I received this interesting Bible verse from a website I have joined. If you change the words a bit it has immense relevance to the President and his conservative cronies. Here is the verse Matthew 23: 23 – 28.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind Pharisee! first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Now if you replace the words scribes and Pharisees with President and conservatives it is a much better passage and much more relevant to out world today. It really is kind of fun to see and make the Bible relevant to today. I agree with the religious right who say the Bible is as relevant today as it was when it was written.
Here is the new updated Bible verse for today:
Woe to you, President and conservatives, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! "Woe to you, President and conservatives, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity. You blind President first cleanse the inside of the cup and of the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, President and conservatives, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Hypocrisy Update
When I wrote yesterdays article I used some outdated information. Today on NPR I heard that the Democrats had approved 205 of Pres. Bush's judicial nominations and had blocked 7. That is still a better approved to blocked ratio than the Republicans accorded Pres. Clinton.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Conservative Hypocrisy
I have come to the realization that Republicans in both the House and Senate are a bunch of hypocrites. For the past several weeks the Senate Republicans have been squawking about judicial nominations and how the Democrats are going to use the filibuster to block Pres. Bush’s nominations. The Senate Republicans are threatening to use the so-called “nuclear option”, which, if used, will effectively blow-up the Senate. The ‘nuclear option” is what the Republicans are planning to use to change the rules of the Senate to block filibusters. Instead of 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, the Senate would only need a simple majority to cut off debate and have a vote. The Republicans would be able to approve the nominations of Pres. Bush’s activist judges. The Senate Republicans have been saying for weeks that the Senate Democrats have been blocking Pres. Bush’s nominees with just cause.
I did a little research and discovered that the Democrats have only blocked 3 nominees from reaching a vote, whereas they have allowed 173 nominations to be voted on. During the Clinton administration, the Senate Republicans blocked 60 of Pres, Clinton’s judicial nominations. The Senate Republicans used the same tactics the Democrats are now using. The Senate Republicans used the filibuster to great affect, blocking 60 nominations. Now the Republicans are screaming foul because the Democrats don’t care for 3 activist judges. Talk about being hypocrites.
The President and the Republicans have been hollering about judicial activism by liberal judges, yet, their goal is to nominate and gain approval for judges who are equally as activist, just activist for the conservative agenda. The Republicans are up in arms over the Teri Schiavo fiasco. They are accusing the State and Federal judges of being activists and not accepting the conservative argument about Schiavo parents needing more time to appeal. Even though it was a conservative Federal judge appointed by, none other than Ronald Reagan, who squashed all the appeals by the parents. In essence he said, there were no more legal paths for the parents. They had lost consistently over the course of 10 years and they were at the end of the road. The courts were consistent in their rulings, liberal minded judges as well as conservative minded judges.
I guess activism is all in the eye of the conservative. If the judge doesn’t support your point of view, or decides a case different than how you wanted, that judge is an activist and as Tom DeLay has said, “should be impeached.” The Republicans and their conservative supporters are hypocrites. The same arguments they are using against Democrats and liberal judges can be used against them. It is too bad our President and his cronies are “diviserators” and not “unificators”.
I did a little research and discovered that the Democrats have only blocked 3 nominees from reaching a vote, whereas they have allowed 173 nominations to be voted on. During the Clinton administration, the Senate Republicans blocked 60 of Pres, Clinton’s judicial nominations. The Senate Republicans used the same tactics the Democrats are now using. The Senate Republicans used the filibuster to great affect, blocking 60 nominations. Now the Republicans are screaming foul because the Democrats don’t care for 3 activist judges. Talk about being hypocrites.
The President and the Republicans have been hollering about judicial activism by liberal judges, yet, their goal is to nominate and gain approval for judges who are equally as activist, just activist for the conservative agenda. The Republicans are up in arms over the Teri Schiavo fiasco. They are accusing the State and Federal judges of being activists and not accepting the conservative argument about Schiavo parents needing more time to appeal. Even though it was a conservative Federal judge appointed by, none other than Ronald Reagan, who squashed all the appeals by the parents. In essence he said, there were no more legal paths for the parents. They had lost consistently over the course of 10 years and they were at the end of the road. The courts were consistent in their rulings, liberal minded judges as well as conservative minded judges.
I guess activism is all in the eye of the conservative. If the judge doesn’t support your point of view, or decides a case different than how you wanted, that judge is an activist and as Tom DeLay has said, “should be impeached.” The Republicans and their conservative supporters are hypocrites. The same arguments they are using against Democrats and liberal judges can be used against them. It is too bad our President and his cronies are “diviserators” and not “unificators”.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
The Gospel of Thomas
A couple of weeks ago and friend and I went to a lecture by Elaine Pagels on the Gospel of Thomas. Pagels is a leading scholar of the Gospel of Thomas. It was a very enlightening lecture. The Gospel of Thomas more or less says that to get to know God all you have to do is look around you. God is in everything and God is inside you.
Thomas 3 - Jesus said "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say, 'It is the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather the kingdom is inside you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you will dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
This verse is pretty radical thinking. If God can be found inside of you and all around you, and that we are all the sons of the living father, do we need Jesus? The author of the Gospel of Thomas seems to be saying that Jesus was a mortal man and that we are all sons of God.
Thomas 70 - Jesus said, "That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you."
Faith and the divine power are inside of you. You have to look and find. The way to be saved and to know God is to find it inside of you.
Thomas 77 - Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the all. From me did the all come forth, and unto me did the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find me there."
Here Jesus is saying that he is the Light of the World but that light is everywhere. Look under a stone and what do you find? The Light of the World, God. From Jesus, i.e. God, did everything come (the Light). Jesus was at the beginning and he is here now, in and around everything.
Thomas 113 - His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
Again Jesus is saying that God and the kingdom of God is already here on earth. Waiting for the kingdom to come is fruitless. It is already here but we are too blind to see it.
The author of the Gospel of Thomas is saying that access to God is through your own actions and experiences. You don't need Jesus or the Church to find God and the divine. The Good News is not only about Jesus but also you and I. We are all sons of the living father. We are all divine. We are all like God.
This idea, that God is inside of us and all around us, and that we can know God on our own, must have been quite threatening to the early Christian church. If the populace could know God on there own, why would they need the church and the church leaders? It is for this reason that many of the early Christian writings were deemed heretical and burned. The early church didn't want anything suggesting there was a different way to believe than what they were preaching.
Thankfully, the Coptic monks in Egypt refused to obey the order to burn the "heretical texts". It is through their actions that these texts are still in existence and are being studied. A wealth of new ideas and knowledge about early Christianity is coming to light because of these monks. The monks should be connsidered heroes for their actions.
Personally I enjoy reading about and learning about these texts. It gives me a new perspective on Christianity and spirituality that is not available in the mainstream churches. I wish some of the thoughts and ideas expressed by these early Christian writers would find their way into the mainstream. I doubt that will happen. The church today, as in the past, will do what it can to keep its grip on power. If we can find our way to God without the church, the church would cease to exist. No church will let that happen.
I think modern Christianity needs a shake up. I think modern Christianity is a serious state of malaise and has the doldrums. The Church has become stagnant. There have been no new ideas about God and Jesus for 1700 years. 1700 years ago at the meeting in Nicea all dissent in the western Church was crushed. Instead of 50 or so additional writings and Gospels added to the Bible to create the New Testament, a paltry 4 Gospel were added. Now these other writings that never made are coming to light.
These writings could go a long ways towards shaking up Christianity. Many people, I believe, are like myself. We are dissatisfied with current religious teaching. We have a hard time feeling like we belong. We don't feel connected to the church. The Gospel of Thomas gives us a new way to think about God and spirituality. I believe if the Church wants to gain and keep membership, the Church needs to go outside of accepted beliefs and teachings and explore other points of view.
Thomas 3 - Jesus said "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say, 'It is the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather the kingdom is inside you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you will dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."
This verse is pretty radical thinking. If God can be found inside of you and all around you, and that we are all the sons of the living father, do we need Jesus? The author of the Gospel of Thomas seems to be saying that Jesus was a mortal man and that we are all sons of God.
Thomas 70 - Jesus said, "That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves. That which you do not have within you will kill you if you do not have it within you."
Faith and the divine power are inside of you. You have to look and find. The way to be saved and to know God is to find it inside of you.
Thomas 77 - Jesus said, "It is I who am the light which is above them all. It is I who am the all. From me did the all come forth, and unto me did the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find me there."
Here Jesus is saying that he is the Light of the World but that light is everywhere. Look under a stone and what do you find? The Light of the World, God. From Jesus, i.e. God, did everything come (the Light). Jesus was at the beginning and he is here now, in and around everything.
Thomas 113 - His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."
Again Jesus is saying that God and the kingdom of God is already here on earth. Waiting for the kingdom to come is fruitless. It is already here but we are too blind to see it.
The author of the Gospel of Thomas is saying that access to God is through your own actions and experiences. You don't need Jesus or the Church to find God and the divine. The Good News is not only about Jesus but also you and I. We are all sons of the living father. We are all divine. We are all like God.
This idea, that God is inside of us and all around us, and that we can know God on our own, must have been quite threatening to the early Christian church. If the populace could know God on there own, why would they need the church and the church leaders? It is for this reason that many of the early Christian writings were deemed heretical and burned. The early church didn't want anything suggesting there was a different way to believe than what they were preaching.
Thankfully, the Coptic monks in Egypt refused to obey the order to burn the "heretical texts". It is through their actions that these texts are still in existence and are being studied. A wealth of new ideas and knowledge about early Christianity is coming to light because of these monks. The monks should be connsidered heroes for their actions.
Personally I enjoy reading about and learning about these texts. It gives me a new perspective on Christianity and spirituality that is not available in the mainstream churches. I wish some of the thoughts and ideas expressed by these early Christian writers would find their way into the mainstream. I doubt that will happen. The church today, as in the past, will do what it can to keep its grip on power. If we can find our way to God without the church, the church would cease to exist. No church will let that happen.
I think modern Christianity needs a shake up. I think modern Christianity is a serious state of malaise and has the doldrums. The Church has become stagnant. There have been no new ideas about God and Jesus for 1700 years. 1700 years ago at the meeting in Nicea all dissent in the western Church was crushed. Instead of 50 or so additional writings and Gospels added to the Bible to create the New Testament, a paltry 4 Gospel were added. Now these other writings that never made are coming to light.
These writings could go a long ways towards shaking up Christianity. Many people, I believe, are like myself. We are dissatisfied with current religious teaching. We have a hard time feeling like we belong. We don't feel connected to the church. The Gospel of Thomas gives us a new way to think about God and spirituality. I believe if the Church wants to gain and keep membership, the Church needs to go outside of accepted beliefs and teachings and explore other points of view.
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