i do not see myself as a christian. i was raised catholic, but the closest i've come to a chosen christian practice is attending quaker meeting for several scattered years in my 20s and 30s.
but i have actually read the bible. and the cherry-picking hypocrisy of "christians" never fails to piss me off. it's been said here before: do more Matthew.
the Beatitudes are Matthew 5.
see also Matthew 6:19-24; 7:1,21; 11:28.
<end of rant>
i was offline most of yesterday. probably will be today, too. ✌🏻

@peachfiend I have often wondered if the really heavy trend since really the 80s of pushing the Ten Commandments follows with the Christian right's trend towards more Old Testament fire and brimstone than New Testament actual Jesus teachings. I'd like somebody who knows theology better than me to chime in on that at some point.

@Sempf @peachfiend Your honest questioning is powerful. The idea that the God of the old testament is different from the new testament is a false perception. There is only one God and He is eternal and unchanging. God cannot and does not get "mad" as we understand a temperment. Gods law is a reflection of His character and His character does not change. Some will say the law was done away with at the cross, and there was a change in law at the cross but it was not the ten commandments that chang

@HaystacksTech @Sempf @peachfiend It's all the same made up god then?

@ariaflame @Sempf @peachfiend Not made up, I would hardly call 25,000+ historical artifacts as made up. But certainly missrepresented. 99% of modern culture has a warped perception of who God is and most of that is because 95% of the churches got it wrong too. The trouble comes from the fact that not enough people study the Bible deep enough and long enough. Anaolgy: guy opens the Bible and reads Matthew 27:3-5 (Judas hanged himself), and then immediately reads Luke 10:37, go and do likewise.