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big mick & others

thanks to the big mick for all his contemplation here. Selecting this cut:

big mick: "The obvious flip side that comes to mind is the idea that Jesus was THE MOST MORAL person who ever lived and it certainly (from a human point of view) didn't attract good fortune to him!"

The story of Jesus as it's come through the generations, has surely been co-opted, compromised, exploited, bastardized and prostituted. For example, we've had centuries of bloody plunder committed in His name, leading us even up to just a few decades ago where Nazis, or in the US, the KKK condoned terrorism and murder in the name of Jesus, with their cherry-picked interpretation of some sort of faith in His name. Many even put Bush and Cheney and their neo-con brain trust in this group, firmly in bed with the evangelical voting bloc delivered by Ted Haggard and intent on waging war against this loosely-defined "enemy" with poetic pre-test-marketed "words that work" used where the evidence and explanation should explain why we are fighting those that did not attack us, but may look like them.

Despite this, much of Jesus' message still comes through, with many more moral, decent Christians in every city and town in the US, worshipping and following His path in a way that doesn't impinge on anyone else's person, rights or property and indeed, reaches out to help those in need with charity, understanding and forgiveness. This is Jesus' message as I understand it, as but one man who has been invited to share, looking historically at all of the accounts and "gospels", though conflicting in many areas, also summarily agreeing in many as well.

Number one, Jesus was a devout anti-war, anti-aggression, anti-violent pacifist who, when asked what to do if a bad person struck him, said he would turn the other cheek. This is hard to absorb, as it has been for ages throughout civilization where we've been told on the one hand that we have to fight and kill for everything we hold dear by governments, kings and even popes, but on the other hand that God is Love and we should not raise our fists in anger, we should help the lesser among us, reject violence and turn the other cheek.

Also foremost in the Story of Jesus, agreed upon in every version told, is that Jesus' teachings did attract bad fortune - that he was beset by authorities who tried and tortured him, ultimately finding him guilty of poisoning the minds of the masses with his preaching of peace, acceptance and pacifism. This is exactly the most fundamental lesson of the Story of Jesus who was crucified on a cross to make clear his point - that he never compromised his beliefs, that he never fought back or even spoke ill of his tormentors - he willingly suffered and died to make us all aware - that one should "turn the other cheek", rather then be turned into a sinner because of the actions of another.

This message, clear as crystal, survives today as Jesus' words and deliberate actions, surely the most obvious and important thing to be taken away from His story. And people have responded to this message, spreading Jesus' teachings far and wide, preserving it for thousands of years, making His story the greatest focus of art, philosophy and religious doctrine in all of history, the content of the first book ever printed and remains the driving force behind Western civilization to this day, studied and worshiped daily.

But this has left the West in a quandary. The message of devout pacifism is directly at odds with anyone that wishes to amass wealth, to conquer one's enemies, to punish criminals, to function as our civilization always has before - ruling by might. Jesus may have been perfect, but surely we cannot be, or we'd be run roughshod over by barbarian hordes in no time! We need to defend our borders, protect our women and children, and maintain our status as the wealthiest nation on Earth.

Alas, true Christianity, or Christ-like behavior is not possible in this world. Christ and his devout followers all took a vow of poverty, renouncing material wealth, seeking only prayer, enlightenment and pursuit of the divine. Today, that would be closer to a Hare Krishna then anything else. So Americans have to forge a new version of Christ, making his teachings not literal instructions of how we should live, but more of an "ideal" that we should "lean towards" or "keep in mind" as we pursue material wealth and create the world's biggest and most expensive arsenal to obliterate anyone who would even think of competing with us.

This is where the rubber hits the road, brothers and sisters. I am not suggesting we lay down and allow those of other lands to overtake us. Just the opposite, I believe natural defense mechanisms are coded into every human being, animal and organism on the planet. Survival is as basic as life itself, and what a wonder it is to see how the many creatures of Earth have evolved (yes, evolved) and adapted to eke out their own place in their environment, developing natural poisons, camouflages or instincts to protect themselves from attackers.

This is a very personal choice, but I believe in defending oneself. I might turn the other cheek, but I would also take a few steps back. Would I take revenge? I would avoid it. But If I felt further threatened (based on solid evidence), I would take steps to protect myself and my fellow man. This is, for me, as an individual and follower of the lessons of Jesus, a personal choice and my attempt to be as Christ-like as possible while remaining true to my brethren who may look to me for security and support as I do them. This means not building up the biggest arsenal, but encouraging all sides to disarm equally and leading by example. This means not going after possible threats, but using resources to anticipate and prevent actual threats. If this brand of self-defense diverges from Christlike perfection, I accept the consequences, as do I forgive any soldier who puts the safety of his own before himself in good faith - but so critical is it that these warriors not be used as pawns in the power struggles of the elite that utmost scrutiny and forbearance must be applied to the causes of war. For one bad chess move can doom us all. Thus, I see Ehren Watada as the bravest officer in this war so far, looking to put the war itself on trial.

Specifically in terms of 9-11, I would not have attacked Iraq at all, and not gone into Afghanistan with a military force any bigger then necessary to apprehend Osama for trial in America, simultaneously building two massive covert international undercover frameworks, exercising as much patience, diligence and detective work as would be needed to infiltrate actual terror cells and compete with them, forcing their hand with maximum cooperation from and as little impact as possible on host nations while fortifying security at home.

What of Jesus then? Was he a fool? Was he a pantywaist? Absolutely not - Jesus was a martyr, using his death for the greatest purpose imaginable. To teach morality to the people for posterity. His words were recorded, his actions noted. He stood up against the untenable policies of a society corrupted by the confluence of interconnected groups whose spheres of influence overlapped government, religion, commerce, the military, and the masses. As the story goes, Jesus saw a society of people of different ethnicities, religions, nationalities and allegiances and preached of a better way for people to live, in concert and harmony with one another, in peace and brotherhood. The claims he was the Son of God, the virgin birth, and prophesies caused quite a controversy. But his words and their meanings are preserved and are clear to me - we should know what Jesus Would Do. He was a non violent protester of aggression, and protester of the same corruption and collusion we see today - he was a voice for the underrepresented, the indigent and helpless, encouraging those with means to renounce greed and love of money to help others. This is my opinion based on writings we've all seen and read, you may form your own conclusions, but everything I've seen that diverts from these simple teachings always seems to serve justification for greed and or violence.

Glaring examples include Ayn Rand and Rush Limbaugh, who speak to the "divinity" of those who pursue wealth and who "bask in God's glory" when they are blessed by riches. This is in opposition to a simple read of Christ's life as lived and words as spoken. Hard work is always commended, but it seems to me that the exponential level of wealth attained by Earls, Lords, Counts, aristocrats, robber barons or even many corporate CEOs inordinately results from moral transgressions like enslavement, colonialism, exploitation, cronyism, graft, collusion or outright theft. That wealth was amassed this way is irrefutable - it's much of the same big, old money in the same families today, still using as much leverage as can be exerted to discourage economic mobility and retain power, using tokens of charity to buy their way to self-perceived redemption. But perhaps the worst offender is Ann Coulter who aligns herself with Christians but makes a living denouncing people with negative attacks and peppery language, looks not for common ground between Americans or even Christians, but seeks to rabblerouse for war without end against an enemy without a definition. A Crusader maybe, but how is this Christ-like?

Morality is basic and universal beyond even Jesus. The overwhelming majority of orderly societies function because morality is present in it's people, whether Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or even athiest. The Golden Rule not only trumps everything else, it embraces everything else, transcending even religion to deliver morality through pure logic. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. I don't want to be killed, so I cannot kill others. I wouldn't want to be cheated so I shouldn't cheat. I wouldn't want another country to tell me who my leader must be. I wouldn't want another country going after our oil. Wrestle with this all you want. Mars is the God of War, not Jesus.

Bispy Quee, if you are truly interested in hearing my lifelong religious discoveries, I can post it elsewhere.