Why do Christians Disobey Jesus?

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-slAgzJmdU[/youtube]

I love this guy's videos and website.

1) The interpretation that is given of the command to love isn't accepted as being exactly this manner by all Christians, but rather a minority, as most Christian groups accept the idea that war can be necessary to protect people, which is another good. So, while it would without much question be unChristian to go to war for pointless and absurd reasons, most groups accept the idea of a "Just War", a doctrine that Christianity has found acceptable since the time of St. Augustine(a major church father).

Not only that, but pointing to the Atomic bomb really is pointless, as it has only had 2 uses(both essentially before the public knew about it, and some argue that these uses were justified by the saving of lives on both sides, an argument I won't get into due to the historical aspects of it) and is often maintained just for the keeping people at bay, rather than as a weapon meant for use.

2) Matthew 19 is typically taught from the position that this is the specific teaching for the young man, because he coveted his possessions, but not as a general teaching for all people. The Luke 14's context also applies to family relations, but is often interpreted in that context to really just be an extreme statement of an orientation to service rather than applying to just the selling of goods, so I would still have to label this a misexegesis. Matthew 6 is not a statement against ownership, but rather a statement towards valuation, it can be taken to be a statement against hoarding and splurging, but even then the thrust of the text is really about serving God. The two masters thing says nothing about owning money, only about overvaluing money, claiming that it is not to be a rival with God. The same logic applies to just about everything else in life as well under the Christian view, although these other things are allowed.

The reasonable case to be made is that simpler living is virtuous, not that absolute vows of poverty are necessary, and unless there is some context for the idea of absolute poverty being necessary in the early church(which I doubt there is) there is no reason to think that the proper interpretation is given there.

3) Also ridiculous, as Paul(whom Christians accept as expressing divine truth) makes it clear that MAKING a family is acceptable, so the command to abandon everyone seems absurd.(found in 1 Cor 7) Particularly given that Paul claims that not providing for family is worse than not believing in the faith.(1 Tim 5:8 ) Now, this seems to make it clear that Jesus is merely calling people to cast down their idols, as he wants people to be willing to give up their families for God, but Paul makes it clear that this is not necessarily what must be done for everyone.

4) Nobody ever has practiced self-mutilation. It's been considered wrong by everyone. In fact, I believe that the idea that the theologian Origen mutilated himself was used as a bit of a mockery against his theological method, simply because everyone pretty much believes it is the wrong method. The basic claim is that sin is wrong, therefore it is really important to avoid it. That is all.

5) Well, actually some people think that the section in Mark 16 brought in was placed there later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_16 "Most scholars take 16:8 as the original ending and believe the ending (16:9-20) was written later and by another hand as a summary of Jesus' resurrection appearances and several miracles performed by Christians"

In any case, it does not tell people to drink poison, it only suggests that if they do so, they could be fine, however, most Christians think that these gifts have ceased, and thus are cessationists, thinking that this was only true during the apostolic age. This passage only applies to Charismatics, who believe that their babbling is "speaking in tongues" as Jesus said would accompany the saved.

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So, in review, here's what I have to say about this video:
1) The guy has a really annoying voice.
2) Most of this is just blatant misinterpretation of the scriptures used and ignorance of Christian theology. To make this clearer to anyone who says "I see the texts", part of the issue isn't just seeing the texts, but also a familiarity with the kind of expression used in the Bible, and one of the most typical things found in the Bible is overstatement, and if you do not recognize this, you can take an overstatement and think it is more valuable than that.
3) Disobeying Jesus is called sin. The majority of Christians, even the disciples believed that people would sin, including Christians, so even attacking Christians for disobeying Jesus isn't a death-nail for the religion. It isn't much of an argument unless combined with other relevant issues.

And yeah, I don't care to watch the last 3 minutes because most of his points are wrong, and so a conclusion based upon wrong points will likely similarly be wrong.

Christians aren't perfect just forgiven.

You didn't even look at the video.

Can you blame her?

We should make a reality show and put Mr. Shizzle in a small apartment with Ragtime

Yes, of course. If I have to suffer something, then I expect everyone else to follow.

*sigh* I suppose I don't though, it is just that you can tell it was nonsense just by looking at it a little bit, so that's why I was slightly upset.

The reason why Christians as well as other disobey is that obeying what Jesus is supposed to have commanded would soon lead to our extinction as a species. The strong would eat up the weak and they they would destroy themselves.

ruveyn

What I don't understand is, if you honestly whole heartedly believe Jesus' magical sky kingdom of perfection exists and you actually have the perfect opportunity of going there, why on Earth do you not do everything in your power to make sure you do? You only spend eighty years here but you spend forever there. Jesus clearly says, give all your possessions up and serve the poor. So, why are not doing this? If you actually believed what you say you do I'm pretty damn sure you would cut the s**t and act like you do. I'm really beginning to think that these people, who consciously tell themselves there is a God or whatever either aren't serious about it or just perhaps only 'believe' when it's convenient to them. That, or they just can't seem to grasp what they claim to know as the truth really.

Yeah, I was thinking something like that too. Obviously the Christians who took Jesus too literally and didn't act enough in their own interest wouldn't survive to pass on their teachings. In fact, religion follows the laws of evolution pretty well. Some survive and thrive and eventually split off into separate religions, others die off for whatever reason. In fact, I like that analogy very much, because it must confuse the hell out of Christians to hear something they don't wanna hear put in terms of something they don't believe exists. Kinda like most of Christianity for atheists.

Why did Bill Clinton nearly ruin his career to have an affair with someone like Monica Lewinski? Why do people need to reduce their options in order to behave better, such as removing distractions when studying for an exam? If they were rational, then the distractions wouldn't be a major issue, as they *know* that the good exam grade is worth whatever is sacrifice. The rational model of human behavior, while partially valid, does not seem absolutely so.

As a theist I think I can explain this one in a neat and tidy way. We live in the same world that you do, we see the same characteristics of human nature human origin, and someone who - either inherently just by their neurological build/disposition or by being raised in such a way - believes in a higher power and sees all kind of contradictions in reality to where it becomes plain that its 'not that simple' and we're forced to make our own judgement calls and reconciliation between the world that we see, as it is and as any thinking person sees it, vs. faith and the points layed out within the bible.

Its not a hypocritical act in that if one assumes that this world and this entire universe - regardless of what your stance on evolution or unmoved movement is (you technically don't need literalist or 'God did it' notions on any of that) - is ultimately God's projection, that things are exactly as he wills them. If reality cannot lie, as reality is ultimately God's creation, and ideally to a Christian the bible is more inherent truths and sound ideological axioms than waste water or poor choices by the early church - one sculpts their reading and interpretation of the bible through the way that their environment works.

AG brought up places where the bible nuances itself, passage against passage and author/apostle vs. author/apostle just on context and who their speaking to. Really I'm trying more to expand on ruveyne's point - that if it is riddled with problems that will not go away, and if no amount of prayer changes human nature, would a Christian then not true up theology to reality and have to figure that God made things that way for a reason and had decided that this was going to be an axiom of the human condition that we would have to deal with? That's how the game generally shifts its balance and yes - travels off the literalism mark.

Or it might be meant as hyperbole.

As we all know, in modern times, whenever we talk about pigs flying, we don't mean metaphorically, we obviously are talking about actual pigs that actually fly.

My favorite part of the video was when he said that, because Jesus said we should love each other, the Pentagon should be shaped like a heart. After that I couldn't stand to watch any more.

Maybe you should convert to Neopaganism. That way you can make up all the ridiculous crap you want as you go along, and you have the historical backgrounds to justify believing in it while keeping a straight face. That way everyone can be happy, while avoid being hypocrites.

1. We have a military because even if you love your enemies, you have a right to protect yourself from their hostile intents. I will concede that the military is often abused to carry out political agendas that no Christian can support. This makes military service a difficult moral choice for the Christian.

2. We have the military we do because the military IS NOT operated by Christians. The military-industrial complex is all about money and power and President Eisenhower warned us to beware of this power bloc when he gave his farewell address.

3. Lovely misquote about having to sell everything. That was an instruction Jesus gave to a young man who had great wealth and wanted to follow him. Jesus did not mandate that everyone who followed him must be poor. Most of the apostles came from well-to-do families. Lazarus was well-to-do. Jesus warned that the "love of money" was the root of all evil. Money in the hands of those with a right attitude can do much good. In the wrong hands it is destructive. Jesus instructs His followers to hold onto things with an "open hand." If God wants you to give up all that you have, you do it. God does not ask each of us to forfeit all that we own so that we can be called a disciple. It is the willingness to surrender all to Him, not the actual surrender, that matters. God provides all that the faithful need, so do not worry about material things but look to God to meet every need.

I'm sorry, the rest of that video does not dignify a response. It is full of selective quotation full of ignorance of what the Bible teaches as a complete document. Must be crafted by an Christian-hating atheist who attacks something he's unwilling to understand.

The video was a deadpan right on accurate reductio ad absurdum of Christianity. It was probably done by a neo-Pagan. Neo-Pagans are my kind of people. I would rather deal with a fair minded Pagan of good will then a sanctimonious Christian zealot any day of the week.

ruveyn