[lbo-talk] Dean "getting more comfortable" with religion

Jon Johanning jjohanning at igc.org
Sun Jan 4 08:02:57 PST 2004


Lefties are constantly wondering why the "teachings of Jesus," which seem to advise sympathy for the poor and downtrodden, are not practiced by conservative Christians.

Actually, their position is quite clear. Everything Jesus said about loving your neighbor, helping the poor and imprisoned, turning the other cheek, etc., had to do with private charity. As long as you contribute to charity, you are a faithful follower of the Man from Galilee. Either that, or these seemingly radical statements are "counsels of perfection," i.e., they will be relevant when Jesus comes back and wipes out all the evil-doers, but until then, we must follow the other parts of the Gospels where he is portrayed as smiting or cursing evil ones, "bringing the sword," etc.

This conservative position is perfectly consistent with the Bible, however much lefties might dislike it. That is why no amount of leftist preaching from selected Bible texts will "convert" conservative Christians -- they have their own interpretation of all of them, and they simply retort that you are "misinterpreting" them.

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org __________________________________ A sympathetic Scot summed it all up very neatly in the remark, 'You should make a point of trying every experience once, excepting incest and folk-dancing.' -- Sir Arnold Bax



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