I do not like the new surreal fascism. It's not cute. It's not ironic. I thought part of the whole appeal of authoritarianism was the consistency, the lack of complexity, the comfort of a world brutally sorted into little metal boxes.
But, you're not going to get any of that with these guys.
I guess the fear is still there. "The Pope is Weak on Crime" no one knows what this means, but also everyone gets it.
I mean. On the whole, Jesus was "weak on crime".
If you think about it. 🤔
He was not very into the whole punitive model of justice.
Hmm. Did he though..?
@TerryHancock @futurebird Pretty much. He talks a lot about hell as a place of punishment, which (as I understand it) was not really a feature of the Jewish afterlife.
And the notion of eternal conscious torment is really fucked up.
@michaelgemar
True. There are even those who have made the case that Jesus was entirely fictitious. There are no real contemporaneous references to him, outside of Christian sources, so it's possible.
Of course, the ancient world was not so documented as today. There are many people and events with limited references. I am personally of the opinion that he existed, but that the gospel exaggerated his impact. Which seems consistent with religious leaders and followers, generally.
But it clearly is the case that the Gospels are essentially propaganda documents created many years after, with agendas set by their authors.
So analysis of what Jesus said, is best understood as literary criticism of a character, as represented, rather than analysis of any real person the character may be based on. It's mythology or mytho-history at best.
I am most struck, though, by the many times that Jesus tempered punitive behavior, forgave sins, encouraged rehabilitation, understanding, acceptance, etc. This seems contrary to the punitive mindset of conservatives to me.
@TerryHancock @michaelgemar @InkySchwartz @futurebird Jesus seems pretty clear on the fact that whatever [conservative] are refusing to do for the poorer will earn them hell ↴
"Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. ...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."
— Matthew 25:41–43 (NIV)
myrmepropagandist
Space Catitude 🚀
Michael Gemar
Inky says "What the hell?!"
nojhan, Cassandre de l’analyse systémique