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My Take: Poll on bin Laden's death reveals a disposable Jesus
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN A few years ago, I was walking through the streets of Indianapolis with a friend. Whenever anyone asked us for money, she would offer a dollar or two. I asked her why she did this. She replied, “Because Jesus said so.” I didn’t believe her. “Where in the Bible does it say that?” I asked, and she responded with chapter and verse, Matthew 5:42: "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you." (Luke 6:30, I should add, says basically the same thing.) This passage is one of the so-called “hard sayings” of Jesus. It comes in a barrage of equally hard sayings toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus tells his followers to turn the other cheek, give away your coat if someone sues you for your shirt, and “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:44-45). The chatter around a poll released Wednesday by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Religion News Service will likely focus on the findings highlighted in their news release: 82% of Americans surveyed believe that bin Laden distorted the teachings of Islam to suit his own purposes; 65% believe the al Qaeda leader is rotting in hell; and 62% think it is wrong to celebrate the death of another human being. Survey: Most Americans say it's wrong to celebrate bin Laden's death What amazes me, however, is how disposable Christianity and the Bible are in this conversation. America, it seems, has become a nation of Christians of convenience, who trot Jesus out when he suits their politics and prejudices only to hide him away when he does not. Americans are apparently split down the middle on whether the golden rule is an eternal moral law or a disposable human guideline. While we may pay lip service to the rule (which can be found in most of the world's religions), roughly half of us apparently think it doesn’t apply when it comes to torture. Only 53% of those surveyed say the United States should follow the golden rule and not use any methods on our enemies that we would not want used on our soldiers. Oddly, support for the golden rule in this case was actually lower (47%) among white evangelicals. In other words, when Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12), he didn’t really mean "everything." He thought there should be an exception in the case of waterboarding your enemies. One thing that struck me hard while researching my 2003 "American Jesus" book was how malleable Jesus is in the American imagination. Instead of lording over American life, telling us what to do, he seems to be taking orders from us, carrying our water. Or, as I put it back then, "The American Jesus is more a pawn than a king, pushed around in a complex game of cultural (and countercultural) chess, sacrificed here for this cause and there for another.” The latest altar on which we are sacrificing Jesus is the so-called war on terror. So here is my question for American Christians who claim the United States is a Christian nation. How Christian can a country be if even Bible believers cannot get behind something as basic to the Bible as the golden rule? Is Jesus really the lord of your life if his “hard teachings” can be so blithely ignored? The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero.
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
To Youngc:
When Jesus issued the Golden Rule, he was specifically addressing the passage you quoted. In short, Jesus was saying that "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" was no longer adequate, and that those who wish to be His followers need to abide by the higher standard that He set forth. Prothero hits the nail on the head here. Some people may not like hearing a corrective word on this subject, but that doesn't mean that Prothero isn't 100% right.
Completely agree. Think you really hit the nail on the head when you say Christians are expected to strive for a higher standard of behavior. It is not an acceptable argument to say "well that person did this so...." The point is you are a believer and receiver of Christ, and you should have the wisdom and serenity to "rise above" the perceived actions of your peers. I guess it comes down to the fact that people want it all. The reality is that so many people claim to be Christian, but don't want to follow through on the work it takes to be a real Christian. SPOILER ALERT: IT'S NOT EASY! It takes an incredible amount of patience, understanding, and wisdom to truly follow Christ's words. I find it disappointing/depressing/slightly humorous that people trying to completely follow Christ's words are labeled as Socialists, or Anti-Capitalist. I'll admit, I'm not a perfect Christian either, but it's something to strive for. It is a lot easier to look down upon and judge drug addicts, criminals or other perceived unsavory types. Instead, Christians should be trying to understand their strife and better help them to escape it, rather than turning up their nose and thanking the heavens that they aren't in the same situation. I know far too many "devout" Christians who pass judgment on basically everyone they encounter.
what about the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. there is a point that you have to stop doing things for others and its when it starts to affect your family. he should know this being a journalist and all but oh well. i guess it was convenient for him to only write a part of the bible and not really expand on other points.
i am an american because i was born in america and raised here. i was also raised as a christian, but denounced it until i became an adult, traveled the world, experienced, sought out and questioned every thing. there is only 1 truth and that is
love. Jesus knew it, krishna knew it, muhammed knew it, abraham knew it
when we as humans learn to love one another unconditionally we will be a better race of people. having said that where there is true love there can be no hate. ask the dahli lama about hate. he knows nothing of it to him it doesnt compute
More atheistic anti-christian rhetoric continuing to mock Christ from a supposed religious scholar.
So what you're saying is, you didn't read any of the article. If you did, you would realize that Christ is not at all a target. He is treated with significant deference in this article, with a sort of inferred confusion and sadness that supposed American followers of his don't actually follow him.
Scapegoats are all like Jesus that had made to go for others to make fortune and fame.....Islam is becoming as well a scapegoat for politicians bad decisions...
Islam as a Religion has been forced now to pay for what American politicians had sown into earth. The genuine peaceful muslims have been polluted by those created and many innocents are being harvested among those created ones ...!!!
Listen & Watch this;
"Lets be careful with what we sow because we will harvest".(US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2CE0fyz4ys
Jesus is dead. Christianity is a lie.
Hahahhahaha, theism. Seriously, a God?
Jesus and religion are nothing more then tools of men with egos and an agenda so enormous, nothing less could fulfill their purpose – which is both insidious and destructive. Yet humanity – in it's all consuming fear – gives way to it and allows it to distort our entire life experience on a premise so faulty and misguided that despite the capacity for unimaginable greatness we are reduced to vile, hypocritic, parodies of ignorance and shame on massive scales....and we always seem to allow the least among us the greatest voice and influence to keep us in suffering and busy destroying ourselves. What a bizarre irony.
Liberals shouls stop talking about the Bible or Christianity because they know nothing about it.
That's not true, Adelina. Many Liberals have read the Bibld many times. Lot's of good Christians are Liberals. In fact, American Liberalism is an attempt by Liberals to build a society based on Christian principles.
What a ridiculous statement. Liberals don't read the Bible? Good one. And logic and rationality are liberal tricks right?
"do unto others as you would have others do unto you" ... If I a man is about to kill many innocent people, there are many "others" to consider who I should do unto as I'd like done unto me. To not take effective action effectively does harm unto many, which I'd not want done to me.
Jesus is disposable but every Catholic needs cleansing. Try our popular Pope On A Rope Soap, and put that slippery guy just where you want him to go.
@ CheckUrFacts – It says the He made a scourge of rope, not a Cat-o-nine tails. Such a scourge would be something you might use to urge a horse or donkey to better speed. And no mention is made that He actually struck anyone with it, more likely He used it to scatter the animals.
@ Reality – "The wisdom of man is foolishness to God and the wisdom of God is foolishness to man." – Paul
As to this article. It never fails to amaze me how many people only want to follow the Bible if it pleases them. They wish to conform God to themselves and not themselves to God. If we, the U.S. had followed the "Golden Rule" since our founding, then maybe, just maybe, we wouldn't have so many enemies abroad. We have messed up in our foreign policies for so long by backing dictators and harshly oppressive regimes that when those people free themselves of them, they now dislike us. BIG SURPRISE! I love this country and would die for it, but I also acknowledge its shortcomings and failures. If we ignore them they will NEVER learn from our failures and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again., making enemies as we go.
Long ago I realized that I had never met a real Christian–if one defines that by believing literally in doing what "Jesus" said or believe in the BIBLE as a whole. The BIBLE is a mass of fables passed down over centuries and adapted to local color. That is why it is so rich and diverse!
Peace to you all. Jane
Prothero confuses personal morality and the mandate God has given governments to protect citizens. The golden rule is personal. Romans 4:4 speaks to government.
That said, there are times when Christians must wear two hats, and it is often difficult – a Christian policeman, for example. Prothero over simplifies that difficult issue.
Here's the general rule of biblical hermeneutics: Interpret any passage in view of the whole of God's revelation.
The government is made up of individuals, big guy; it's not like there's a "government" out there. Individuals are making decisions. So if that's the case, would each member of "the government" need to apply the rule?
I agree with Stephen Prothero but often not in the way he expresses it. more than half of those (I've known) professing Christianity do not understand it and so they cannot BE Christian. (there are tenets). Many have constructed a personal and individual set of beliefs that are often contradictory. For example, entire churches have created a "end times' religion that does not believe the creed. Others have created a reading religions that believes only in the book. Well what are those religions? They are unique to each individual but under an overall banner. But they do not adhere to the creed.
America will be disposable if it continues present blasphemies, devoid of all the past glories.
Jesus was better than disposable; he was biodegradable, just like any other mortal human. Nothin special or divine. Worm food and at best a skeleton by now.
To the "admiral"...if Jesus is worm-food...wherever was the body? There never was one because he rose from the dead and there isn't one. Don't say "the disciples took him" because the Romans nor the Jews would've allowed that. And had they still had the body to show, they would've displayed it proudly. So, there never was a body and that's why we worship a Risen King.
A nation of delusion as well as obesity is more fitting.
Americans are beautiful. They just need Christian education as well as Africans do.
One reason for why we really care is that there is tremendous wisdom in the persona and the narrative. That is also the reason why there are similar statements, i.e. the Golden Rule, in other religious traditions. Wisdom. You don't even need to be religious to see that.
But I was more interested in your word "contemporary" NT scholars. You must mean the Jesus Seminar crowd. However, if you broaden your research a bit, you'll find that there are well qualified NT scholars who disagree.
The issue of miracles begs the question. When miracles are the center piece of Gospel and the strongest declaration of the man Jesus as Messiah and Lord, discounting miracles a priori makes your argument true by definition. Not a very reasonable approach to a very serious question.
Africans can do without christian lessons. It shows how one way minded you are when it comes to what all men need. It is only your religion (Yes, some muslims enforce Islam, but only in a controlled area) that will travel to the ends of the earth spreading the curse that is modern religion. The Cherokee were fine before europeans came.
@Hehe-, why didn't Europeans adopt the Cherokee way of life? Will you want that for your children? No one would because it was anything but fine. Your fine illusion.
S. Prothero "thu-mps" Matt 5:42, one of the few passages said by the simple preacher man aka Jesus as per most contemporary NT scholars. Unfortunately, most of what he supposedly said and did was invented by Matthew et al.
For us contemporary and common folk:---------------
Jesus was a bit "touched". After all he thought he spoke to Satan, thought he changed water into wine, thought he raised Lazarus from the dead etc. In today's world, said Jesus would be declared legally insane.
Or did P, M, M, L and J simply make him into a first century magic-man via their epistles and gospels of semi-fiction? Most contemporary NT experts after thorough analyses of all the scriptures go with the latter magic-man conclusion with J's gospels being mostly fiction.
Obviously, today's followers of Paul et al's "magic-man" are also a bit on the odd side believing in all the Christian mumbo jumbo about bodies resurrecting, and exorcisms, and miracles, and "magic-man atonement, and infallible, old, European, white men, and 24/7 body/blood sacrifices followed by consumption of said sacrifices.
So why do we really care what a first century CE, illiterate, long-dead, mostly-invented preacher man would do today? "Love thy neighbor" was around way before the first century CE.
to wit:
Ancient Egypt
"An early example of the Golden Rule that reflects the Ancient Egyptian concept of Maat appears in the story of The Eloquent Peasant which is dated to the Middle Kingdom (c. 2040–1650 BCE): "Now this is the command: Do to the doer to cause that he do."[6] An example from a Late Period (c. 664 BC – 323 BCE) papyrus: "That which you hate to be done to you, do not do to another."[9]
With respect to the apostles getting martyred, these stories are either highly embellished or simply myths. e.g. Peter and Paul were killed during of the Nero crackdown on the Christian cult. Historically, that is all that is known. No one knows the details of the executions. And being executed for one's religious beliefs would make Judaism the greatest of all religions if you want to use martyrdom as a criteria for authenticity________________________________________________
Yes, Americans. like everyone else, use religion when convenient. But Mr. Prothero misses a key point of the Golden Rule. It is best illustrated by an example that flips the saying to its logical application: "Treat others as you would wsh/expect/predict they would treat you - IN that situation." If, for example, I am a general that commits war crimes, I would expect to be executed. If I was a terrorist that deliberately targeted unarmed cvilians, I would expect to be shot by special forces or at least come to a bad end. There is actually little disconnect. I. like many, try to to do right by other people, but if my family or life is threatend, then look out. There is no violation of the Golden Rule in self-defense, whether it be by an individual or a state. If all good people allow themselves to be martyred because of a truly inane misinterpretation of the Golden Rule, we would soon have no good folks left. I suspect that isn't the "Holy Game Plan" to the extent there is one.
So according to you Jesus himself had "inane misinterpretation of the Golden Rule" because he did not fight back in self defense when being sent to his death? He followed the golden rule to his death as an example to us to follow. "- IN that situation" is nowhere in his statements, you made that up for your convenience as you are afraid to die for your beliefs as Jesus Peter Paul and John did.
Uh, yeah I'm afraid to die for my beliefs! I'm a sinner. Jesus was not.
@Thoth2012 – I think you've forgotten how he treated the money changers that were taking over his synagogue. A cat of nine tails is a pretty brutal weapon!
The issue of self defense is a difficult one. Defending myself with I am attacked for my faith is inappropriate IMHO. Defending myself from a home invasion is appropriate.
Jesus did not defend himself because he was attacked for his witness to God.
Jesus' defense of the temple was not self defense. It was the appropriate and measured defense of God's house. (See the Old Testament for similar defense of God's house. )
Would you expect to be tortured?
@Golden Rule=contextual: very well said, strongly agree. The author of this article has an extremely superficial understanding of scripture and no understanding of how to properly interpret it. Its as frustrating reading this article as hearing someone say God is bipolar because of the different covenants in the old and new testaments: if you just understand a tiny bit about scripture, you realize such a statement is ridiculous.
The problem with understanding the Bible is to take it as a whole and not just bits and pieces to suit yourself. In everyday life we should "do unto others and you would have them do unto you", however God has ordained the government to handle things like capital punishment. In Romans 13 Paul states, "If you do what is evil, be afraid, for the government does not bear the sword for nothing, for it is minister of God and avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil."
Plus, had OBL repented and asked forgiveness then maybe we should have forgiven him, but unfortunately (for him) he didn't do that so justice was served.
I wonder if this Pharisee thinks think that the totality of Jesus' words are the golden rule? Cause I'm pretty sure He mentioned weeping and gnashing of teeth in hell for non-believers (Mt 7). But people like this CONVENIENTLY put those aspects away because it might be deemed offensive. What a hypocrite. He only needs Jesus to push his politics. The idea that the sermon on the mount should be foreign policy. I wonder if he would do unto others if he found members of his family being attacked by rapsists. There's a difference between personal morality and security.
Agreed. I once commented that the admonition to "not judge" doesn't apply to such judgments as not letting drug addicts into your home and was told I was unChristian. I will not put my loved one's at risk because of a mindless trust. After all, do not give your pearls to swine. That's good judgment!
Still. You're ignoring it. It's pretty clear: "Do unto others..."
Didn't Jesus hang out with the worst of the worst people though? Not all drug dealers are terrible people who are trying to kill you, believe it or not. And shouldn't your faith in God be strong enough that even if something does happen to you in this world God will protect you and allow him to join you? He would want you to forgive and forget and to turn the other cheek.
And Sage, where exactly do you get that he doesn't believe in the other stuff too...? Just because he didn't mention it doesn't mean that its not politically correct. If I don't mention how Jesus violently overturned the tables of the money makers it doesn't mean that I don't believe in it, just means that it may not be relevant to the idea that Jesus wanted people to act better than they were. Also Judge not lest ye be judged. Talk about pick and choose
If your reasoning is an example of "Christian Thinking" I am glad I am not one.
His question is do we follow the rules or not? If the rules are important why are they all not important all the time?
He wasn't being selective, he was observing that many "Christians" are selective about following the admonitions in the Bible..
"...Cause I'm pretty sure He mentioned weeping and gnashing of teeth in hell for non-believers (Mt 7)..."
Another point: Your mention of the much bandied term, "non-believers". There is a VERY important and profound reason why Y'eshua's words are translated as, "believe ON me", and not the much simpler and easier, "believe IN me". The latter is pretty easy and requires very little actual effort. The former is a much more far-reaching statement – To believe ON him means to accept everything he taught and really DO IT and live an BE that way. Not just mere words. Heck, even Satan believed IN Y'eshua.. Think about it... with YOUR brain and not with someone else's.