Letters to the Editor
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Passages in the new testament that should codemn these faux christians
I always think about chapter 6 of Matthew when I see these "christians". The following are purported quotes from Jesus. You just can't get any closer to the source than that if you are a christian. This is great ammo against these false prophets.
I got the text I am about to quote from bible gateway NIV version. Here is the link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=6&version=31.
Mathew Chapter 6
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Prayer
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
Treasures in Heaven
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Emphasis mine.
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We need a Christian Left movement
What surprises me, as a Christian, is how little christianity is at the core of so many of these swindlers. It's always about "stop homosexuality", "prevent abortion", "save the Jews (until we have to kill them)", and, my favorite recently, "Intelligent Design".
I find myself being the odd Christian out in church saying "What did Jesus teach? I don't remember him talking about evolution, or abortion, or homosexuals. I do remember him talking about clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, and tending to the sick."
And until we've got that job done, why are we even worrying about evolution or homosexuals or the rest? If every teenage girl knew that she and her baby would be taken care of - maybe she wouldn't need that abortion. Maybe if we had the homeless fed and clothed, maybe if we didn't make it harder for people to get by on minimum wage so that people have to turn to crime - maybe a lot of these problems would clear themselves up.
When I die, God isn't going to ask me about how I fought for evolution or how many homosexuals I converted. When I die, the first thing I'm going to be asked is "How did you treat your wife? How about your kids? How about your friends, your neighbors, the people you didn't like? How many people did you help?"
Somewhere around question 500 he might go "Oh, yeah, that evolution thing. Let me explain it to you."
We need a Christian Left movement to do nothing but go to Congress and teach that other holy trinity: faith, hope, charity. Are we giving money to schools so that children's minds can be fed with their bellies? Or are we giving it to keep Saudi Arabia in our back pocket? Are we making sure that families can get by on their income - or letting some corporation get out of paying their taxes? Are we making sure that people can get medical help when they need it - or complaining that they didn't do enough when disaster strikes and blame them for our inability to take care of them?
I see a few here and there, such as Jesse Jackson who may foible but honestly tries to help the most people he can, but mostly it's a sea of Christians who profess a love for Jesus, but their actions show anything but. I seem to remember the last parable told by Jesus how upon his return, he would cast out those who hadn't helped their fellow man.
Somewhere in his speech, I didn't see a note about anything else. Which is where the Christian Left should be starting from.
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Ooh, that Fanclub
Gandhi once said that he might have considered becoming a Christian had he not met so many of them. Jesus might be all right, but hanging out with his fanclub is asking much too much.
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Thanks for the Biblical verses, ccrowson
I was raised Catholic and have limited Biblical recollection (not much of a religious person anymore). Anyhow, I KNEW that the passage about publicly praying was in the gospels somewhere, but couldn't be bothered to look it up. But what I've internally railed against was all of the people who pontificate about reading the Bible, and publicly pray and do all of these things which go explicitly against this passage.
I only wish someone with a lot more power than me would quote this passage loudly and frequently.
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Politicians Aren't Christians, They're Politicians, Dummy!
I think it is sad that some folks are taken in by the words of politicians. Remember, the first and formost priority of a politician is to remain a politician. They will say and do anyting to perpetuate their addiction. Some claim to be religious, some claim to "care" for the downtrodden, some claim to be "looking out for you". Sometimes their words are true, but this is only due to a convenient coincidence.
Bill Clinton went to church. Did anyone take his claim of christianity seriously? A very few maybe, but most of us were just mildly disgusted. The bottom line is, regardless of party, race, creed etc. all politicians suffer from the same disease, namely, that of being a politician. Some even started out as humans, but quickly lost all vestiges humanity once they tasted the poison of controlling their fellow human, and growing in strength and stature as a politician.
It is disturbing that Salon would use their claims of being religious to cast shame on the religious. Al Gore, who is argualbly one of the stupidest people alive, claimed to be an intellectual. Did the left leaning press cast scorn on intellectuals because of this? Let the politicians (all of them, democrats, republicans, independents, commies, etc), rot in the hell that they have created, but don't use their lies, which is their very state of being, to associate them with me.
Thanks,
Poco