Once, as a boy, I was told a story about a man that walked on water. This man walked on water in a storm, and was so powerful, that when a member of a nearby boat tried to meet him on the water and began to sink, this man was able to rescue him. He simply reached out his hand, grabbed him, and saved him. The next day, my grandmother told me the story again, only this time added that this amazing man was able to heal a sick little girl at her own funeral, so easily that he even stated to mourners that she “was just sleeping.” That evening, my mother again repeated the story, adding that this amazing man could even raise the dead, including one that had passed away three whole days earlier. And every day after that, this story was repeated, so much so, and by so many trusted members of my family, that I began to believe it as true, and chose a few years later to live the rest of my life following this man.
This amazing man motivated me to go day after day, door to door telling others about his amazing powers, trying to show them that following this man was the only true way to happiness. Over and over, the door was slammed in my face, yet I still happily went to the next door, telling others how any life spent not serving this man was useless, a complete waste. In fact, I even told them of another person, an evil one that controlled all they did, even if they did not realize it, if they did not immediately listen to me, and begin following this amazing man that I so admired.
I spent my days thrilled that I was following this great man, and felt deep sorry for the lost that did not recognize his power. This man gave us all hope, a chance at a better life. This man had all the answers to life’s problems; life without him was a life of despair. I would put all of my trust in him, every second of my life devoted to convincing others to follow him. After all, who else could walk on water, and heal my every sickness, and even raise me from the dead. I would never need another, as this man was all I would ever need in my life.
Then I got the flu.
I didn’t go door to door that day.
My faith waned.
I went to the doctor.
Throughout the country, religious zealots tell us exactly the best way to live our lives. Be born again. Get baptized. Accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Get saved. Give your money to a church, and wear magic underwear. All these amazingly faithful minions, totally dependent on their religion, on Jesus, to solve all the worlds’ ills.
And yet as these same people complain about stem-cell research, about God’s creatures used for medical testing, about the horrific sins done in the name of science, they all line up like seniors at an early bird special for healthcare should they become sick. At the funeral of the faithful, one would hear wondrous things on how God needed another angel, how, for one individual, this was God’s time for him. And now, this amazing, faithful person was in heaven, singing with harps and eating chocolate, resting comfortably on a Sealy Posturpedic cloud.
Then why go to a doctor at all? Why put off such wonderment? Who turns down free, unlimited chocolate?
It is interesting that the evangelicals seen so intent on telling us of the wonders of heaven, yet, like the rest of us, so desperately want to put it off. How can they march outside the White House in protest of stem cell research, and then line up to receive the fruits of such an abomination? If they truly wanted to live the life of Christ, should not living past 33½ years of age be a real problem for them?
Medicine, a product of science, should be the enemy of the evangelical. The same people that believe in evolution, that we were once apes, treating the health of one of God’s chosen ones? Say it ain’t so. Just driving by a clinic should motivate these godlike ones to raise their hands and form the cross in protest, desperate to stave off any of the devils impurities. And if they truly believe they are on the road to a much better place; that only Jesus can ever save them from the darkness of this world, then maybe it’s time to but your life where your faith is.
So drop your healthcare insurance. It only makes sense. The average life expectancy in the time of Jesus was under 40, in what was one of the more advanced civilizations. Science has certainly extended that, but Gods true worshipers have no need of science. Drop your healthcare, and maybe then we can take your protests seriously. After all, why put off going to heaven, and all that chocolate?
As for me, I will keep my insurance. I would rather put off, as long as possible, my trip to hell.
10 comments:
Note this in regards to why the Christian church created the titles of "Heaven and Hell"
In regard to christianity (the church's) rejection of reincarnation. It is a historical fact that one of the people who was instrumental in having the church ban the idea of reincarnation was the wife of the Roman emperor Justinian. Her name was Theodora, and she did not like the idea that she could be punished for her actions in a future life. Therefore, she used her considerable influence to start the process that eventually caused the Roman Catholic church to remove all traces, or almost all traces, of reincarnation from Christianity.
Theodora was a living example of how the power elite responds to the idea of reincarnation. First of all, a member of this power elite does not like the idea that they cannot escape punishment. Yet, beyond that personal concern, they have another reason why they do not want people to believe in the idea of reincarnation.
The idea of reincarnation states that you can be punished for your actions in a future lifetime. However, the other side of the coin is that you have more than one lifetime to work out your salvation. This is an idea which does not appeal to a power elite who wants to use religion to gain absolute power over the people.
hum, think the same intimidation is still going on..?
Interesting comment, although i am not sure, and will look into, the role reincarnation played in the development of Christianity, as I have seen little mention of it in the 80 or so gospels, or at the Nicaean Council. However, it would not surprise me, seeing that almost everything in Christianity has evolved from Babylonian and egyptian mythology.
Thank you for the comment.
Firstig, I'd like to give you a big amen. I couldn't agree more with you on this one.
It seems more often than not, people want to have their cake and eat it too, and doing so become hypocrites. The far simpler solution is for one to be more flexible with their ideologies.
It is their very inflexible nature that has driven people away from church, caused them to lose a lot of steam in social issues, and why we are always stuck in a political stalemate. Just once I'd like to see the evangelicals join the 21st century and find ways to apply their ideologies to modern times, rather than promote social regression.
The problem is that so many other ideas have gotten tied into "Christianity" that it's almost unrecognizable.
Jesus supported socialized medicine, helping the poor, and good treatment of prisoners (Matthew 25:34-46); he spoke out in favor of paying your taxes (Matthew 22:21). You have to twist the Bible like a pretzel to get the idea that abortion is bad, and who is going to say that a man tortured and then nailed to a cross would support the death penalty?
But all of these realities run directly counter to the typical conservative mindset. (OK, you're venturing into libertarian territory with the "taxes" thing, but many of them claim to be Christian as well.)
(And incidentally, if you point out that Jesus was a liberal, their whole argument quickly descends into incoherent gibbering. Which can be sort of fun when you're bored...)
Nameless Cynic,
You should learn not to quote biblical text and verse that when its obvious that you have NO CLUE what you are talking about.
First of all the verse you quoted speaks to "personal responsibilities"
not those imposed by governments.
As a matter of fact, Jesus was did not think to much of government except where the say that because they were an institution of man, they were corrupt. His focus was more on the Church (Organized Religion) and its leaders (Chief Priests).
Least you forget it was the Roman Governor Pilate (against the advice of his wife, who warned him not to get involved) who could find no fault with Jesus but than played into the Priests hands by offering them a choice between Jesus and Barabbas.
It was the Roman army under orders from Pilate that carried out the crucifixion.
Your last question is shows your limited knowledge of biblical history. Jesus was not put to death alone. There were two thieves put to death one on each side of him. One hurled insults at Jesus the other admitted their guilt and asked Jesus to remember him. If Jesus was against the death penalty he could have released them from their crosses right then and there. Even when one of them confessed his sins he could have reached out and released him and let the other die. Instead he promised one that he would go to the kingdom with him while the other was denied entry to the kingdom. Why? Was it because he new their hearts and that they both committed sins against their fellow man and were guilty.
In that respect, we are all guilty of sins against our fellow men and as such carry a death sentence from which no one I know of in the recorded history of this world, that I know of, has escaped.
The bible does speak of reincarnation of sorts. Jesus promised that all who enter the kingdom will receive new bodies and will reign with him on earth for a thousand years.
The bible also speaks about abortion. When Herod found out that of the impending birth of Jesus, he order that all the male Jewish babies be "snatched from their mother's wombs". Interesting how they had the technology back ten to determine the sex of a child while it was still in the womb.
The argument by Christians about science and medicine has never been about its necessity or its benefits but its purpose and application. There is no argument that stem cell research can be helpful in the treatment and cure of disease. The argument is where the stem cells come from. While private research with stem cells that are harvested from the patient's body are being used to cure diseases within their own body, government sponsored embryonic stem cells continue to prove to be unstable and have done nothing but cause cancer.
So which do you want to invest your money (taxes) in?
With knowledge comes great responsibility.
Jesus was all about personal responsibility while socialist are are about handing over personal responsibility to government.
Ok, interesting comments. however, the term "biblical history" is a contradiction, unless it refers to the actual history of the bible as a book. It is one thing to quote the teaching of Jesus, but presenting the bible as historical fact would be laughed at by any scholar worth a community college degree. Second, the Mosiac Law, supposedly written by god and given to Moses, is a huge advocate of socialism and communism. You could purchase land, yet every 7 years it must be returned to the original owner, so that a family never lost its inheritance. It did not allow of mass wealth through land ownership, the exact opposite of capitalism. There was no democracy in Isreal, a nation led by god, and Jesus wanted "no part of the world." Anyone who claims to follow Jesus and the bible should have nothing to say about government, wanting nothing to do with it, obstain from voting, and follow the bible, including giving back their land every 7 years to the previous owner. Until then, lets stop using the bible as any evidence to support idiocy.
Congratulations Mark,
You have just become a member of my Wall of "Know It All, But Have Learned Nothing", and you did it in record time. If I were you, I would go back to the college you attended and demand your money back.
There are a very large number scholars that consider the Bible to be a historical document. Unfortunately, none of them happen to be liberal, since liberals think that they ARE GOD.
It lists people, geographical locations, dates, times and events, many of which were independently documented by other historians who lived during the time periods that the Bible describes. Archeologists use it as a road in searching out new dig sites because of its accuracy.
Its the only book to make the best seller's list every year for the past 2,000 years.
You somehow have the misguided notion that Mosaic Law equates to communism or socialism.
Mosaic Law, while written by God and given to Moses, was specifically meant for ONE GROUP and ONE GROUP ONLY and that was the Jewish people. There is nothing within these laws that discusses or even hints at a form of government. It deals entirely about how Jews are to handle their day to day personal responsibilities, solve disputes,
handle sin, worship, etc. There was no such thing as personal wealth because there was no monetary system to measure wealth.
It was NOT written for you and I to follow except for selected scriptures that Jesus quoted to his disciples in the New Testament, such as the Ten Commandments. In fact, it was Mosaic Law that the Chief Priests tried to use to snare Jesus with.
It was not until Paul's writings to the churches where people of non Jewish decent where even mentioned.
By the way, Paul, in case you are unaware, was the only disciple who was NOT JEWISH.
So to sum it up, don't even try to to intimidate me or convince me you are some type of scholarly intellectual. Your way out of your league.
There is nothing quite as entertaining as watching a religious zealot defend the bible, and the sincerity is certainly to be admired. At one time, not long ago, I was one of these people. However, you seem to be unable to differentiate geographical record from historical record. There are tours set up to texplore Europe based on the very real locations to be found in The Davinci Code, yet I wonder if that means that the fictional story told throughout those pages should be taken more seriously.
Ancient Isreal did have an economy, despite that fact being inconvenient as evidence supporting the fictional tale you so much believe in, and to suggest that the government set up by God in the Mosaic Law would somehow not be the best way for other worshipers to live their life puts a serious dent in the "almightiness" of God. Certainly is was nothing close to democracy. Do you really think other religions were tolerated, or was the stoning command just a suggestion? And do I recall Korah, Dathan, and a few hundred others killed by God for questioning Moses' authority? So much for freedom of speech.
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