My Take On Jesus

[colubridae]

My take on cheesus


A “hi, guess what I saw today?”
B “?”
A “I was walking past this lake and this guy was sitting in it!”
B “Really?”
A “Yeah I thinks it was the salt”


Some time later
B “My mate says he saw this guy ‘sitting’ in a lake”
C “so?”
B “Well he wasn’t swimming, he was just sitting in the water”
C “So”
B “well not just sitting, sort of sitting/standing. My mate says it was all the salt”
C “oh ok”


Some time later
C “ bloke I know says he saw someone sort of standing in this lake”
D “What standing on the bottom of the lake?”
C “No just standing in the water. He reckons because it was salty”
D “what like the sea?”
C “no just a lake”
D “oh”


Some time later
D “My mate says he saw someone standing in a lake”
E “so what”
D “well I think he wasn’t just standing in the lake he was standing on the water.”
E “so”
D “He says it because it was salty”
E “ok”


Some time later
E “ My mate says he saw this man sort of standing on the water”
F “so”
E “Well it looked as if he could have walked on the water if he wanted to”
F “wow”

A long time later

….

A long time later


“Burn them! they are heretics!”

[Trolldor]

Don't tell them about the rocks.

[Surendra Darathy]

But what would hitting bottom look like for a Jesus junky, since it causes no problem for me or anyone else??

Are you sure that it really causes no problems for you? A heroin addict has no substance abuse problem if he doesn't have to be reliable to anyone else. There have been some intelligent smack junkies, who kept up their habit at some length, and never fell in a ditch out of some sense of remorse.

I do have a problem with internet forum addiction, but that's a different issue.

Naaww, that's not the problem you have. I admire an Xtian who joins the internet crowd for more than just proselytising, in an attempt to get in touch with his snarky side. This is really what I see as the problem for you.

What kind of upside does being a "snarky Xtian" have?

[Bruce Burleson]

Maybe god is good for you because it satisfies your needs in some way, but you are still lying to yourself (from my perspective of course). Theoretically you could get the same high from being a scientologist (as i understand even better as their members are more brainwashed than the majority of god believers)

From my perspective, I'm not lying to myself, but neither of us will resolve that issue here. I have no desire to try another religion - that would be like committing adultery, another thing I have no desire to do.

The whole issue for me, besides the obvious lack of evidence for any sort of supernatural being, is why do people need god?

Can only speak for myself. It is not a matter of needing God. It is a matter of having an experience that leads one to the conclusion that God exists, and then living in light of that reality.

[Bruce Burleson]

Are you sure that it really causes no problems for you?

Not aware of any, other than constantly being diagnosed as having a problem by atheists. But that's what I get for being in places like this, which does raise another issue. Is there such a thing as Internet S & M? I think I have it.

[colubridae]

Maybe god is good for you because it satisfies your needs in some way, but you are still lying to yourself (from my perspective of course). Theoretically you could get the same high from being a scientologist (as i understand even better as their members are more brainwashed than the majority of god believers)

From my perspective, I'm not lying to myself, but neither of us will resolve that issue here. I have no desire to try another religion - that would be like committing adultery, another thing I have no desire to do.

The whole issue for me, besides the obvious lack of evidence for any sort of supernatural being, is why do people need god?

Can only speak for myself. It is not a matter of needing God. It is a matter of having an experience that leads one to the conclusion that God exists, and then living in light of that reality.

all men have the desire to commit adultery BB.

That they rationally accept it to be against their social structure and upbringing is good or bad depending on your point of view.

Nevertheless, all men have the desire to commit adultery.

Interesting that you think this is not so in your case.

[Surendra Darathy]

Are you sure that it really causes no problems for you?

Not aware of any, other than constantly being diagnosed as having a problem by atheists. But that's what I get for being in places like this, which does raise another issue. Is there such a thing as Internet S & M? I think I have it.

I thought I made my hypothesis clear. No problem exists in isolation, even within a single individual. Learn to think like a relativist once in awhile when introspecting. I guess that's not easy when imbued in the Spirit.

[colubridae]

Are you sure that it really causes no problems for you?

Not aware of any, other than constantly being diagnosed as having a problem by atheists. But that's what I get for being in places like this, which does raise another issue. Is there such a thing as Internet S & M? I think I have it.

Good point. about S&M. Otherwise you have to explain why you are here.

Especially as 'your belief' causes you no problems...

So assuming no S&M, why are you here?

(I'm not complaining - like jamest you are good entertainment)

[Bruce Burleson]

all men have the desire to commit adultery BB.

See, I didn't know that. Does every man on this forum agree? Thanks for letting me know what I desire. That's another reason I come here.

[Bruce Burleson]

Good point. about S&M. Otherwise you have to explain why you are here.

Especially as 'your belief' causes you no problems...

So assuming no S&M, why are you here?

(I'm not complaining - like jamest you are good entertainment)

I separate the belief from the S&M. The belief, in isolation (thanks for the clarification, Surendra) causes no problem. If I leave the forum and live real life, there's little contradiction. But then the S&M impulse comes, and I show up here. It's sort of like bull riding in a rodeo. There is no hope of taming the bull or making it one's pet. The whole object is just to stay on for 8 seconds. Then the cowboy inevitably gets tossed off and slams into the earth. Why does he do it? S&M. I know that no argument here will ever be won, and even if I score a point it will not be acknowledged. The object is to stay on the bull for 8 seconds. The plasticity of my neural networks has allowed a new brain map to be formed, which associates the pain of being slammed into the earth with the pleasure of achieving the 8 second goal.

[Surendra Darathy]

It's sort of like bull riding in a rodeo. There is no hope of taming the bull or making it one's pet. The whole object is just to stay on for 8 seconds.

The erectile dysfunction nobody talks about.

[Toontown]

My take on Jesus:

Jesus was a revolutionary who wanted to foment an uprising to overthrow the Romans and their puppet Herod. He attracted something of a following and so the Pharisees decided to kill him to prevent a bloody uprising.

Then Jesus' deciples had to come up with an explanation as to why the Son of God allowed himself to be crucified. And the "sacrificial lamb" story was born.

Plus, Jesus wanted to show how tough he was, and wanted to prove that yes there is life after death. Well, at least if you're the Son of God there is. I can think of easier ways to convince people that he was the Son of God. Actually, that "legion of angels" idea sounded good to me. By God, if you can call down a legion of angels, those monkeys better do exactly as you say and they better believe every word you say. And they better not make any false moves.

But I guess that's why he's Jesus and I ain't.

Supernatural people are inscrutable. They do things in mysterious ways. And they can take a lot of pain.

[LaMont Cranston]

Toontown, Your take on Jesus is hardly an original one, and, of course, you are entitled to your viewpoint. However, there are a few minor points about Jesus that you managed to conveniently leave out of your post, including most of what Jesus was actually talking about. Many of us consider love to be a rather important part of life, arguably the most important thing that we ever experience. Your understanding of, say, nuclear physics is probably limited by both the time you've put in to understand that subject area and your ability to actually understand it. It's like that with love and many other parts of life.

Jesus also talked about such things as forgiveness, compassion and gratitude. It may seem to you that these things are "revolutionary," but some of us consider them to be fundamental components to living a good life. I also might mention that Jesus did not invent these concepts; he described them, and they are all attributes that human beings are capable of having more of in their lives. How each one of us utilize those capabilities is another matter.

I seen people write on these fora about how Christianiaty caught a lucky break or how Constantine and/or some others put together a set of ideas that, regardless of how you feel about Christianity, have had such a huge impact on the world. Allow me to throw another possibility your way...perhaps the things that Jesus was talking about were and still are so powerful that they had that kind of impact.

[Toontown]

Matthew 10:34

[LaMont Cranston]

Toontown, Yes, I am familiar with that famous line. I hope that you'll agree that many things in life, including lines attributed to Jesus, are subject to a certain amount of interpretation, and if you'd actually like to discuss some of these things (i.e. "turning the other cheek:) in more depth, I'm more than willing.

In the case of the line "Do not suppose I come to bring peace, but, rather a sword," I think that Jesus was just describing what was going to happen when he came on the scene. He was talking about some very heavy duty stuff, and, from what I can tell, he had some idea of what was going to happen when his teachings got into the hands of people who would put their own spin on it. He was saying something like "Hey, guys, the things I'm talking about are very powerful, and, even after I'm gone, it's going to hit the fan for a very long time." I'd say that the J-Man called that one exactly right.

By the way...Happy Easter!