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WWJT?
Apparently there was recently some blogging against theocracy thing that I missed out on. Maybe just as well. I've been trying to make fewer scathing posts about religion but anyhow.. In responding to someone I asked them a question which I now find myself still thinking about an hour or so later.
If Jesus was here today, would he consider himself Good or Evil?
What I mean is... If he showed up today and looked back on all the things that'd been done in his name both selfless and cruel, would he see his influence on the world as positive or negative? Not how he would judge the people who'd done the deeds. How would he see himself? If he thought his impact had been positive, negative, or none at all, what would that mean?
For some, I'm sure the answer is as simple as "He's good therefore he must see himself as good because he's good!" but the guy I read about is all forgiveness and sorrow and seems more the type to blame himself for every atrocity committed in his name. The Jesus I read about might consider himself an abomination and regret his legacy as Einstein regretted the atomic bomb.
I could ramble on with my thoughts on the subject for quite some time but perhaps it's better left as something to contemplate. There are many many more possibilities than the two I've presented.
If Jesus was here today, would he consider himself Good or Evil?
What I mean is... If he showed up today and looked back on all the things that'd been done in his name both selfless and cruel, would he see his influence on the world as positive or negative? Not how he would judge the people who'd done the deeds. How would he see himself? If he thought his impact had been positive, negative, or none at all, what would that mean?
For some, I'm sure the answer is as simple as "He's good therefore he must see himself as good because he's good!" but the guy I read about is all forgiveness and sorrow and seems more the type to blame himself for every atrocity committed in his name. The Jesus I read about might consider himself an abomination and regret his legacy as Einstein regretted the atomic bomb.
I could ramble on with my thoughts on the subject for quite some time but perhaps it's better left as something to contemplate. There are many many more possibilities than the two I've presented.
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Jesus himself? Was he this angry socialist type? Did he actually believe himself to be a deity and spout some of the son-of-god stuff verbatum? No clue. I think Christianity is too filtered through Paul and people trying to sell the faith to the Greeks and Romans to have a good idea of the actual person. (Paul and his guys have a new religion. Are they going to pitch it to Jews, who are skeptical, largely poor, and politically disenfranchised, or to the wealthy and spiritually-seeking society running the show?).
The flawed prophet with the terrible temper is a Jewish archetype, the god made flesh is a Greek one. By definition, Jesus-the-deity is a archetypical figure which includes whoever the actual guy was, but also a whole batch of other stuff. If that makes sense?
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I like to think of Jesus as "My Man JC." Which, let me tell you, gets some people going. I don't like to think of Jesus as a religious icon. To me, he was a man, and just a man. He had some good ideas and some people took them to heart. Like
So, to answer the question you pose, I like to think Jesus would take a stand-offish position on the whole thing. "Was it good or was it evil? Who am I to judge? I'm just the messenger. It's not like I write my own material." Just like that. I think the eloquent writing comes from years of revisions and editing. Jesus was a pauper. I immagine him being something like middle class white trash, but with a more Yasser Arafat look to him.
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Second thought: PLIF for the win.
Zen Bastard Thought for the Day