Christian Heroism

[fdesilva]

What matters most about the Christian story is not if it’s true or false but rather the kind of heroism that it inspires, as exemplified by this poem.

"Still He Walked" - Author Unknown
 
He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
 He could hear the hatred in their voices,
 These were his chosen people.
 He loved them,
 And they were going to crucify him.
 He was beaten, bleeding and weakened...
 His heart was broken,
 But still He walked.
 
 He could see the crowd as he came from the palace.
 He knew each of the faces so well.
 He had created them.
 He knew every smile, every laugh, and every shed tear,
 But now they were contorted with rage and anger
 His heart broke,
 But still He walked.
 
 Was he scared? You and I would have been
 So his humanness would have mandated that he was.
 He felt alone.
 His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
 He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
 Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered
 And he knew that he would never be alone.
 He looked back at the crowd...
 At the people who were spitting at him
 Throwing rocks at him and mocking him
 And he knew that because of him,
 They would never be alone.
 So for them, He walked.
 
 The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd.
 The sounds of his cries echoed even louder,
 The cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross,
 Intensified with each blow.
 Loudest of all was the still small voice
 Inside his Heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
 And God's heart broke.
 He had let His son walk.
 
 Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
 But instead He asked God to forgive.
 Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
 As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
 He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
 But also, the face of every person yet to be,
 And his heart filled with love.
 As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
 Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
 That is why He walked.
 
 When I forget how much My God loves me,
 ...I remember his walk.
 When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
 ...I remember his walk.
 When I need to be reminded of how to live like Christ,
 ...I think of his walk.
 And to show him how much I love him,
 ...I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him,
 .......And I walk.

[i_am_i]

"Author Unknown." How heroic of you.

[G-Roll]

i got some good jesus stuff too!!


Jesus and Moses were strolling by the Red Sea, when Moses nudged Jesus and said, "Psst. Hey, Jesus, I've still got it."
Moses turned towards the Red Sea and lifted his staff on high. The angels began to sing, the gentle sea breeze turned into a raging gale, and the waters of the Red Sea were parted. Moses lowered his arms and, with a smug grin on his face, turned back to face Jesus.
Jesus scoffed. "Moses, my boy," said the Messiah, "I have still got it." And with a flourish of his robes, Jesus stepped onto the waters of the Red Sea and began to stride across without so much as a ripple.
But to Moses' amazement, halfway across the water, Jesus suddenly began to sink. He splashed into the water and began to choke and flounder as the waves tossed him around. Moses grumbled at Jesus' sillyness and parted the water once more. Moses helped Jesus back to shore, as the Saviour hacked up salt water.
When they had finally reached shore, Moses slapped a consoling hand on Jesus' shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it, Lord. Last time you tried it, you didn't have holes in your feet."
----------------------------------
What did Jesus say when they removed his hands from the cross?


*waves arms frantically*
GET THE FEET!!


Here's another, which is (unfortunately) just a visual joke ...
Say "What's this ???" while you hold your palm up to your mouth and make biting gestures.
... Jesus biting his nails ....

-------------------------------------

There was a wealthy Jew (non-Christian) who owned a nail company. His only son had just graduated from college and the father wanted to get him involved in the company.
He initially farmed the young man out to each of the departments; first research & development, then manufacturing, then sales, and in each the son was a dismal failure. Determined to find a place for his offspring, the father decided that his son needed his own project.
So the father placed his son in charge of the new advertising campaign. He told him that he would have no supervision and that any and all resources which he needed would be placed at his disposal. The son was elated and immediately set off to make his father proud.
Four weeks later the son proudly proclaimed, "I have finished!" and he and his father went out to examine the first product of the new campaign: a billboard.
As they drove to the sight, the son explained how he had been blocked until a sudden insight had leaped into his head. They turned the corner and to the father's horror the billboard portrayed Christ on a cross with the caption: "Even Then They Used Goldberg Nails."
The father explained to the son that they couldn't portray Christ on a cross as it might offend their Christian clients. Dejected, the son said that he would fix the problem and report back to his father.
One week later the son again exclaimed that he was "finished," and took his father off to see the billboard. Sure enough, Christ was no longer on the cross; he was lying at the base of the cross and the caption read:
"This Wouldn't Happen With Goldberg Nails"

[elliebean]

Based on that poem, taking its protagonist as an example, we can conclude that the true heroes of this world are the atheists, the gays, the lesbians, the transsexuals, the poor, the socialists, the anarchists, the intellectuals, the outspoken opponents of christianity and of all religion and its influence on and intrusion into public policy, and all others whose crucifixion - crucifixion of rights, crucifixion of presence, crucifixion of equality, crucifixion of voice, crucifixion of safety, of life, of peace, of happiness - is loudly and passionately and angrily and regularly cried out for, and not just cried out for but in fact executed in the papers, on the news, on the radio, in the churches, in the streets, in rallies, on the steps of congress, at family fucking gatherings by that loving caring, generous, compassionate lot, the christians. And still we walk.

Thanks for your support.

[Whitney]

What matters most about the Christian story is not if it’s true or false but rather the kind of hate that it inspires, as exemplified by this song.
[youtube:i8iq4n6v]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyEjpl50_XE[/youtube:i8iq4n6v]

[kelltrill]

That poem only seems to promote the underdogs and marginalised in society as heroes or potential heroes, which has never been the case in Christianity. In religion, authority is accepted as truth rather than truth as authority (thanks to a Dawkins' documentary for that quote). Anyone who disagreed with religious authority was always punished. Just because Christianity happens to believe in one of these religious underdogs does not mean that applies generally. In fact, the general trend if found in websites like godhatesfags.com and in the youtube video posted above, where anyone with a different opinion or lifestyle is subjected to severe hate speech and abuse.

[SSY]

"Don't worry about it, Lord. Last time you tried it, you didn't have holes in your feet."

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That is amazing!

One thing that always struck me, god, sending down his son to be crucified to forgive god's people for all the sins god was going to punish them for, seems a bit of a long way to do it, why go to the bother of nailing your son (who is also you) to a cross to achieve the aims you wanted? Why even have the system of being forgiven for sin, when you had a system that dammed people for thousands of years before? Why change at that point? Why did all the people before get a raw deal? It makes the whole crucifixion thing look like a bit of an ego trip to me, not mention, sacrificing yourself as a martyr when you know you will be resurrected is a bit of a cop out in my opinion.

P.S. That song, Jesus, they sing in such a cheery voice about such abhorrent things. Also, did you notice the large proportion of kids? One would assume that they have a large number of children so that they can at least retain a few of the nuttier ones up until adulthood.

[kelltrill]

@ SSY, there's a good quote from a book I remember, although I can't remember where it's from and I'm too lazy to look it up.

"Why would God create a world populated by a flawed version of himself and then send an aspect of himself down to that world to redeem it of its built-in flaws by having himself be killed?"

[Squid]

What matters most about the Christian story is not if it’s true or false but rather the kind of heroism that it inspires, as exemplified by this poem.

Christianity nor any religion has a monopoly on heroism.  Heroism is resides within a person and their behavior and actions - these items are developed in people independent of religious affiliation and therefore you'd have to make a more substantial evidence-bases argument than presenting a poem.  Poetry itself can inspire religious or not.

[fdesilva]

"Author Unknown." How heroic of you.

I got it from an email I received.

[fdesilva]

Based on that poem, taking its protagonist as an example, we can conclude that the true heroes of this world are the atheists, the gays, the lesbians, the transsexuals, the poor, the socialists, the anarchists, the intellectuals, the outspoken opponents of christianity and of all religion and its influence on and intrusion into public policy, and all others whose crucifixion - crucifixion of rights, crucifixion of presence, crucifixion of equality, crucifixion of voice, crucifixion of safety, of life, of peace, of happiness - is loudly and passionately and angrily and regularly cried out for, and not just cried out for but in fact executed in the papers, on the news, on the radio, in the churches, in the streets, in rallies, on the steps of congress, at family fucking gatherings by that loving caring, generous, compassionate lot, the christians. And still we walk.

Thanks for your support.

From what I know, All people are equal and as such will have a cross to carry. In the stories of Christ he says "If you love me, take up your cross and follow me". From what I have observed, every one seems to have a Cross to carry, however, I think what matters is what’s in ones heart whiles carrying this cross. Love or hatred.

[fdesilva]

What matters most about the Christian story is not if it’s true or false but rather the kind of hate that it inspires, as exemplified by this song.
[youtube:2rergr7d]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyEjpl50_XE[/youtube:2rergr7d]

What can I say? It is sad that the one teaching can lead to such thinking. I think that is why, with any teaching there needs to be a accepted body, that is responsible for it. What I mean is, take for example medicine. There are reputed medical schools that teach it. Now what must be kept in mind is that in order to become a doctor, it is true that you have to pass all your exams. However you do not need to get 100% to pass your exams. If that were the case we would not have any doctors. Yet when it comes to practising it we really would like to have 100% accuracy. However this is not the case. Many doctors make mistakes. Can we blame the medical schools for the mistakes the doctors made? Probably not as if you look at what was taught, you would find that in most cases, the doctor alone is responsible for his/her mistake.  

So in the same light, when looking at what is Christian teaching it would help to see, what does a reputed teaching body of this subject actually teach. As Christ said about the teaching body of his day. “Do what they teach, not what they do”

[elliebean]

The problem with the WBC is not that they make mistakes; it's that they get 100% on the exam covering biblical laws regarding  homosexuality.... and follow that teaching to the letter.

If the teaching is wrong, why is it in the learning materials?

[pinkocommie]

So in the same light, when looking at what is Christian teaching it would help to see, what does a reputed teaching body of this subject actually teach. As Christ said about the teaching body of his day. “Do what they teach, not what they do”

I think you've pointed out a huge issue within Christianity - the bible espouses conflicting teachings throughout the text.  So, when it comes to some invisible god who can't/won't speak up for itself, who is to say what's right and what's wrong?  How could you guys possibly agree?  Maybe the jerkwads in WBC are right and you, assuming you're more of a lovey dovey christian, are wrong.  In fact, I would argue that it's far more 'heroic' of the WBC to take a hard stand with their views, knowing full well they'll be hated for what they say, than it is for any liberal christian to cherry pick the text for all the nice, socially acceptable stuff.  Going back to the idea of a reputed teaching body, isn't that the very reason you guys have different denominations?  I agree it would be awesome if all Christians could get together and agree on what's right and what's wrong, it would certainly help clear up confusion in dialog between atheists and Christians, but obviously they can't which is why there are some 30,000 different denominations of Christianity in existence today.

[Whitney]

a reputed teaching body of this subject actually teach.

What counts as a "reputed teaching body"?  If you ask the Pope he'll tell you it is immoral to use a condom even if you have AIDS and want to protect your wife.  If you ask a protestant minister they'll likely think the condom is okay but might not be too keen on homosexuals being leaders in the church.

Not to mention that if we are talking about a book inspired by God, should an average person require a decoder ring to figure out why when it says "do not suffer a witch to live" that it means that only applies a thousand or two years ago and now we have different rules in society so it shouldn't be taken literally.  You know...people are still being killed for suspected sorcery even to this day because people unfortunately actually follow what the bible says.