The day after Easter seems like a good day to think about Jesus and what his "sacrifice" (really, how can it be a sacrifice for an omni-max god to do anything, especially if he simply rose from the dead afterward?) means to us. I mean, Easter is the most holy day for Xians, since it's the day that Zombie Jesus came to life and started to figuratively eat people's brains (making them incapable of rational thinking). So, in the spirit of Easter, I have decided to ask myself the following question (supposing for the sake of argument that Jesus did exist and that Xianity is true):
What has Jesus done for me?
1. Jesus created me as a sinner that somehow deserves to go to hell by virtue of simply being born. See, all humans fall short of the glory of god, so therefore by being born we are destined for hell.
2. Jesus has not contacted me to save me from the hell that awaits me due to being born (he hasn't returned a single call.)
3. Jesus demands that I believe in things that defy logic and reason, like the idea that people can rise from the dead or that believing that an innocent person died somehow absolves me of all my moral responsibilities (see number 4 below).
4. Jesus decided that instead of bringing all humans to heaven after death or even simply not having us exist, we should be tortured for eternity unless we believe that transference of sins onto an innocent being makes sense and helps us in some way - because we should be happy that an innocent was tortured and killed, right?
In a similar vein, maybe we should also ask, what has Jesus done for humanity?
1. Jesus created the idea of hell which has been directly or indirectly the cause of untold amounts of suffering.
2. Jesus left very ambiguous words behind (the Bible) which has been the cause of untold amounts of suffering as people have fought over what the meaning of those words are.
3. Jesus has been an absentee landlord of the Earth and non-existent partner in the "relationship" that Xians claim to have, leading to all kinds of untold amounts of suffering.
4. Jesus has allowed all manners of natural evil causing untold amounts of suffering.
5. Jesus has created faulty beings that are necessarily headed for hell unless Jesus himself stops it, causing untold amounts of suffering for all eternity.
I'm sure I could list many more terrible things Jesus has done (if he existed, and some of these have happened regardless of whether he existed or not). Yet, I'm really struggling to think of one positive thing. Odd that for a religion that claims that it has absolute truth and perfect morality.
8 comments:
GCT wrote:
"Jesus left very ambiguous words behind (the Bible)"
This is not so, GCT, according to Anonymous, who commented on your prior post about rape and marriage. Anonymous thinks "it takes intelligence to interpret the true meaning" of the Bible.
If Anonymous is correct, then only those who are on the dumb side will end up in hell.
These mentally challenged folks are sure to be surprised when they find themselves roasting in Hell. Will they have the smarts to figure out that the joke has been on them all along, just because they have been slow on the uptake?
That's a good point. Afterall, it is the fool who does not believe, right? So, I guess god rewards those who are fortunate to be born with the requisite intelligence to understand the Bible.
Can't believe you would allow the argument to be misrepresented so grossly. Not understanding the meaning of a specific passage does not condemn you to an eternity in hell. You're being dishonest now, do save some credibility and stop being petty.
Anon,
If I don't believe in god because I don't correctly interpret a passage in the Bible, then that would indeed doom me to hell. If you are the Anon that is claiming that one needs a specific level of intelligence to correctly interpret the Bible, then one could very well end up in hell for not having enough intelligence. If your argument is absurd, don't blame us for pointing it out.
The concept of Hell stems from Zoroastrianism. Jesus didn't really invent it.
For the purposes of Xianity he would have (if we take Xianity at face value), considering the Xian version of hell is not the same as the Jewish version.
"What has Jesus done for me?
1. Jesus created me as a sinner that somehow deserves to go to hell by virtue of simply being born. See, all humans fall short of the glory of god, so therefore by being born we are destined for hell."
The sin was your own decision according to the Bible - Adam and Eve were both innocent until they made the conscious decision of sinning. So no you were not created to be sent to Hell. It's the acknowledgment of your sin and receiving God's forgiveness that can save you. No one is destined for hell, but a lot of the time it is their own choice.
Forever is a long time to be wrong about God.
"The sin was your own decision according to the Bible - Adam and Eve were both innocent until they made the conscious decision of sinning."
1. This is incorrect. The "original sin" which taints all humans was due to the supposed actions of 2 individuals (Adam and Eve) that lived well before me and are completely out of my control.
2. This raises some very sticky theological problems. Is a newborn able to sin or able to choose to sin? At what point do children suddenly take on responsibility for sin? Do those children go to heaven or hell if they die? If they go to hell, then you've got problems. If they go to heaven you've got problems. Also, if the latter, why the opposition to abortion?
"So no you were not created to be sent to Hell."
Again, this is wrong. Apart from the contradiction of free will existing with an omni-max god, if I have no choice but to sin whether I choose it freely or not (no one measures up to god's standards, therefore no one really has a choice in the matter) then god has created a being who is simply destined for hell. IOW, I was created to be sent to hell.
"It's the acknowledgment of your sin and receiving God's forgiveness that can save you. No one is destined for hell, but a lot of the time it is their own choice."
You're contradicting yourself right here. Everyone is slated for hell unless they do something to change it (which also contradicts most Xian teaching BTW), yet you also claim that we aren't destined for hell? Um, yeah, if hell is the default...
"Forever is a long time to be wrong about God."
Again, you may want to believe in Allah too, just in case.
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