Breaking out of Western Christianity's Belief Control

[AJ_]

Gnostic (v. western) Christianity & other esoteric teachings

The gospel writings were composed during times when hundreds of Jews were being crucified each week. The obvious role of the Romans in the trial of Jesus as well as his execution had to be whitewashed and presented as sympathetically as possible. There was absolutely no criticism of Roman oppression, nor any mention of Jewish revolt. The Jews were cast in the role of villains, but this is historically illogical because the Sanhedrin had the right to pass death sentences. They did not need Pontius Pilate. Further, if they had wanted Jesus to be killed, he would have been stoned to death, not crucified. Crucifixion was exclusively used by Rome to execute the enemies of Rome. It was never a Jewish form of capital punishment. If he really was crucified, he did something to provoke Roman wrath, not Jewish wrath.

The three Synoptic Gospels have Jesus being arrested and condemned by the Sanhedrin on the night of the Passover. This could not be real history because the Sanhedrin, by Judaic law, were forbidden to meet over Passover. The Gospels state that the arrest and trial occurred at night, but the Sanhedrin were forbidden to meet at night, in private houses, or anywhere outside of the precincts of the temple.

It wasn’t until A.D. 325, at the Council of Nicea, convened by Roman emperor Constantine, that it was decided, by a vote, that Jesus was to be depicted as a god, not an enlightened teacher. A year after this the Council of Nicea, Constantine ordered all works that challenged the official orthodox teaching to be destroyed. In A.D. 331, he commissioned and financed new copies of the Bible. It was at this point that crucial alterations were made, and the new status of Jesus was fabricated. Constantine never even converted to Christianity. He was actually baptized when he was on his deathbed, completely unaware.

I feel that the only test of truth that one can make is the test of love and the well-being of all. The doctrines of eternal damnation and original sin help to put people into a life-long state of fear and guilt. It’s difficult to see how a loving God would want people to feel perpetually fearful and guilty. Western Christianity as we know it today is partly the result of an alteration and redaction of the original Gnostic teachings committed by the Holy Roman Empire for the purposes of control. The system of belief or thought control that they created sought to scare citizens into a belief in which citizens must submit to any type of government because God put that government in control (the Germans believed this in the earlier part of the 20th century).

I feel that the true teaching of Jesus is that the kingdom of heaven is in each person. It’s not a matter of believing in a historical event, it’s about being love yourself, not judging another, doing the right thing, being open to the possibilities of being transformed by Love, having compassion for all living entities. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna and other loving teachers all taught these things.

Link to Carl Jung’s thoughts on and connection to Gnosticism

Edit — this thread is just for the sharing of ideas and teachings (many of them esoteric) that are similar across some religions including but not limited to Ancient Egyptian, Advaita Vedanta / Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, and Gnosticism (and some esoteric/inner mysteries found in the Bible). While it originally started with some railing against fundamentalist Western Christianity, the intent now is not to pick apart, but to see connections across time and places.

 

[muir]

One of the biggest hurdles i've noticed in terms of finding common ground with people in my time discussing matters online is that many people are invested heavily in mental constructs

So for example when a baby is born they are not born a 'jew' or a 'christian' or an 'atheist' or a 'muslim' or a 'capitalist' or an 'american' or a 'british' person and so on

These and many more besides are all concepts that are given to the child

if you imagine the baby as the hardware then the concepts that are put into their brain is the software

On top of that there is nationalism so children are told they belong to a certain nation and that they should follow a certain flag and that they should follow certain sports teams and so on

This is all more software

But underlying all of that layered on software there are underlying protocols that exist across humanity

So if you have two people and they are each given different software because they have been born in different geographic locations then they will then see the world through the prism of that software. That software dictates to them how they should behave and think

Then there are the software programmers!

There are those who know that these concepts do not exist within a human being at birth but rather are programmed into them; these programmers create software programmes to get people to think and act the way they want them to

They do this to create illusiory boundaries between people so that they feel seperate from each other and so that each group then looks to their software programmers to tell them how they are supposed to think and act

So.....there are a lot of people who are heavily invested in their software programs. Often they derive a sense of identity from them and are part of a community of people who have the same software programme. Their family, friends and even partners might share that software

So such a person has a lot invested in their software programme

if their leaders then tell them to hate another group of people they will do it because it is easier to do as they are told then to fall out of step with the rest of their community

They could lose their friends, family, sense of identity, partner, job, place of worship, support etc if they then go against the grain

This is why so many people choose to follow instead of think for themselves.....because to think for yourself and to act independently is a difficult thing to do

This is why as we move towards new ways of seeing the world we need to build a new community of people who all share common ground so that people who turn their back on old redundant software programmes have something new to go to and don't feel alone and adrift in the world

We need to start letting go of divisive software programmes and start looking for common ground around the world and the more people who do that the easier it will be for people to let go of toxic baggage

So yeah...a lot of people are clinging on to old ways of doing because they have invested themselves into certain things and find themselves too entangled to let go

Imo the spiritual path is about identifying all the programming that has been laid onto us as we grew so that we can shed it and get back to the core protocols and what is natural and healthy

 

[muir]

whatever the underlying creative force of our reality is i cannot believe that it only recognises the fundamental right of one group of humans to exist, which is what religions seem to be telling people (eg only subscribers to such and such religion will continue to exist freely in the hereafter whilst the rest will be punished)

Therefore i do not see religion as the way to God

I see looking past religion to embrace all people and all creation as the way to God

 

[just me]

Call me old-fashioned, hard-headed, stubborn, and whatever else you might think of. I know Who holds the keys to the Book of Life. I know Who defeated death and sin. On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. He will not forsake His people. He did not forsake Ishmael, either.

He certainly did not tell people of my kind to kill me if I decided to walk away from Christianity, either. It amazes me the steps people take to try and rid the earth of God and Christianity.

 

[AJ_]

There is a certain beauty to the world, where things are spontaneous and free. Why would we see beauty in this spontaneity and freedom if the point of life is to end up in a place where everyone believes the same thing, in the same way – being slaves at the feet of a creator who needs our praise otherwise we will end up in eternal damnation?

When we plant a seed, we do not know the exact time or hour that it will sprout. There is a free-flowing fire within the seed, that exists within all living entities, in Vedic thought this inner fire is known as Agni, or Agni Deva. Agni represents the divine essence or celestial fire present in every atom of the universe. Roman Catholic tradition took this notion of Agni Deva and turned it into Agnus Dei, which is usually known as the lamb of God. This inner fire, the Witness, the “pure lamb” exists within every single person – it is the connection to the Absolute, Great Spirit, Source, Brahman, whatever you want to call this. The Absolute is like a great ocean, and we are the waves – able to look back at Itself, and to see other waves manifested from It as well (it is beyond the notions of male and female). The great farce is that we are all disconnected, and that this Absolute needs praise or worship. True “Worship” is only to BE, to love others as yourself because they are yourself. We can’t merge with this Absolute by going up and out. It’s only when we quiet the moving waters of our mind that we see the greatness of Love – that everyone and everything is connected. No amount of confusion will ever disconnect us from this.

No one has to believe this. No one should ever have to “believe” anything. When asked about his belief in the afterlife – about life after life – Carl Jung said the following:
“You see the word ‘belief’ is a difficult thing for me. I don’t ‘believe’. I must have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Either I know a thing – and when I know it I don’t need to believe it. If I don’t allow myself to believe a thing just for the sake of believing it, I can’t believe it. But when there are sufficient reasons for a certain hypothesis, I shall accept these reasons.”
We’re all here for a journey, for an experience. We can either abdicate our own journey and take up orthodoxy, or we can experience the spontaneity of life and the vulnerability of love. Orthodoxy and dogmatism -- everyone must believe this certain thing – is synonymous with cancer, where all the cells have to be the same.

Christ, Krishna, Buddha - the Absolute - they're all in you.
[video=youtube;ocfSHE0N3a4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocfSHE0N3a4[/video]

 

[Oscillation]

Well, perhaps you right...

 

[Y0u]

There is a certain beauty to the world, where things are spontaneous and free. Why would we see beauty in this spontaneity and freedom if the point of life is to end up in a place where everyone believes the same thing, in the same way — being slaves at the feet of a creator who needs our praise otherwise we will end up in eternal damnation?

When we plant a seed, we do not know the exact time or hour that it will sprout. There is a free-flowing fire within the seed, that exists within all living entities, in Vedic thought this inner fire is known as Agni, or Agni Deva. Agni represents the divine essence or celestial fire present in every atom of the universe. Roman Catholic tradition took this notion of Agni Deva and turned it into Agnus Dei, which is usually known as the lamb of God. This inner fire, the Witness, the “pure lamb” exists within every single person — it is the connection to the Absolute, Great Spirit, Source, Brahman, whatever you want to call this. The Absolute is like a great ocean, and we are the waves — able to look back at Itself, and to see other waves manifested from It as well (it is beyond the notions of male and female). The great farce is that we are all disconnected, and that this Absolute needs praise or worship. True “Worship” is only to BE, to love others as yourself because they are yourself. We can’t merge with this Absolute by going up and out. It’s only when we quiet the moving waters of our mind that we see the greatness of Love — that everyone and everything is connected. No amount of confusion will ever disconnect us from this.

No one has to believe this. No one should ever have to “believe” anything. When asked about his belief in the afterlife — about life after life — Carl Jung said the following:
“You see the word ‘belief’ is a difficult thing for me. I don’t ‘believe’. I must have a reason for a certain hypothesis. Either I know a thing — and when I know it I don’t need to believe it. If I don’t allow myself to believe a thing just for the sake of believing it, I can’t believe it. But when there are sufficient reasons for a certain hypothesis, I shall accept these reasons.”
We’re all here for a journey, for an experience. We can either abdicate our own journey and take up orthodoxy, or we can experience the spontaneity of life and the vulnerability of love. Orthodoxy and dogmatism -- everyone must believe this certain thing — is synonymous with cancer, where all the cells have to be the same.

Christ, Krishna, Buddha - the Absolute - they're all in you.
[video=youtube;ocfSHE0N3a4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocfSHE0N3a4[/video]

Would you want just anyone around technology that could be used to mess up the entire solar system? Our trajectory is taking us towards technology that will let us lay waste to the planet (more than we have already), and each other's minds. People will learn to handle it responsibly, or we'll collectively kill each other. The other route is for scientists to get lobotomies and reset societies' knowledge of technology. So, people having their heads on straight enough not to blow everyone up is a must, if you want to live.

 

[just me]

copy "There is a certain beauty to the world, where things are spontaneous and free. Why would we see beauty in this spontaneity and freedom if the point of life is to end up in a place where everyone believes the same thing, in the same way – being slaves at the feet of a creator who needs our praise otherwise we will end up in eternal damnation?" copied from AJ_

I reject your every thought from this one statement. You neither understand God's Word, nor do you wish to. New battle? No. Old theme. We have hashed this out over and over again. I do not wish to be drawn into your spider web of indignity and confusion.

It's Fathers Day. Did you call and wish your father a happy Fathers Day? Do you have children old enough to leave home? How does it feel when they don't call you and wish you well? Are they slaves?

Do you need their love?

 

[Skarekrow]

copy "There is a certain beauty to the world, where things are spontaneous and free. Why would we see beauty in this spontaneity and freedom if the point of life is to end up in a place where everyone believes the same thing, in the same way – being slaves at the feet of a creator who needs our praise otherwise we will end up in eternal damnation?" copied from AJ_

I reject your every thought from this one statement. You neither understand God's Word, nor do you wish to. New battle? No. Old theme. We have hashed this out over and over again. I do not wish to be drawn into your spider web of indignity and confusion.

It's Fathers Day. Did you call and wish your father a happy Fathers Day? Do you have children old enough to leave home? How does it feel when they don't call you and wish you well? Are they slaves?

Do you need their love?

As a Father, I would never demand the love of my Son…I also wouldn’t punish him in eternal hell-fire for not professing that love.

 

[just me]

A grain of corn will yield corn; and a seed of okra, okra. A sticker will yield stickers. Plant them all together and they will each yield their own. A farmer that has farmed over many years knows exactly what time of year to plant seeds of each kind, knows when they will sprout forward, and when to harvest the new. The farmer knows his seeds. The seed man has so many problems with is that of his own.

 

[just me]

AJ, sorry for sounding judgmental.

 

[Skarekrow]

 

[just me]

I'm tired.
There was a physical Ark; there may be a spiritual ark.?
There was a physical temple, which was a shadow of the Temple to come. "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth within you?"
There was a physical High Priest and Holy of Holies. They were shadows of what was to come.

Example: Hebrews 9 The Earthly Tabernacle(Exodus 25:1-9; Exodus 40:1-33)1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread;

which is called the sanctuary. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of

the covenant; 5And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.6Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. 7But into the second went the high

priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: 8The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: 9Which was a figure for the time then

present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; 10Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.Redemption

through His Blood11But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;12Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place,

having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,

purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?15And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal

inheritance. 16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 18Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19For when

Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.

21Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.23It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified

with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25Nor yet that he should offer himself

often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27And as it is appointed unto

men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

 

[just me]

 

[Skarekrow]

I know this is slightly off-topic in some points but I thought this was a well written article explaining a good swath of the public mentality here in the US.

28 examples of Conservative Christian Falsehoods​

I’m a Southern girl.
Born in the South, raised in the South, and have rarely lived anywhere BUT the South.

I actually love the South.
I’ll die in the South.

Being a Southern girl, I have more than my share of right-wing friends, neighbors, and family members – and some of you have in recent years crossed the line into nut-jobbery.

The fact is – I love you guys and that will never change.
I’ll admit that I’m disappointed and disturbed to see intelligent and/or educated people who are willfully ignorant.

But while it does change my opinion about you on some level, more than anything I’m embarrassed for you.
It hurts me to see you post conspiracy theories on your Facebook timeline, only to have them debunked with a quick Snopes link.

It hurts me to see you expressing unapologetic and blatant racism and ignorance.
It absolutely tortures me to see you being on the wrong side of history on so many issues.

Although I’ll always love you guys, I have had to quit – for my own sanity and for the sake of our relationships – attempting to engage in intelligent conversation about politics and social issues with most of you.

From now on, we’ll talk about the weather, recipes, our mutual friends, our children, our illnesses, thrift shop finds, and our old memories.
I want to know what’s going on in your lives.

What books are you reading?
What home improvements are you planning?

Hell, I’ll even follow you on Pinterest!
I very much appreciate those of you who can still have an intelligent conversation and listen to another point of view.

Hopefully this small group of sane conservatives never changes.
Here is why I have to abandon attempts at intelligent conversation with most of you.

1. You support revisionist history.

When I was in a high school history class, I’ll never forget one thing our teacher taught us: what you read in history books isn’t always accurate.
The example she used was history books in the Soviet Union, now known as Russia.

She informed us, to my shock and horror, that the Soviets pretty much included what they liked in the history books and left out everything else.
As a result, she said, there were generations of Russian students who were misinformed.

Oh we were dismayed, my classmates and I!
Those poor little Russian kids who were being taught false history.

But wait….you guys on the right are trying to do the same thing right here in the Good Old U.S.A.
Last year, I wrote an article about Texas’ plan to revise history and include Moses as a Founding Father.

When I shared the article with an educated Texas adult and asked “is this OK with you,” his response was:

“Why teach our children at length regarding the horrors of slavery as we have eliminated that curse from our society? We don’t deny it occurred here or anywhere else in the world, but, why dwell on a segment of our past that has been corrected? I don’t think it is appropriate to drag our dirty laundry through our history lessons at length.”

Because it’s HISTORY.
You don’t get to just rewrite history books if it’s unpleasant.

What are you thinking?
Shall we rewrite the Revolutionary War? “A minor disagreement with Great Britain.”
How about the bombing of Pearl Harbor? “A spat with the Japanese.”

2. You cite Jesus as your reasoning for rejecting marriage equality.

Yet the Bible only mentions homosexuality six times.
Six.

Times.

6.

This many:


So why is this one of the biggest issues on your agenda?
Why are you putting so much energy and hate into an issue that clearly wasn’t one of God’s major concerns?

As Christians who are pro-family, why would you deny people the right to the sanctity of marriage?
If marriage strengthens families, why would you not want everyone to have this, even if you disagree with their choice of mate?

YOU (we) have destroyed the sanctity of marriage.
There is no possible way that gay marriage can do more harm to marriage than heterosexuals have done.

Yet we seldom hear a sermon bemoaning the divorce rate or people living together before marriage.
Why is that?

Because the pews would be empty.

3. You use Biblical scripture to excuse yourself from feeding the hungry.

There is nothing you do that makes me more disgusted with you than your abuse and misuse of 2 Thessalonians 3:10.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat. 2 Thessalonians 3:10

You are deliberately taking the scripture – ONE VERSE! – out of context when you use them to justify your own hatred of poor people.
And again, you’re showing your ignorance.

From Liberal America reader Eric Susee: “2 Thessalonians 3:10. are NOT the words of Christ. They are the words of Paul of Tarsus, a man who never met Christ.”
Biblical scholars have pointed out that the author of 2 Thessalonians was referring to Christians who stopped working in anticipation of Christ’s return.

4. You lie when you say you value “freedom of religion.”

I had lunch with some conservatives a while back, and the topic of freedom of religion came up.
They expressed concern at the “war on Christianity.”

I cited a recent event that had occurred in which protesters interrupted the U.S. Senate’s first Hindu-led prayer.
The response from my fellow diners? “Good.”

I don’t know how educated people can be so ignorant.
Seriously.

You can’t even see your own contradictions.

5. You claim God speaks to you and tells you to do things.

Over and over and over, we see right wing nutjobs in the news saying they’re doing this horrible thing or that horrible thing because God told them to.
This is, to quote the Christian Courier, “a very convenient method of authenticating what you want to do.”

He does NOT do that.
God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son. Hebrews 1:1

But conservatives believe these nuts.
Here is what I think: not only should sensible conservatives not believe these nuts, you need to start speaking out against them.

These are the false prophets that the Bible warns us about, in my humble opinion.
Most of you lack the courage to take a stand against these idiots even when you know they’re nuts.

6. You question my faith.

“Christian Left is an oxymoron.”
Oh my, I’ve heard that so much from the right, and believe it or not, I often hear it from my “friends.”

First of all, your questioning of my faith genuinely means very little to me.
What it does is destroy my opinion of you; I now view you as self-righteous hypocrites.

Recently, I found out that a woman from my church questioned her teen son for spending time here at my home with my children.
I believe her words were “why would you want to be around someone so liberal.”

I’ve never had a conversation with this lady.
We’ve never even made eye contact.

But alas, her comment (and more that she said) has forced me to now see her differently.
Keep questioning my faith, though, my people, because you can be sure I’m questioning yours.

One thing I won’t do, however, is accuse you of not being a believer as you do me.
What I will suggest to you is that my faith may be stronger than yours.

I’ve educated myself, dared to question all things, and STILL believe.
Most of you are too afraid to even learn.

It may, after all, test your faith.

I’ll pray for you!

7. You care more about your guns than you do about children.

After the Sandy Hook massacre, and following other similar tragedies, I asked many of you if you loved your guns more than you do children.
I made the statement of “I’d give up my gun forever if it would bring back even one of those children.”

I asked you if you’d do the same.
You admitted that you would not.

8. You get excited about people dying.

You really, really like to see death.
And not just to terrorists.

You love the death penalty.
You love war.

You love seeing kids like Trayvon Martin being shot.
They deserve it, you say.

But his murderer has shown – again and again – since his acquittal that he is a dangerous person.

9. You assume that everyone who needs help are losers and parasites who refuse to work.

Approximately 47 million people receive food stamps, and most of them are children or the elderly, in addition to people who are employed.
The numbers, from a 2012 USDA report:

• 45 percent of SNAP recipients are under 18 years of age
• Nine percent are age 60 or older
• More than 40 percent live in households with earnings

10. You weren’t concerned about uninsured people— including me.

Most of you know that when I made the decision to become self-employed that I would be giving up my employer subsidized health insurance.
I’m 47 years old, and like most people my age, have at one time or another had preexisting conditions that would cause insurance companies to deny me a private policy.

I didn’t want a free ride.
I was eager to pay for my own insurance.

Obamacare opened that door for me and millions of other hard-working Americans and disallows insurance companies from rejecting millions of Americans who were previously rejected.

But without even knowing fully what the Affordable Care Act is, you chose the path of ignorance.
You didn’t care.

11. The Creation Museum – that is all.

You think this is OK.
It’s not.

These people just make stuff up.
Do you really think kangaroos floated from Africa to Australia on rafts?

Why are you condoning this ignorance?

12. You’re liberal in youth, yet grow conservative in age.

I call this the Dead Peter Syndrome in men and/or the Formerly Hot Syndrome in women.
A couple of years ago, a man confronted me on Facebook about my liberalism.

I knew him when I was growing up; he was a friend of my parents and his children were my playmates.
He called me a stupid, misguided, amoral, liberal.

Yes, those were his words.

I had one question for him:
“When I was a little girl, didn’t I sit on your lap while you smoked a joint and drank beer?”

I’m afraid I burned the bridge of that friendship – and good riddance.
Similarly, many women who embraced the sexual revolution are now taking a stance against women’s rights and suggesting that I’m killing babies with my IUD.

You don’t get to live it up as a young person and then try to take a moral high ground when you get old and aren’t interested in living anymore.

13. You don’t want people who disagree with you to vote.

Oh, Gerrymandering, you ugly devil, you.
But do we question why this is so common and seldom questioned by people on the right?

It’s because you, my conservative voter loved ones, agree with it.
You think it’s perfectly acceptable (and necessary) to suppress the vote.

It’s for the “good of the nation.”
I once heard someone tell his wife to not inform her Democratic friend how and where to vote. “She’ll cancel out your vote.”

There you have it.

14. Some of your best friends are black. Or Mexican.

A conservative I know professes that “my best friend is black” and balked when I called him and his wife racist.
Why did I call him racist?

Because my little girl – at that time about 12 – went to a movie with one of her African American friends and his mother.
The conservative and his wife were “very concerned” about me allowing my little girl to consort with “blacks.”

But oh, no, they’re not racist, are they?
I don’t care how many black or Hispanic friends you have.

If you think that mentality is OK, then yes, you’re racist.

15. You scream about undocumented immigrant children at the border, but you hire Mexicans to do your dirty work.

I live in Texas.
Duh!

Every single upper-middle-class or wealthy person I know has at one time hired cheap labor to do their menial tasks like home repairs, yard work, housekeeping, and childcare.

They actually seek out Hispanic people because they know that they do good work and that they’ll work for cheap.

16. You insist on calling undocumented immigrants “illegals” and “aliens.”

They are human beings.
'They are undocumented immigrants.

Many of them are children.
It reallyyyyy makes me furious to see you deliberately depersonalizing these human beings who are doing nothing but seeking the American Dream that you are so proud of.

And you do this on purpose.
You know what you’re doing.

You’re proud of your very unethical and un-Christian attitude towards these human beings.

17. You don’t mind using force against “lesser” groups to get what you want.

Case in point, protesting outside of abortion clinics.
Or protesting at the funerals of gay people.

And yeah, I know that is Westboro Baptist Church and not you, but if you refuse to speak out against them, then you’re a part of the problem.

18. You love war, death, and destruction.

And why do you love war, death, and destruction?
Because ‘Murica.

Because you think this somehow makes us superior.
We may be militarily superior, but we are ethically inferior.

Even when confronted with the lies, now confirmed officially, that got us into the Iraq war, you don’t care.
You like for America to be the world’s largest terrorist organization and the world’s most formidable bully.

19. Speaking of war, you think draft dodging is OK and military service is for the little people.

Why doesn’t it bother you that Dick Cheney et al are draft dodgers?
Or that Mitt Romney has an entire baseball team of sons and not one of them served in the military?

Or that none of the current generation of Bush children have served in the military.

Let me tell you in one sentence, as was told to me personally by a wealthy draft dodger:
“Wouldn’t you get out of it if you could?”

Dying for your country is such a noble cause – if you’re not one of the elite.
Right?

20. You claim to care about the Constitution, but in reality you don’t.

Oh yes, you scream “CONSTITUTION” at the top of your lungs, but when idiotic Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) recently tried to strip the Constitution of the 5th and 6th Amendments, where were you?
Where was your outrage?

You love the parts of the Constitution that please you personally – NOT the entire Constitution.

21. It’s impossible for you to see your privilege.

If you were born into a family and a place that allowed you to thrive, you’re blessed and fortunate.
This isn’t the norm.

A lot of success and stability depends on the structure that we have during our formative years.
The vast majority of young Americans have not had your advantages and I can’t seem to make you understand that.

I’ve stopped trying.

22. You don’t care about children.

You care about fetuses.
Once those fetuses begin to breath outside the womb, your concern is gone if they’re born into a poor family that needs help.

Or how about poor children who are in school?
Most of you want to do away with free and reduced lunches, for God’s sake.

And let’s not even talk about free breakfasts for kids.
What is wrong with you people???

There is no better investment that we can make as a nation than in the early childhood health of our children.

23. You’re greedy and miserable.

You spend more time bemoaning what is being taken from you that you do in being thankful that you have enough to share.

24. You think our religion is the only one.

I’m a Christian – a proud follower of the most amazing man I’ve ever studied.
Most of what is good about me comes from the teachings of Jesus.

I love my religion and my Holy Book.
I use the Words in Red as a compass.

But who am I to look at other people who feel exactly the same way about their own religions and judge them?
We’re all on this earth doing the best we can, making the best decisions that we can.

And we’re all taking our best guess.
The evidence for and against their religion is no different than the evidence for and against ours.

25. You are lazy and you refuse to read.

I provide sources for you that will debunk most of your BS, or at least help you to see it a little differently.
You refuse to read it.

You stick to Fox News, World Net Daily, etc…
You refuse to ever entertain another point of view.

I have a conservative friend who I adore.
He and his wife grew up with me.

I think he’s awesome because he did something amazing for me: he recorded Rachel Maddow for a week and watched her show.
Did he agree?

Meh, not really.
But him being willing to even listen to another viewpoint won him favor in my book.

Thank you, Michael.

26. Your misfortune is God’s blessing.

When something bad happens to you, you sanctimoniously think it’s God testing you and making you stronger.
When something bad happens to me (or gay people or atheists or etc…), you think it’s God punishing them.

Really?

​

27. “Everyone has their lot in life.”

Except you, of course.
Well, no….you do have a lot.

Your lot is to have every privilege and entitlement and make sure your children have the same.

28. You think you’re the only one working and paying taxes.

“My tax dollars….”
Here’s a clue: you’re not the only one paying taxes.

Liberals and atheists pay taxes, too.
Just how far do you think your $2,000 a year in income taxes goes?

Or your $10,000, or even your $50,000?
No matter how wealthy you are and how much income tax you pay – and most of those complaining aren’t paying that much – you’re actually probably paying more for wars (that you love) than for food stamps for children in poverty.

So anyhow….tell me, my loves, what are you cooking for dinner tonight?

All of this said, let me say this: I’m very grateful and appreciative of my sane conservative friends who can actually participate in an intelligent and respectful discussion. To name just a few (and if I leave anyone out, I’m sorry – these are just the ones I interact with the most on these issues): Michael, Laura K., Whitney, Laura M., and my pastor, Brent.

Thank you, my dear ones, for being sane.
For understanding that things aren’t always black and white.

And for disagreeing with me without belittling my very existence.

 

[sprinkles]

[video=youtube;jDNF6ajc0cs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDNF6ajc0cs[/video]

 

[just me]

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

 

[sprinkles]

It's ok, Amaterasu is fine with you. Her followers do enough to cover everybody.

[video=youtube;CVy2toIHhig]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVy2toIHhig[/video]

 

[Skarekrow]

Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And you know what…God forgave them…the people who killed Jesus…which is probably THE worst sin you could commit.
Also, I know people like to ignore it…but it says pretty plainly that Jesus was sent to save the WHOLE world.
By your standards Jesus would be a failure.
I’m pretty sure if the intention by God was to save the whole world, that it would happen (if one subscribes to such beliefs).

Besides, who gave the Christians first-dibs on God?
It’s the us against them mentality that turns people off at the very least and starts wars at extremes.

 

[Skarekrow]

[video=youtube;tOgW8y2jakw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tOgW8y2jakw[/video]