If only Christians would act Christian.

More and more I see Christianity being perverted by political agenda. The teachings of Jesus are lost in the worship of Jesus. So called evangelicals are no longer Christians but have become conservatives first and Christian in name only. Jesus was a liberal in his time and his teachings would still make him a liberal today. His teachings on the poor, sinners and foreigners would in fact make him a radical leftist today. If everyone claiming to be Christian actually adhered to the teachings of Jesus there would be no protests going on because there would be no need for them.

Thomas Jefferson took the New Testament and made a redacted version of it with all of the teachings but none of the religion and it's a great read and what Christianity is supposed to be about. On this he was spot on. Jefferson was not perfect, he admitted as much. He had slaves and knew it was wrong but couldn't bring himself to free them in his life but he at least had the decency to free them upon his death.
Click here to download a copy.

Islam came about because Mohamed was monotheistic and did not believe in the Trinity that Christians adopted, he considered it sacrilege. Yet Jesus is referred to as the Messiah in the Quran and his teachings are to be adhered to. Many Muslims are also guilty of ignoring that bit of the Quran and have put the politics ahead of the teachings.

If we all stopped hating each other because of skin color, nationality of political preferences then we could reach for the Ideals of Jesus. Whether you believe Jesus to be Man or God the teachings are paramount and beautiful and as He/he said "I am the way."

 

Well, Jesus acted like Jesus and was crucified by haters.....who wants that?

 

That's fine, just don't pretend to be Christian.

 

If only liberals would act like Americans.

 

What's with pretending? You are bellyaching about Christians and I told you why it is how it is. You should be grateful.

 

Jesus taught that someone who obeys the laws without even knowing them will get into Heaven yet one who knows all the law but doesn't obey them will not.

You can claim to be a believer but if you don't follow his teachings you are less in the eyes of God than a non-believer who does follow the teachings of Jesus even without knowing of them.

If your purpose of being Christian does not include following the teachings of Jesus then what is your motivation? A sip of free wine on Sundays? Convenience of being "Christian"on your resumé? Surrounding yourself with other self righteous hypocrites in hopes of justifying your own hypocrisy?

Being a Christian should signal someone who is a force for good but now it is becoming synonymous with bigotry. It's not just Christianity, in Islam "Allahu Akbar" should be a phrase of beauty but is now associated with violence, hate and death of innocents.

Believing Jesus is God or not is not nearly as important as trying to follow his teachings.

 

If only trump and all the right wing secessionists acted like real Americans.

 

Very true. Chiliastic religion has always been a tool of politics and is becoming much more so in the modern world. I think ISIS was the latest incarnation of this but the Christian Trumpists seem to be following suit very rapidly. The devil with the Faith's central tenets, what they are about seems political power and very little else.

"My Kingdom is not of this world" seems lost on them

 

I'd be happy if they understood what American was meant to stand for. Jefferson's bible has some good points on what the founding fathers intended, that stuff is early on in the book I linked to above. They knew is was an evolutionary process.

 

Interestingly there is a thread on here claiming Martin Luther King was not a true christian but a heretic and blasphemer, says a lot about the mindset of the christian fundamentalist.

 

I admire people who search for the meaning of life, and the moments of meditation that are found in religious practices are helpful to their souls, but the people who profess to be religious and then espouse hatred and bigotry and intolerance have nothing to do with the real source of religion.
I remember a scene in a show where students are working to arrange a complex picture puzzle of the world and they are all struggling, but then one boy finishes quickly and the teacher asks him how he did it.
He replied, ‘It was easy. There was a picture of a man on the back of the puzzle pieces and I put the man together and the world was also put together.’

 

Virtually every religion has a variation of the golden rule. Many have a smite thy enemy as well which is inconsistent with the former and I suspect was added by leaders co-opting the faithful for their own agendas.

 

How do you know what Jesus believed? Who made you Pope of this dump?

 

There's this book called the Bible. Has a lot of Jesus quotes in it. You should read it sometime.

 

Sadly, for many, this is spot on. Do as I say, not as I do.

 

Interesting, you have no idea what even the basic tenets of Christianity but you're telling Christians they shouldn't be voting for Trump because of the lies about Trump you have chosen to believe. The chief difference between Christianity and Islam revolves around works. And you obviously don't get it.

Trump has done more in defense of religious liberty than any president in my life time. Meanwhile the left promotes daily the false religion of government, and I'm supposed to vote for that? Sorry that's not happening.

 

I have read it. Apparently you have not.

 

Did I mention Trump? I don't seem to recall that. My entire beef is not with Christianity nor any other religion for that matter but is with the people who fail to perform the deeds you are so proud of yet ignore. If all of the people claiming to be Christians in the US lived their lives as Jesus taught there would be no protests today. There would be no need for them.

 

Okay as many as 2/3 of the people sitting in church pews on any given Sunday are likely going to hell for the sin of apostasy because they worship they god they think ought to be rather than the great God that is. The chief problem of Christians today is fixation on government rather than God but at least some of that is because government began interfering in the spiritual arena in the 1930s and that interference has grown over time.

 

I think your number is low but that is my point. As I stated in the OP too many are conservatives rather than Christians.

 

One of the most important lessons of Christ was the golden rule.

Too many political “Christians” find excuses to ignore this....

 

While I'm thinking about it who placed you in the seat if judgement, Blue? The Bible doesn't tell us that if we do all that we ought all the world's troubles would end tomorrow in fact it promises us the exact opposite.

It tells me the poor will be with us always, that there will be wars and rumors of wars until the end of time, and that in the latter days men and women will become proud and boastful of the very things of which they ought to be ashamed. We Christians aren't promised a rose garden here on earth what ever the prosperity theology crowd may think.

We are only promised that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord. And that good is eventual eternity in heaven.

 

You'd be surprised how many leftists/Democrats there are even in relatively conservative churches.

 

Religion is just a black hole. Its pointless to discuss.