Via a Catholic group on Facebook –
Did Jesus feed the hungry as a general thing? I know about the loaves and fishes but that was a one-off, and it was “the hungry” in the sense that a bunch of people were together for awhile and time passed so they got hungry – it wasn’t about feeding the chronically hungry poor.
Did Jesus clothe the naked? Did he care for the ill?
He is reported to have done some good things, like talking to despised people and commending forgiveness, but he wasn’t a social justice warrior. And as for the Catholic church…
Also, notice “the unwanted child”…Subtle, huh?
And go get the wine for parties, when they run out. That one is important! People always are forgetting the lesson of Jesus’s first miracle.
I believe the “feed the hungry” etc is from Matthew 25:
Jesus was big on telling OTHER people what to do and not actually doing it himself. According to the Gospels. It’s a story about a character who didn’t exist other than as a theological construct, of course. But anyhow, Christians of all ilks have no use for this “Jesus” beyond its supposed faux sacrifice-performance-art-piece getting them into “heaven” (which they do not deserve simply for having had the misfortune of having been born human – see “original sin” – so much for being “God’s children” – he obviously loves the jesus [a word that means “savior”] better than any of YOU losers). As far as the poor go, let’s remember that Jesus supposedly said, “For ye have the poor always with you” (Matthew 26:11). So no one need feel obligated to fight poverty – Jesus said to accept it as a given!
And let’s face it – if anyone gives actual *money* to the poor, they’ll just throw it away on drugs and alcohol, so the good Christian must sensibly override his (obvious) compassion for the sake of keeping the precious *MONEY* safe from those horrible beasts. They’re scarcely human, after all, and clearly out to destroy us all – bring us all down to their level.
That’s the best of conservative Christian thought right there. I have spoken.
Not that I disagree with you, but I read this as a rebuke of the Christians who whine about a war on christmas. As in, “if you REALLY want to keep the christ in christmas, do it with your acts, not complaining about others’ words.”
I agree with @4. Other than the obvious “go to mass” and the subtle “unwanted child” bit, that’s actually a pretty good poster. Could be improved, though, by changing the picture to one of those soup-kitchens-in-the-park that are always getting closed down by the PTB.
Oh, I’m sure that by “the unwanted child” they TOTALLY mean adopting the older kids left behind in foster care–or worse–because everyone wants cute little babies.
I mean, what else could it be?
Why be so provincial about it? Let’s also keep the No in Noel, the Wein in Fröliche Weinachsten . . . .
Hey, I did my part: just the other day I came across a fig tree and, it being December in the north, it wasn’t fruiting. So I cursed that damned bastard of a tree, and just to be extra Jesus-like I chopped it into little pieces and burned it.
The guy whose yard the tree was in didn’t look too happy. Obviously not a Christian.
Also they say “forgive the guilty”.
Like pedophile priests and men who abuse women and children?
– Jesus (Matthew 23:3-33, NIV)
everyone wants cute little babies.
Be careful how you frame that around catholics. They make take it horribly wrong.
Considering that actual Christianity (as opposed by the history presented in the Bible and by its fans) started as an apocalyptic cult that was expecting the end of the wicked world and the beginning of the “Kingdom of Heaven” aaaaaany day now, I suspect that giving your worldly possessions to the poor and needy wasn’t about helping them out of their poverty. Since all that was going to be corrected when Yahweh came to destroy the old world (along with the infidels) and start the new, perfected world where poverty would no longer exist, I guess It was really all about self-denial, and groveling before their angry god. The universal altruism of their alleged Messiah was something that was retconned into the mythos by later generations of Christians.
You are correct, Akira. In fact, if you read 1 Corinthians 7, you will see that Paul apparently believed there would not be enough time left for a “next” generation! In that chapter, he tells everyone to be celibate, even married couples. Everyone should be focusing entirely on spiritual matters, because the jesus was going to destroy the earth in, like, 5 minutes. Boy was HE wrong! And everyone else who’s been certain their magic jesus would come surfing down from outer space on a magic flaming cloud surfboard just to give them a magic naked skyride!
You know, I’m pretty much okay with everything there with the exception of “go to Mass” and “unwanted children”. (The latter because of the wording; I want every child to have a safe, loving, supportive family, and to have their needs met.)
Holding no brief for the Catholics, I have to say I agree with #4 – this seems more “mote in your neighbour’s eye” territory. Stop bleating about them Mooslims ruining it and get on and do something positive. It’s a laudable sentiment, even if the details are a bit squiffy.
Two immediate thoughts:
1. I’ve yet to meet a Christian who actually loves their enemies.
2. Why single out Christmas? Supposedly, they’re to do that stuff all the time anyway!
Bah.
The Matthew 26:11 quote always bothered me. We can’t help everyone, so let’s waste a bunch of money on making my feet smell nice. Huh. And don’t argue. We can’t solve poverty, so there’s no point in stopping poor people from starving, while we spend all our money (and where did that money come from?) on fancy perfume for….well….me and me alone. Hmm.
A couple of years ago, Mrs latsot dragged me to the new production of Jesus Christ Superstar. I don’t enjoy musicals, Christian messages or sitting in theatres or interacting with people, but I’ve dragged her to several atheism/skepticism/privacy conferences in the past. It was definitely my turn to roll my eyes and put up with it. Also, Tim Minchin was in it, which goes a long way. He was brilliant in it, as it happens, but it also had Chris Moyles in it, which was uncalled for. It was like watching a youtube video of a dog stealing a string of sausages from a butcher’s shop and shouting *YAY* then being appalled as the dog ran under a bus.
Anyway, I was surprised at how kinda subversive this musical must have seemed to a lot of people when it was first released. I remember there being protests, and had assumed it was the usual reactionary nonsense.
But…well, let’s be clear, the protests *were* reactionary nonsense… but the message of the version we saw wasn’t the one I expected.
It was basically telling Judas’ side of that Matthew quote. There’s a whole song about it and that’s the basis of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. He’s saying “let’s give this money to all those starving people over there” and Jesus is saying “NOOOOOO, let’s spend it all on sweets, they’ll only be poor again once they’ve spent it, duh.”
Becoming ‘divine’ requires made-up tales of miracles and people giving disproportionate respect. No matter if either or both contradict the supposed message.
Not that I’m mistaking Jesus Christ Superstar with the bible but, at least one had better songs.
‘When the tempter came to him, he said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”
But he answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”’