The Passion of Christ

[Ghost]

JoeRedskin ... peace to you as well. The person to whom my comments were directed originally had a signature that mentioned fighting terrorism, and it made me angry to see that sentiment contrasted with statements about following Jesus. The signature has since been changed so I can see why that didn't make any sense to you. If I came across as self-satisfied and superior, that was not my intention and that's not the way I feel about myself. I certainly was not condemning people who go to church or have spiritual beliefs ... I just wish people were generally less hypocritical. Our religions teach us, over and over, that violence is wrong and we nod our heads and turn around and fight ill-conceived wars and execute people and beat our wives and it just sickens me sometimes. Frankly your statement that Christ condoned and supported violence as a "last resort" -- and that he would have supported a pre-emptive strike against Hitler! -- made me laugh out loud. I think you are missing the point. For thousands of years we've known what we have to do to take the next step in our spiritual evolution, but we lack the collective will.

"In this world, hate never yet destroyed hate. Only love destroys hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible. You too shall pass away ... knowing this, how can you quarrel?" The Buddha said that 2,500 years ago. In our hearts we know it's true ... it's basically the same thing Jesus was saying, the same thing other enlightened men and women have said throughout history. But the ends justify the means and we always make exceptions, excuses for using violence, as you have done in your essay. And this is part of the reason why we are a doomed species ... the violence that we continually spawn and attempt to justify will eventually snuff us out. Our efforts in Iraq will probably create a generation of people who feel that violence is wrong except when your country and your people are being attacked and suppressed, so these young people will take up arms against the U.S., we will attack them back, and the cycle keeps rolling on and escalating ... we have to stop making excuses or it will never end.

Jesus booted some merchants from the temple but that doesn't mean he supported violence. People always point to that story like it's some sort of legal loophole. Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek and love our enemy ... the message seems pretty clear ... he did not qualify it with, "But violence is OK in these situations: when there are WMDs, when a major part your economy is dedicated to the development and export of military technology, when someone takes my name in vain ..."

To me, and this is just my personal opinion, it seems that some people think it's fine to wink at Christ's message of nonviolence and unconditional love as long as they go to church somewhat regularly and believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is waiting for them up in heaven. I also think it's human nature to take the easy way out. Am I some sort of superior person with a unique take on all of this? Absolutely not. I'm flawed in countless ways, like everyone else. I'm just calling it like I see it on this issue and if I've offended anyone, I'm sorry. It's all in the spirit of debate, nothing personal.