Pastor is furious to find out Jesus was a liberal [SATIRE]

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Jesus’s formulation of the GR was unique, though.

Jesus started out by pointing out that humans are self-interested (selfish) by nature and thus “evil” in the Pharisaic view that demanded sacrifices for everything. The priest caste directly benefited from sacrifices (sacrifices were their food) along with the wealth of required Temple taxes. The priests couldn’t be bothered to sully themselves by helping “evil” poor people who had little to offer. These unclean people had to look after themselves because no one else would.

A funny thing happens when one begins acting on his own selfishness: Love. Love is the desire someone has for things of value, and those things include people in your life. Evil, selfish people are somehow able to love their children more than anything and will do whatever it takes to keep them fed, clothed, sheltered, safe, and happy when possible. Children are the reward here, and going hungry or denying oneself other things are things done in exchange for the well-being of the child.

“Evil” people, based on what Jesus said, are guilty most of all of the sin of loving other people, especially their own families perhaps most of all. Jesus uses this to illustrate that if we are evil and we know to treat our children well, God (who is the only being with the capacity for true goodness) will be even more generous to those who ask Him to see after their basic needs.

And because we love others, the right thing to do is treat them with the same dignity and respect we want for ourselves.

People who mistreat others do so not because they primarily harbor hate those they mistreat. They do so because they lack the capacity for loving others. Only by recognizing your own inherent worth can you begin to love yourself. Once you realize self-love, the only rational thing is to see that same inherent worth in all people and treat them accordingly. People who mistreat and abuse others hate themselves most of all.

So when you hear about religious people abusing women/children and so forth, don’t be surprised. Look at what their church teaches. Is the message mostly about how much God loves us and wants good things for us? Then you will find kind people there who live out their faith. Is the message about how we are all sinners worthy of hell and life in this world is about suffering and hopelessness? While a fundamental Christian truth is we are in need of salvation, salvation is only offered because God loves us. We are worth a lot. So when you get to know people in a church that emphasizes human worthlessness, you’ll find a lot of bitter and resentful people, often wealthy people, and they’ll dress up nice, listen to the organ playing, and put big checks in the plate because they’ll feel even worse if they don’t. Churches like that feed off of misery, and it shows in the lives of their members.

The more you love and value yourself, the easier it will be to do good for others.