Interesting article, does anyone see the current trend in US changing anytime soon? link What has happened to America's Jesus? By Rob Borsellino Mon Feb 13, 7:12 AM ET I remember when Jesus Christ was about religion. ADVERTISEMENT That goes back to when he was caring and compassionate all the time, not just during the political campaign season. He used to bring people together and give them hope. He wouldn't have his people get in your face and tell you to fight gay rights or you'll burn in hell. That's not what he was about. That's not the Jesus who made folks such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson rich and famous. He was a different guy from the 21st-century American Jesus Christ. When I recently visited Sicily, Italy, the old Jesus was all over the place. His statue was on the counter at the restaurant and the coffee house. His image was on the wall at the clothing store and in the hotel lobby. And there was a huge painting of him on the side of an apartment building. Sometimes he was with his mom and dad, and sometimes he was sitting with his pals - the apostles. Mostly he was hanging from the cross. Whatever he was up to, it was all about religion. It was interesting because I didn't go to Sicily looking for a religious experience. I went looking for what's left of my family. My grandfather and his brother came to the United States in 1904 and left behind their parents and two sisters. The sisters had kids, grandkids, great grandkids. I never met any of those people, and I knew nothing about Sicily except the obvious - pizza and the Mafia. My wife thought it was time to connect. She made some calls and let the family know we were coming. We landed in Palermo, got our bags and were met by my cousin Peppino Rizzuti, who was holding a handwritten sign with my name on it. He was there with three other cousins. They hooked us up with more family and spent the next seven days driving us all over the island and stuffing us with mozzarella, prosciutto, olives and about 50 kinds of pasta. My cousin Maria made the sign of the cross before she ate. My cousin Antonio's car had a figurine of a saint on the dashboard. My cousin Gian Marco had a beautiful cross hanging from his neck. But nobody was going on about God, Jesus and religion. It didn't come up. I saw all that and was reminded that you can be a decent person - a good son, husband and father - and still oppose the war in Iraq. You can be a caring, thoughtful member of your community and still question whether Justice Samuel Alito should have been confirmed. Jesus won't get mad at you. Several times during the week, I thought about telling my family what's happened to Jesus in the United States - how he's been kidnapped by politicians and preachers who decide what he does and doesn't think. They speak for him, and it doesn't always make sense. They say Jesus is "pro life," but he doesn't seem to have a problem with the death penalty. And he thinks stem cell research - something that would save lives - is no different from murdering babies. They say he's the embodiment of kindness, love, decency and compassion. But he hates gays, lesbians and Muslims. And he's not too crazy about Buddhists, Hindus and the rest. Jews? He can put up with them if he has to. The Rev. Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka claims to speak for Jesus and goes around the country talking about how " AIDS cures fags." Pat Robertson says it would be a good idea if the United States killed the president of Venezuela. It would be a lot cheaper than starting another war. All week I went over that stuff in my head and decided not to mention any of it to the family. It would make America look ridiculous. Rob Borsellino is a columnist for The Des Moines Register and author of So I'm talkin' to this guy ...
soon i discovered that this rock thing was true jerry lee lewis was the devil jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet all of a sudden, i found myself in love with the world so there was only one thing that i could do was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long
The author of this article is the classic example of someone who only picks the parts that he wants to hear and ignores the rest. All he knows is the version he's been told by others. If he bothered to read the Bible he would see Jesus spoke about punishment as well as love. And of course he would have a problem with other religions that don't teach that Jesus is the only way to heaven and that he is God the Son. Serisouly, this guy needs to read the Bible before he starts criticizing people. Most people know I have no love lost for the same people he criticizes, but this article is the kind of article that forces moderate Christians to vote conservative, because the alternative is run by people like this guy.
That's the one thing that a lot of the 'faithful' seem to forget: God will both reward and punish, it's not one or the other. If there is reward for the 'righteous', then logic follows that there also must be punishment. I think the real issue lies in the fact that many religious leaders shy away from discussing it for the fear of turning off or turning away people who don't want to hear it, people who just want to be reassured and nothing else.
[Ezekiel 25:17 among others] The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
Logically - you would be right - if we were dealing with something earthly and empirical. But since we're dealing in the alleged realm of supernatural, omnipresent beings who transcend the laws of the universe itself - who knows what rules apply? Maybe there's rewards and punishments. Maybe there's rewards and super-awesome rewards. Maybe there's only punishments and really crappy punishments. Maybe there's only business class and first class - but your mileage isn't transferable on blackout days if you happen to die on one of them. Seriously, when we're dealing with non-empirical things like that - you can't apply normal logic rules of man to the realm of God or Gods.
