I would argue that there is not only a potential Messiah in every generation but there is a potential Messiah in every one of us.

This messiah prophecy stuff was developed at a time of relative primitivism. The mindset that developed the belief that someone would come to their rescue like Superman was the same mindset that also believed in hell.

The belief that a Messiah will come down and everyone will be saved creates the psychology that those believers do not have to be responsible for themselves, or others, or to the world.

There will never be a Judgment Day and there will never be an End Times just like there was never a Biblical Adam and Eve. Those are myths designed to convey the author‘s political point. They were not real, living, historical human beings. Doesn’t one think with the fervency of Christian validation by Believers through the sciences, that someone would find the Garden of Eden?

Maybe the messiah concept is based on Ezekiel’s wheel and the space aliens are the messiah Judaism believes in; they are little grey men.

What Jesus said was very instructive and beneficial to creating a just world for all. But Christians are more concerned with oppressing others than loving others.

Christians don’t have the right or the moral authority to force anything on anyone until they first abide by Jesus’ words. One commandment that is fitting today is “Love thy neighbor as thyself”. Many Christians don’t seem to be capable of that.

Greed is one of the biggest problems in the world today. It’s one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Don’t you think Christians would charge around the world battling greed just as Jesus charged into the Temple to battle the money changers who turned his “Father’s house into a den of thieves”?

Gandhi said: “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.”

”Love your neighbor as yourself” and “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you” are so very relevant today—and much needed. But for much of the rest of it, I believe it is important for humanity to get past these ancient beliefs because they do not serve us properly anymore. It’s like continuing to wear the same shoes as an adult that you wore as an adolescent. They hurt your feet and you cannot walk properly anymore

For those of us with a belief in “god” (I hate the word but it is easily understood by many) we must strip religions down to only what works and what creates a better world and discard the rest. We must only be interested in our spiritual reality. Our spiritual selves are bound by spiritual laws just as our physical selves are bound by physical laws. What really are those spiritual laws? And how do I, by using them, make myself and my world better for myself and others?

So, what next? Well, on to the next end of the world—October 21, 2011. And when that doesn’t happen, on to December 21, 2012.

And don’t blame that on the Maya for that. That’s a modern western interpretation of what is simply the end of a “baktun—a cycle in the calendar— in the Mayan calendar and is not meant to suggest the end of the world as the idiots would have us believe.

As a species we have always been very insecure about our origin, our destiny and our purpose. So we’ve created myths with our ability to reason in our limited ancient minds to answer questions we could not answer with science so long ago. We no longer have those ancient limitations and we must move forward. With globalism and the worldwide web, now is the time that we as humanity and we as a species take a quantum leap forward in understanding our spiritual reality and our true humanity.

Jesus-istas: A Jim Buck Blog Special Report

What are the similarities between the two men pictured above? They both have long hair and beards. Nice eyes too. They both have had tremendous impacts on the world we live in today. They both have philosophies named after them which seem to scare some people, and they both thought that the poor deserved a better break.

With this resolved, we can now ask other questions.

How would Jesus have embraced the Sandinistas? He drove the money changers out of the temple, would he also have driven out the Somoza dynasty? Impossible to say. Some believe Jesus was a political radical against the Romans and the corrupt Jews who supported them.

Would Jesus have taken up arms against the Somocistas and the Contras? Very doubtful. Jesus would have arguably suffered the same fate as Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of San Salvador who was killed by right-wing thugs for speaking out for human rights and the poor. After all, wasn’t Jesus killed too for speaking out?

But would Jesus have been a socialist? Well, obviously socialism was not invented when Jesus lived. Socialism, according to Marx, was the transition between capitalism and communism.

Too often in this country, socialism seems to be associated with a “welfare state”. These were generally attacks against Obama during last year’s election and presently in trying to pass health care reform. Socialism was also compared the New Deal, especially last September when the financial meltdown began when taxpayer (public) bailout (ownership) of Wall Street was the solution arrived at. Jesus would probably have taken issue with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson provision that no one not even he, was to be held accountable.

There would not have been a Jesus Marx. However, inherit within Christianity, and in Judaism, is an obligation to help the poor by giving 10 percent of their net income to charity. It is called “tzedakah”. The word means righteousness, justice and fairness. This may be the closest thing to a version of socialism in the ancient world.

Jesus picked up the mission to help the poor:

Luke 18:22
Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him [a certain ruler], Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Luke 14
12 When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. 13But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: 14And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

It is no surprise, given that the majority of visible Christianity in America has long forgotten Christ’s teachings on tolerance, have also forgotten his economic message of share, give, care.

The mission of the Church was to minister to the poor. Mother Teresa is a great example. However, socialism came about at the rise of industrialization when we moved from agrarianism and the merchant class to a more structured and organized society with an increased gulf between the wealthy and the poor.

We all know Jesus famous quote about the rich: “A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23-24).

Jesus had “compassion” for the five thousand people who had come to see and hear him preach. Compassion is what is missing from our so-called Christian country. Compassion for each other.

For this to become reality we need to eliminate all that prevents compassion. These things are racism, sexism and all the other isms. Another thing is greed. This is very apparent in the most rabid capitalist country in the world. What supports this rabid capitalism is the rabid greed of right-wing Christianity.

The test to know this is true is pay attention to their actions compared to what they say and what Jesus said and did. They have corrupted Christianity to support the rich and powerful. This is exactly what Abraham Vereide, the founder of the Family claimed that god said in his “vision” back in the 30s that concern for the poor was not what he had in mind. To believe that god did not mean that means that Jesus got it wrong. If they really believe Jesus got it wrong, they cannot really be Christian.

Right-wing Christians have embraced the Moonies through various presidents like Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush as well as many politicians, usually always rabid conservatives like Jesse Helms, Orrin Hatch and others. The Moonies vowed to take over America. If memory serves, so did communists. Why would real Christians believe that Moon is the second coming of Christ? Because they have become corrupted.

What is the Christian Right’s fascination with all these false prophets? These may the End Times for the Christian Wrong, but I think the rest of us will go on quite nicely.

Jesus believed that humanity was like fruit that was ripe and ready on the vine. If Jesus were here today he would believe that many of those who follow the religion that bears his name has been reinvented over and over again so that they have rotted on the vine.

Beginning Monday we are launching a new serial to deal with this very issue.

“Congressman Christ” explores Jesus elected to Congress, battling daily with those evildoers who use his name to deny the poor and other enemies of mankind who believe their politics are the same as his.

Join us Monday for the thrilling adventures of “Congressman Christ”!!

Controversial Ancient Horoscope Discovered

The photo above is of an ancient clay tablet that became of the center of a religious controversy last week. According to Tel Aviv University Professor of Archaeology, Avram Goldberg, the piece of clay with Aramaic writing on it is proof that ancient Hebrews dabbled in astrology.

Professor Goldberg says the clay tablet is a prediction for anyone of a particular astrological sign; in this case Capricorn. Professor Goldberg also claims to have carbon dated the clay tablet to the third week of March 33 CE.

Christian Evangelists along with the Catholic Church offered to purchase the clay tablet sight unseen from Tel Aviv University because they claim it pertains to the last days of Jesus Christ.

An independent translator hired by the Pope Benedict XVI has been allowed to view the clay tablet and has offered this translation of what many believe to be Jesus’ last horoscope:

“Next week you will come into a lot of shekels. Be sure to take time out to enjoy yourself and get plenty of rest. You deserve it. Friends tell you that family planning is a good way to spend the next few days. Listen to them. Your Sun in Virgo says it is a good time to buy a new pair of sandals.”

Professor Goldberg says that while ancient Hebrews wrote predictions commonly known today as horoscopes, he hastens to add that just because these astrologers were ancient does not mean they did not also write their horoscopes for entertainment purposes only.



The Jim Buck Blog Christmas in July Special Report

Join us on Christmas-in-July Day, July 25th, for our special investigative report that explores the questions, “Was Jesus a Socialist?” and “Is the Christian Right Wrong on Christ?”

Makes the Christian Coalition seem like the Moral Majority.

The Jim Buck Blog Christmas in July Special Report

Join us on Christmas-in-July Day, July 25th, for our special investigative report that explores the questions, “Was Jesus a Socialist?” and “Is the Christian Right Wrong on Christ?”

More “Thy Brothers” than at a 1968 Black Panther rally.

Be here. Aloha.