Enjoy him while he's still here on this earth; he is the Mark Twain of today.
An excerpt from...
| by Kurt Vonnegut |
But back to people, like Confucius and Jesus and my son the doctor, Mark, who’ve said how we could behave more humanely, and maybe make the world a less painful place. One of my favorites is Eugene Debs, from Terre Haute in my native state of Indiana. Get a load of this:
Eugene Debs, who died back in 1926, when I was only 4, ran 5 times as the Socialist Party candidate for president, winning 900,000 votes, 6 percent of the popular vote, in 1912, if you can imagine such a ballot. He had this to say while campaigning:
As long as there is a lower class, I am in it.
As long as there is a criminal element, I’m of it.
As long as there is a soul in prison, I am not free.
Doesn’t anything socialistic make you want to throw up? Like great public schools or health insurance for all?
How about Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes?
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. …
And so on.
Not exactly planks in a Republican platform. Not exactly Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney stuff.
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
...I keep imagining a legal fight going to the US Supreme Court over the posting of the Beatitudes... not on the grounds that it's a violation of the separation between Church and State, but because it is 'unAmerican Communist propaganda' undeserving of space on public grounds.
Kinda makes you rethink the whole notion of the US being founded on Christian values.
Posts
3 comments:
Good Points! The way most political right-wing "Christian" talk about Christianity, it's mostly Old Testament, certainly not the new. In fact it doesn't even make good Judaism, because (as I understand it), Mercy proceeds Justice. In fact, that is how God is refered to in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
Good point there Tim! I think conservative Christians like to ignore those more "socialist", "love-your-neighbor" parts of the Bible. Makes 'em squirm.
Best bumper sticker I've seen lately... "When Jesus said love your enemies, he probably mean don't kill them."
That's supposed to be "meant", not "mean".
Post a Comment