I like this Jesus guy's ideas, I just don't think he's magic.
I like what this guy named Matthew said Jesus guy's ideas were. Mark and Luke said the same but weren't as good as writers. And another guy named John wrote a fanfic expanding on the original.
And then a guy called Paul (aka Saul) got involved despite never having met the OG crew. And started an expanded universe messing up the canon forever.
I mean, Mark had to go first, so we can give him some slack. And Luke isn't a worse writer, just a bit of a pretentious one. John is definitely the best storyteller, even if he does go...off the rails a bit. And Paul didn't write nearly as much as we give him credit/blame for.
I think it is a mixed bag. The teaching about divorce messed up the lives of a lot of people. Then there was that time he told a guy to abandon his dying father to go preach with him. He called a gentile woman a dog. He said most people will be destroyed. Jesus as chronicled by Matthew seems fond of referring to everlasting fire.
To be clear, I am not saying he didn't say anything good. He said don't be a hypocrite. He said help others and pay your taxes. He said feed the hungry and clothe the naked. But that doesn't erase all the bad things the character of Jesus said.
I do agree that Paul sucks balls though.
A lot of atheist find the Christ message of love and tolerance interesting though, the rest of the bible? Meh.
He really didn't have a message like that.
This is not true
Atheists tend to follow Jesus more closely than Evangelicals, they just don't need a leash to be good people.
well, in their defense they are forgiven and allowed to sin until they return to donate more money... i mean ask for forgiveness.
If that God exists, the irony is that he would see right through them.
The idea isn't to be evil and hateful until the last 5 minutes before death. I would even argue that that plan in itself would be another form of evil. It wouldn't be true penance or regret, but instead, it would just be a way to save themselves at the last minute. Selfishness.
It could also maybe be seen as an insult to that God, to believe that he as an all-knowing deity would somehow not know their true intentions.
Yes, I find it fascinating how much religious people want to cheat their own god. There are entire systems of rituals and actions to show everyone how faithful you are. But you are showing it off to other people, not god.
It would only be ironic if god and heaven were real. Otherwise those duplicitous fucks go to their graves never knowing true retribution. My only hope is that they die with the uncertainty of not knowing, and their last few moments of lucidity are spent in internal existential angst.
