Sunday 29 June 2008

Love Thy Neighbor


I could point to the book of Deuteronomy and what it tells you about treatment of unbelievers - it says that you should kill them. And, I could tie that together with Jesus and his penchant for chiding people for not following the laws of the OT closely enough. But, I thought I would focus on the NT treatment of others.

The well known verse is that Jesus said one should love thy neighbor, and many Xians understand that to mean that one should love all. This is not the case, however, if one takes into account the other teachings of the Bible. Take 2 Cor. 6 for example, where god commands that believers separate themselves from unbelievers, to shun them basically, and shut themselves off from them. That doesn't sound very neighborly to me.

Or, take 2 John. This book tells us that all who don't believe in Christ are liars and antichrists. I'm not sure if the word "antichrist" held the same meaning then as it does now, but if so this book is calling all non-Xians devils. Again, this is not very neighborly. Later, god instructs Xians to turn away all non-Xians, don't invite them into your home, don't even tell them "god speed," because even by bidding them a good farewell you are partaking in their evil deeds. (Aside: evil deeds? It's evil to not believe, even though we are made that way?) Even though the NT no longer directly commands you to kill non-believers, it certainly doesn't command that you love them. When Jesus said, "Love they neighbor," in this context, he certainly meant that one should love his fellow Jews, and the later Xians turned it into loving one's fellow Xians.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The New Testament also quotes jesus as saying he will never leave or forsake those that trust in him. Well I'm here to tell you that he (if he really said that) is not just a liar, but an outright fucking liar!!

My life's experience have validated this over and over again.

GCT said...

I had originally been planning to focus on 2 John 2, which seems to say that once a Xian, always a Xian, but ultimately decided against it (obviously). Your comment reminded me of that, however. Some Xians like to make this claim, but that's simply not the case, as is demonstrably shown by atheists and others who have done so. Of course, they usually retreat to special pleading and the No True Scotsman fallacy, but whatever.

Anonymous said...

"love thy neighbor"? I have been in pain since last November and went back to Nashville to see Dr Bercompus who I had expected would be my new doc.

But being the good Christian man he is, he refused to see me because I had forgotten my wallet and therefore was unable to pay the $10 copay.

"love thy neighbor"? HA! how about love thy wallet. {fucking Christians}

Anonymous said...

May God have mercy upon you and those that comment against him. God is not a pinoccio that you can control or fool around with. He is in control. I can see in some of your comments that you take scripture out of its context. That is not very ethical, if that is what you want to be, since you are so much on the topic of Christians not being ethical.

GCT said...

"May God have mercy upon you and those that comment against him."

According to the Bible, he won't. He will torture us in hell for eternity. Aren't you glad that god is so forgiving?

"God is not a pinoccio that you can control or fool around with. He is in control."

If he is in control, then perhaps he should show himself to us so that we may know it.

"I can see in some of your comments that you take scripture out of its context."

For example? It's not enough to simply make the claim without backing it up. Be forewarned that simply because you disagree with an interpretation doesn't mean that I have taken the scripture out of context or am wrong.

"That is not very ethical, if that is what you want to be, since you are so much on the topic of Christians not being ethical."

I would argue that intentionally doing so would be unethical - but I have not done this. In fact, I don't think you can show that I have done it at all, which makes it rather difficult for me to have intentionally done what you claim.

Festes said...

I have yet to see any of gods mercy.SO i say FUCK GOD...

Anonymous said...

Sure he's all about "love thy neighbor" (haha) but then he goes and expects you to hate your own family! (Luke 14:26)

Anonymous said...

i weep for these unbelievers. for one, if you dont have trust in Jesus then how can u expect him to take care of u? God puts things on us to test our faith in him. if you dont praise him and trust in him in spite of ur situation then you are not putting your situation in his hands. you cant expect God to do all the work you have to do something for him too. and the bible also states to be careful of false prophets. some so called "christians" are not christian at all. not all christians are hipocrits and do what the doctor did 2 miller. and GOd doesnt have to show himself to ANYONE he doesnt owe us a thing. the bible says to walk by faith and not my sight. and faith is by hearing the word of God. God wants to see who will really have faith in his word and who will really have faith in him and obviously not many of u dont. and as for Luke 14:26, Jesus was talking about the cost of being a disciple and the sacrafices u make. Jesus will never ask u to give up something good unless he plans on replacing it. And you need to get a study bible and read it because it will explain what that scripture is talking about and you need to talk to a pastor about it. I believe God and i believe in his word. And yes people may have written the bible but they were prophets inspired by God to write the bible so his future people (which is us!) can make it into his kingdom. God is coming soon and i suggest you all make sure your ready.

GCT said...

Lauren,
Perhaps you should read the blog, because you shouldn't pity us. You should pity yourself for being in the thrall of a evil, vicious, capricious deity that isn't content enough to make people suffer during life, but also commands that people be eternally tortured. This is sadistic and sick. You should not apologize for such deities and proselytize, but rather condemn.