Thursday, June 17, 2010

Today's Bible Reading: Jesus Gives His Views on the Rich and the Poor

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By MARC McDONALD

Today's reading from the Bible is from the book of Luke:

Jesus said:
"Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God."

"But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation."

From Luke, chapter 6, King James Version

You know, maybe I'm biased here, but I get the feeling that Jesus was not a Republican. Strange then, that the Republicans cynically wrap themselves in the Bible, as well as the flag, and claim to be the party that stands for "Christian" values.

Republicans worship the wealthy and they have nothing but contempt for the poor. So what will be their fate? For the answer to that, let's turn to another Bible passage (from Matthew, chapter 7):

"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite verse from the Bible is: Mark 10:21:

"Jesus looked at him and loved him. 'One thing you lack,' He said. 'Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'"

Karen Johnson said...

Republicans have ignored Christ's message of love, peace and forgiveness. Instead their version of "Christianity" is nothing more than bigotry, hate and intolerance.

David Sebastian said...

Mr. McDonald's post is a page taken from Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:

"Rule 4--Make opponents live up to their own book of rules."

I find it interesting how Progressives will take the Bible and quote passages from it that support their views, but are quick to discount the existence of God and the validity of the Bible when it doesn't suit their purposes. I also find it interesting how Progressives fail to quote from the Koran and hold the Islamic extremists accountable to the Koran. But as the Progressives claim--there is no such animal as Islamic extremism.

Another point is that Jews, Muslims and Christians worship the same God. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. But it is only Christianity and Judaism that Progressives take issue with, as evident with the recent flotilla incident and Free Gaza movement.

I would speculate that those well-to-do Democratic Senators and Congressional representatives are exempt from the quoted Biblical verses. As are the business leaders who supported Obama during his election campaign. Business leaders such as Paula Crown of Chicago's $4.1 billion Henry Crown family; Dreamworks cofounders Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen; and Oprah Winfrey to name a few. Perhaps we can get Ms. Crown to redistribute her family's wealth. How about Ms. Winfrey? Maybe Mr. Katzenberg and Mr. Geffen? No? Then maybe, just maybe George Soros would be willing to redistribute his enormous wealth through his Open Society chapters all over the world.

Before making the claim that "Republicans worship the wealthy and they have nothing but contempt for the poor." Mr. McDonald should have read Op-Ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof's December 20, 2008 New York Times piece: "Bleeding Heart Tightwads."

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/
opinion/21kristof.html?_r=3

And here's one paragraph:

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates."[emphasis added]

Kristof continues, explaining how liberals protested the data because conservatives "shower dollars on churches" and "that a fair amount of that money isn’t helping the poor, but simply constructing lavish spires." I'd like to know where the liberals obtained their info on the construction of these lavish spires. The churches I've visited provide much to those in need and few have “lavish” spires.

The article also stated that liberals tend to give more to "art museums, symphonies, schools and universities that cater to the well-off." [Emphasis added] I'm curious to know how these donations have helped the poor put food on the table, pay the rent and cloth needy families. Where are these generous Progressive and Liberal benefactors when the unfortunate really need them?

This isn't as one sided as Mr. McDonald's post misleads us to believe. The Biblical verses that are quoted here are also applicable to the Progressive and Democratic wealthy elite. But since Progressives tend to discount the existence of God, their belief is that the Bible and its verses are irrelevant. That is, unless they're criticizing Christians, Republicans and Conservatives.

David Sebastian said...

Mr. McDonald's post is a page taken from Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals:

"Rule 4--Make opponents live up to their own book of rules."

I find it interesting how Progressives will take the Bible and quote passages from it that support their views, but are quick to discount the existence of God and the validity of the Bible when it doesn't suit their purposes. I also find it interesting how Progressives fail to quote from the Koran and hold the Islamic extremists accountable to the Koran. But as the Progressives claim--there is no such animal as Islamic extremism.

Another point is that Jews, Muslims and Christians worship the same God. The God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. But it is only Christianity and Judaism that Progressives take issue with, as evident with the recent flotilla incident and Free Gaza movement.

I would speculate that those well-to-do Democratic Senators and Congressional representatives are exempt from the quoted Biblical verses. As are the business leaders who supported Obama during his election campaign. Business leaders such as Paula Crown of Chicago's $4.1 billion Henry Crown family; Dreamworks cofounders Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen; and Oprah Winfrey to name a few. Perhaps we can get Ms. Crown to redistribute her family's wealth. How about Ms. Winfrey? Maybe Mr. Katzenberg and Mr. Geffen? No? Then maybe, just maybe George Soros would be willing to redistribute his enormous wealth through his Open Society chapters all over the world.

Before making the claim that "Republicans worship the wealthy and they have nothing but contempt for the poor." Mr. McDonald should have read Op-Ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof's December 20, 2008 New York Times piece: "Bleeding Heart Tightwads."

Here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/
opinion/21kristof.html?_r=3

And here's one paragraph:

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates."[emphasis added]

Kristof continues, explaining how liberals protested the data because conservatives "shower dollars on churches" and "that a fair amount of that money isn’t helping the poor, but simply constructing lavish spires." I'd like to know where the liberals obtained their info on the construction of these lavish spires. The churches I've visited provide much to those in need and few have “lavish” spires.

The article also stated that liberals tend to give more to "art museums, symphonies, schools and universities that cater to the well-off." [Emphasis added] I'm curious to know how these donations have helped the poor put food on the table, pay the rent and cloth needy families. Where are these generous Progressive and Liberal benefactors when the unfortunate really need them?

This isn't as one sided as Mr. McDonald's post misleads us to believe. The Biblical verses that are quoted here are also applicable to the Progressive and Democratic wealthy elite. But since Progressives tend to discount the existence of God, their belief is that the Bible and its verses are irrelevant. That is, unless they're criticizing Christians, Republicans and Conservatives.

David Sebastian said...

Ms. Johnson accuses Republicans of bigotry, hate and intolerance. Republicans and Conservatives are labeled as "racists" constantly by the Progressives, such as the issue of illegal immigration. Progressives are quick to ignore the video clip of a member of the New Black Panthers, a group defined by the Anti-Defamation League as "the largest organized anti-Semitic and racist black militant group in America."

Samir Shabazz called for the death of crackers--that would be the "oppressive" white people. An obvious and blatant racist statement, but not according to the Progressive definition of racism. Of course, and I speculate here, the video was faked somehow by the uber Right Wing Fox News. Right? Some white Republican forced the noble and morally upstanding Samir Shabazz to spew his poison.

Why Ms. Johnson are you so willing to tolerate and dismiss the bigotry and hate filled speech of Samir Shabazz? A man who no doubt would rather see you dead, should you be Caucasian or Jewish or both. But no, you and those who share your views would rather embrace this new "friend" because as you pretend know--all white Republicans are racists. I wonder what your thoughts are regarding Black Republicans. Perhaps you believe they're being mislead by the intolerant-selfish-Bible Thumping-homophobic-xenophobic-racist-Fox News Humping-Obama bashing-white Republicans. Or perhaps your regard Black Republicans as traitors to their own ethnicity. Something I'm sure that members of the National Black Republican Association would find offensive.

Marc McDonald said...

To David Sebastian:
You make a lot of baseless, wild, and frankly moronic accusations against progressives in your comments.

But (like all Republicans) you shy away from my central point. You don't have anything to say about the direct words of Christ that I quote in the article.

Hmmm, I wonder why.

Let me repeat Christ's words:

"Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God."

"But woe unto you that are rich! For ye have received your consolation."


Maybe it's just me, but it doesn't sound to me like Christ was a Republican.

Anyone who made remarks like that nowadays would be attacked as "socialist" and "un-American" by the GOP.

Please, tell me with a straight face that I'm wrong on this point.

Anonymous said...

Marc, you quote two passages from the Bible, then state that Republicans worship wealth (where did that deduction come from?) and then makes a huge leap of logic to conclude that Republicans are less Christian.

You ignore the fact that Republicans are more generous than Liberals with their own money. Liberals are very generous with other people's money. As a fiscal conservative, I don't want my tax dollars going to organizations like Acorn, Planned Parenthood, and others that stand for anti-Christian values. I also have very little confidence in Congress' ability to make good decisions about how tax dollars should be spent wisely. They've demonstrated their ineptitude repeatedly.

Marc McDonald said...

In response to the previous commenter.

re:
>>Marc, you quote two passages
>>from the Bible, then state that
>>Republicans worship wealth
>>(where did that deduction come
>>from?)

You've gotta be f*cking kidding! The Republicans WORSHIP the rich and money. They have nothing but CONTEMPT for the poor. (In other words, they're the polar opposite of Jesus himself).
You know, the Bible consists of more than simply condemning gays and abortion. You Republicans seem to think that those two issues are the only things addressed in the Bible.
In reality, Jesus has nothing negative to say about gays. Indeed, to find the condemnations of gays, one must look in the Old Testament (where, incidentally, one can find condemnations of everything under the sun).
Should people who work on the Sabbath be stoned to death? You Republicans wouldn't make this crazy claim---and yet it's right there in the Old Testament, alongside the verses that condemn homosexuality.
In finding the verses that condemn gays, you're simply ignoring all the crazy prohibitions of the Bible, which only reveals your ignorance and hypocrisy.
Oh, and abortion is mentioned NOWHERE in the Bible.
Selling all one's possessions and giving the money to the poor IS mentioned (by Jesus himself). But you Republican love to selectively read the Bible (and twist its words around to suit their purposes----or simply make up bullshit when necessary).

Anonymous said...

Marc McDonald - Thank you for your honest comments. I will tell you this, No matter how hard you try, YOU CANNOT teach a dog English regardless how hard you try. Getting republican minded people to answer your questions honestly is like trying to mop up the Atlantic ocean with a dry mop. Jesus warned us of people who claim that they know him and represent him but don't. They can't handle the truth because they are not truly Christians. They would hate Jesus today.

Anonymous said...

Marc McDonald - Thank you for your honest comments. I will tell you this, No matter how hard you try, YOU Cannot teach a dog Marc McDonaldregardless how hard you try. Getting republican minded people to answer you questions honestly is like trying to trying to mop up the Atlantic ocean with a dry mop. Jesus warned us of people who claim that they know and represent Christ but don't. They can't handle the truth because they are not truly Christians.