JASON MILLER: The Iron Fist of Jesus

by Jason Miller -- World News Trust

The Inmates are Running the Asylum

How much damage will men like George Bush, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Sam Brownback, Ralph Reed, and Rick Santorum inflict before reason prevails and they are unmasked as the twisted, malevolent charlatans that they are? Fundamentalist Christians, adherents to a nauseating perversion of Christianity (conjured from their twisted imaginations and their distorted interpretations of the Bible) wield a significant amount of power in the United States, socially and politically. Fund-raising, promotional, and organizational skills have enabled these Corpora-Fascist Capitalists masquerading as practitioners of the Christian faith to gain pervasive influence over the Republican Party. Despite recent blows, Republicans still control the Executive and Legislative branches of government, and are well on their way to dominating the Judicial branch by appointing judges who zealously rule in ways that promote the Social Darwinism, elitism, bigotry, property rights, and corporate power the Christo-Fascist Fundamentalist Christians crave.

God Bless America? Surely You Jest

One of the rationalizations for the illegal occupation of Iraq (and the murders of over one hundred thousand innocent Iraqi civilians) is that the United States is engaged in a struggle of "good versus evil." In spite of repeated heinous acts committed for years by the United States in the Middle East, including state terrorism resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, installation and/or support of ruthless dictators (i.e. Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran), and enabling the Israelis to commit genocide against the Palestinians, these pseudo-Christians have managed to convince many Americans that the United States is "good" and the "terrorists" (i.e. the Resistance to the U.S. occupation in Iraq) are "evil." As the U.S. government continues to rape the Middle East, Christo-Fascists slap "God Bless America" bumper stickers on their gas-guzzling SUV's actually believing that the Father, the Son, and/or the Holy Spirit would bless a nation governed by murderers, thieves and thugs.

Yes, I can visualize a Christian God sitting on his throne in the kingdom of heaven gazing down upon humankind. As he surveys humanity, he "wisely and judiciously" decides to answer Jane Morgan's prayer for a 2005 Hummer to replace her two year old Navigator. After all, he can't have Jane driving a "jalopy" to worship him on Sundays, now can he? Spying eight year old Mahmoud, a Palestinian in Gaza, God decides to let him die of malnutrition because he is not a Christian, and in fact is an "evil" Muslim who could become "terrorist" someday. Jerry Falwell, who does not appear to be struggling with malnutrition, would be most pleased with his Maker.

Not the Jesus I "Knew" When I was Younger

Growing up Methodist, my indoctrination into the Christian faith was rather moderate. I do not recall our ministers preaching fire, brimstone, or eternal damnation. Somehow I missed the interpretation of Revelations in which the Christo-Fascists have determined that Christ will return to Earth to "judge and make war." For those of you not fortunate enough to be blessed with the knowledge that Jesus will smite you down "with a rod of iron" (or do much worse) if you are deemed unworthy, click on this link to learn of your fate:

http://www.christiancourier.com/archives/righteousWarrior.htm

more

http://worldnewstrust.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=1833

he might have said more clearly that these Talibornagains also say we're in Iraq because it's a holy war against Islam. Their ignorance of other faiths and their own is astounding.

Like you, I was lucky enough not to learn too much about fire and brimstone (Episcopalian) - and in fact we never got too much into all that "literal" stuff in the Bible. Later as an adult I delved a little into the book of Revelation - that's some wierd stuff! I'm convinced it was written by someone on drugs. Not part of my belief structure at all.

I think if the stoner who wrote it had any idea how it would affect the generations to come he would have been highly amused.

The real meat of the Bible to me are the words of Christ. Everything else to me is myth or history or poetry.

to something! Hmmm.

Some of the poetry part is beautiful though - you have to admit some of the Psalms are really beautiful. Some of them are a little mawkish - those "funeral" ones - but they do have their moments.

BTW - did you ever find "Nessun Dorma"?

Il Principe:
Nessun dorma!... Nessun dorma!...
Tu pure, o Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza
guardi le stelle che tremano
d'amore e di speranza!
Ma il mio mistero
è chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun saprà!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dirò,
quando la luce splenderà!
Ed il mio bacio scoglierà
il silenzio che ti fa mia!
Coro donne:
Il nome suo nessun saprà...
E noi dovrem ahimè, morir, morir!...

Il Principe:
Dilegua, o notte! tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò!
Vincerò! Vincerò!

=============================================
The Prince:
No one sleeps!... No one sleeps!... *)
Nor do you, o princess
in your cold room
Look the stars that tremble
with love and hope!
But my mystery
it is locked in me,
my name no one will know!
No, no, only on your mouth I will reveal it,
when dawn's light will shine!
My kiss will break the silence
and make you mine!
Female choir:
His name no one will know...
And we shall have, alas, to die, to die...!

The Prince:
Disperse, o night! Set, you stars!
Set, you stars! With the dawn I will win!
I'll win! I'll win!




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*) No one shall sleep
Let no one sleep
May no one sleep

although Nessun Dorma is not exactly the opera, it's an aria from the opera Turandot (by Puccini, of course). TG and I were discussing it yesterday.

I have heard it. It is gorgeous..just didn't know the name of it.

She calls LaHaye and his ilk "Rapture Racketeers".

The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (Hardcover)
by Barbara R. Rossing

Ordained minister Rossing is ready to do battle with evangelicals both within and outside of her Lutheran Church camp. Rossing, who teaches New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, begins her sparring by taking on the widely popular Left Behind series and all it presumes to communicate about the future of the world. Claiming that the Left Behind authors' interpretation of prophetic biblical verses is "fiction," Rossing firmly asserts that the Book of Revelation has a completely different purpose than to predict upcoming world uprisings and the eventual end of the earth. Instead, Rossing believes that this biblical vision is meant to inspire humanity to seek out "repentance and justice." Rossing also maintains, somewhat unfairly, that rapture enthusiasts extol a careless, abusive attitude toward God's created world, since rapture theology declares that the followers of Christ are soon to be removed from it. More significant is Rossing's belief that Revelation does not offer a prophetic look at Jerusalem as the inevitable battleground between good and evil, but rather extends the promise of a New Jerusalem that will open its arms to all nations in peace. While Rossing's scholarly work is well organized and obviously carefully thought out, evangelicals may take issue with the blanket statement that "most Christian churches and biblical scholars condemn Rapture theology as a distortion of Christian faith with little biblical basis." This book will likely upset Christian conservatives while appealing to many in mainline denominations.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813391563/qid=1134141497/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-0662264-3534263?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

That rapture stuff always freaks me out. I found out on this board not too long ago that somebody actually has a "Rapture Index" - certain things happen in Israel, and that bumps up the score; then a few earthquakes, it goes up a little more; a hurricane or two ... well, you get the picture. Really amazing the stuff people will cook up when they have too much time on their hands.

Thanks for the info!

I'm familiar with one mainstream scholarly view that Revelation was under no circumstances to be taken literally at any time.

It's a symbolic letter to the early churches showing them the path to the expansion of the new belief in Christ. There apparently were some early Christians who did believe that Christ was to return in the flesh again, but they believed it would be during their lifetimes, as Revelation stated. Most take Christ's "return" as an allegory to the spread of the Church.

Since he hasn't bothered to come back for 2,000 years, modern thought is that the "return" is in spirit, through the community of believers.

The present literalists who think he's on his way, or worse-- that they can encourage him to show up, will wait in vain just like all the rest of them in the past have.