What Would Jesus Do?

Joe Nation wrote:

Personally I think it could work. I believe in the overpowering strength of love.

Joe, don't get me wrong, I applaud your sense of virtue. But do you really think that in a world of conscious animals, as we are, exposed to all the extravagances of opinion, both sane and otherwise, that it's really possible to see the purity of faith that the Christian legend proposes?

I'm reminded of a platitude preached by the best tennis players around back when I was learning. They said, "all you have to do to be the best in the world is to hit every ball back". And it was true, but it wasn't possible; or at least not that simple. While it's true in theory that if you can hit every ball back, you will be the best, it isn't that simple in practice. To me, these propositions of pure love and pure compassion are just as overly simplistic; they work in theory, but they ignore reality.

Do you see these things working in reality, or are you just preaching the virtues of a dream?

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Sofia wrote:

Some people do it. They aren't jobless nomads, but they take their lives to Christ in a selfless way.

I don't doubt that a few can do it. I don't doubt that at all. What I doubt is that all can do it; and this is what is required to make it work. Anything short of complete compliance, and the whole system comes unwravelled.

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All CAN, they just DON"T.

And, I do understand your sentiments. It is frustrating--but you are wrong that it can't work unless all do it.

It works well for those who practice it. (Though their success wouldn't register on the world's measuring stick.) Actually, their successes may appear like failures on the world's scale. Different realm, different goals.

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Sofia wrote:

All CAN, they just DON"T.

Hi Sofia,

With all due respect, I'm afraid it's not that simple. It's not just that they *don't*, it's that they *can't*. Not only is it impossible within the framework of realistic human society to have every human follow the same altruistic pattern, but it's also unrealistic to expect that everyone will even *want* to follow that goal.

No matter how beautiful the vision of purity is for human behavior, it will not change the realities of variation which are built into us and into the world.

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Sofia wrote:

Some people do it. They aren't jobless nomads, but they take their lives to Christ in a selfless way.

My parents are jobless, nomads and take their lives to Christ in a selfless way.

In other words, they are nuts whose selflessness is a detriment to their family.

But I respect their dedication. They actually LIVE what Christ preached and it's no fad, they have done it their entire adult lives at great discomfort.

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...& they're among thousands.

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Craven de Kere wrote:

But I respect their dedication. They actually LIVE what Christ preached and it's no fad, they have done it their entire adult lives at great discomfort.

Does their discomfort come from living what Christ preached, or from living in a world which does not reflect what Christ preached?

Why do they continue if it causes them discomfort? What compels them?

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I think Jesus would say "Why the hell did I bother getting resurrected?"

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Does it really make a fart of difference what Jesus would have done? What's more important is what WE do. A truly great leader would avoid war and bloodshed if a diplomatic solution is possible. Kennedy was such a man. I'm glad Bushy wasn't President during the Cuban Missile Crisis because we wouldn't be having this conversation.

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Jesus' commands/example weren't based on whether or not the whole world followed. They were direct and personal--"love your neighbor", not "love your neighbor as long as he loves you back" or "love your neighbor as long as he's a good person/not a terrorist". Jesus presented to His followers how life was supposed to be--if 100% of the world followed His example, we would effectively achieve "heaven". However, He didn't promise or even suggest that this world would ever achieve that. In fact, He suggested the opposite--to His followers, He said "In this world, you will have trouble".
If people "become Christians" for what they can gain by it in this world, they have the wrong idea of true Christianity.
Regarding the original question, I agree with what's been said. Jesus would never resort to violence or anything "sinful"--there are no circumstances under which God would say a sin is O.K. If Hitler or Hussein was in power, Jesus would obey government policy as long as it wasn't sinful and teach his followers to do likewise. He would then most likely be executed for ministering to Jews (Hitler era), Kurds (Hussein), . . .

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lab rat wrote:

Jesus' commands/example weren't based on whether or not the whole world followed. They were direct and personal--"love your neighbor", not "love your neighbor as long as he loves you back" or "love your neighbor as long as he's a good person/not a terrorist". Jesus presented to His followers how life was supposed to be--if 100% of the world followed His example, we would effectively achieve "heaven". However, He didn't promise or even suggest that this world would ever achieve that. In fact, He suggested the opposite--to His followers, He said "In this world, you will have trouble".
If people "become Christians" for what they can gain by it in this world, they have the wrong idea of true Christianity.
Regarding the original question, I agree with what's been said. Jesus would never resort to violence or anything "sinful"--there are no circumstances under which God would say a sin is O.K. If Hitler or Hussein was in power, Jesus would obey government policy as long as it wasn't sinful and teach his followers to do likewise. He would then most likely be executed for ministering to Jews (Hitler era), Kurds (Hussein), . . .

Interesting. A System of belief which was never intended to be functional on the large scale, but only achieved in individuality. Some aspects of this seem virtuous, but in other ways, this seems almost anti-social because it ignores realistic functionality in favor of a vision of individual virtue (defined by the system itself).

It seems like an inherently lonely endeavor to cut yourself off from all but a singular faith in a view of the world which has no expression in nature.

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rosborne979 wrote:

It seems like an inherently lonely endeavor to cut yourself off from all but a singular faith in a view of the world which has no expression in nature.

I view people who isolate themselves into believing that theirs is the only way to heaven as kooks. In my opinion, ignorance, bigotry and intolerance grow better in isolation. Isolation is nothing more than brainwashing. Reminds me of the old Soviet Union.

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What Would Jesus Do?

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