10 replies to this topic

[advancedatheist]

http://www.nytimes.c...print&position=

July 17, 2004
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Jesus and Jihad
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

If the latest in the "Left Behind" series of evangelical thrillers is to be believed, Jesus will return to Earth, gather non-Christians to his left and toss them into everlasting fire:

"Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again."

These are the best-selling novels for adults in the United States, and they have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The latest is "Glorious Appearing," which has Jesus returning to Earth to wipe all non-Christians from the planet. It's disconcerting to find ethnic cleansing celebrated as the height of piety.

If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of "Glorious Appearing" and publish it in Saudi Arabia, jubilantly describing a massacre of millions of non-Muslims by God, we would have a fit. We have quite properly linked the fundamentalist religious tracts of Islam with the intolerance they nurture, and it's time to remove the motes from our own eyes.

In "Glorious Appearing," Jesus merely speaks and the bodies of the enemy are ripped open. Christians have to drive carefully to avoid "hitting splayed and filleted bodies of men and women and horses."

"The riders not thrown," the novel continues, "leaped from their horses and tried to control them with the reins, but even as they struggled, their own flesh dissolved, their eyes melted and their tongues disintegrated. . . . Seconds later the same plague afflicted the horses, their flesh and eyes and tongues melting away, leaving grotesque skeletons standing, before they, too, rattled to the pavement."

[rahein]

Now why was it that I do not like religious people again?

You are correct about the Muslims. If a Muslim author in the USA wrote a book where Christians were torn apart the book would be boycotted and the authors life would probably be in danger.

At least it doesn’t bother me. I wasn’t bothered by the horror movie where to tooth fairy was killing people either though.

[John Doe]

Yes these books, which have made their authors very wealthy, are, particularly during these troubled times, disturbing in their portrayal of religious segregation and in their depiction of a vengeful, brutal Jesus (entirely inconsistent with his teachings). But with one of the two authors being an ex-pastor it makes it a disgrace beyond description (and hopefully beyond redemption). The content is fast-food style, sells like fast-food and bloats like fast-food with no literary value whatsoever. Sickening.

A brutal Jesus is not entirely inconsistent with his teachings -- Christians have been quoting him for centuries to rationalize their worst crimes! For example, Catholics in the Inquisition cited:

"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6)

Here are some other words of compassion from Jesus:

"Think not that I am come to send peace: I came not to send peace but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)

"I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." (Matthew 10:35-36)

"The Son of man [Jesus himself] shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:41-42)

This last quotation would more than justify the depiction in this new book of Jesus burning non-Christians. They are not inserting their own sick ideas into the Bible: they have always been there. I always marvel to see that intelligent people often respect Jesus, even while admitting that they are not Christians, and assert that he was a wise moral philosopher. He was a lunatic.

These quotations were gathered from here: http://www.ffrf.org/...ts/?t=jesus.txt

[zencatholic]

aa-

If it makes you feel any better, the belief that non-Christians go to hell simply because they are not Christians is not shared by the majority of Christianity, including the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches (that's 2/3 of the world's Christians), and most other mainline Protestant denominations. Only most fundamentalist Christians and some evangelical Christians believe that if you're not a Christian, you're doomed. Unfortunately, many people assume that the "theology" of these Left Behind authors is authentic, historical Christian theology. It's not. It's largely made up as they go along.

Also, if it makes you feel any better, since I am an orthodox Catholic, I would probably be falling into that chasm with you under the Left Behind world scenario. AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Peace be with you all,
AMDG

Zen Catholic

[Gewis]

This last quotation would more than justify the depiction in this new book of Jesus burning non-Christians.  They are not inserting their own sick ideas into the Bible: they have always been there.  I always marvel to see that intelligent people often respect Jesus, even while admitting that they are not Christians, and assert that he was a wise moral philosopher.  He was a lunatic.

Unfortunately, too many people here are used to straight talk. Jesus says, "if thine eye offendeth thee, pluck it out," and people think he's being literal. Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Malachi... these people were highly symbolic in everything they did. He taught that way because he was teaching Jews, not because he wanted you to think he's got a big furnace with a thermostat that goes up to 5000K. Yes, it was grossly misinterpereted to justify some awful things, but your own literalism in interpereting those scriptures is just as silly.

[Mind]

Yes, an angry and vengeful Jesus tearing people apart and casting them into hell is not a great image. You could argue that psycologically this is a classic case of projection by the authors (and by some Christians)...that they are the ones who secretly want to tear the flesh off the unwashed and unfaithful. However, there is a big difference between dreaming about your god involved in acts of violence and actually doing it yourself.....such as is the case with extremist muslims beheading, torturing, and blowing people up in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world. At least extremist Christians are only dreaming about such things thus far.

[ocsrazor]

Hmmm Mind, only dreaming? What about arbortion clinic bombings, assasination of doctors, election of a war-mongering fundamentalist president full of evangelical zeal who is asserting political control of the sciences and the intelligence services (not to mention health policy based on a skewed fundamentalist vision of morality that is killing thousands if not millions of people)? I'd say they have gone beyond the dreaming stage. Our home grown version of religious insanity may be far more dangerous in the long run than what we are seeing from Islamicist terrorists.

[Mind]

Peter....You are still talking about violence by proxy...for the most part.