Obama says draws from Christian faith to craft policy
56 replies, posted
[QUOTE=SomeRandomGuy16;34521453]Oh yeah man I remember when Jesus said "and then the laborers will own the means of production and follow socialism as Karl Marx and others will envision 1800 years in the future" (Mark 666:69)[/QUOTE]
I remember how he certainly didn't appreciate the rich, especially the Pharisees and the businessmen that bastardized Judaism and forced people to pay fees and tolls to worship in Jewish temples.
Why? Because he saw his god as the one true king with incomprehensible power and unfathomable spiritual wealth, and that all under said god's kingdom were equal, one not greater or holier than the other.
And since the rich and powerful at the time tended to glorify themselves to the point of "worship me, worship me, do it", you could imagine why someone as religiously devoted as Jesus would flip a shit.
He also seemed to have a distaste for earthly things such as wealth or wine or women.
And he also said to go "sell your posessions and give to the poor", which is not a capitalist ideal by any standard.*
*Please note that one could also interpret the verse as "get rid of your earthly wealth and instead give your spiritual guidance to those who lack wealth in righteousness", as he notes in the same verse of "a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted".
Really it comes down to your interpretation, and since the interpretations of Christianity are so vast, mixed, and incomplete, you might as well never use it as an argument in debate.
[editline]3rd February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Zeke129;34522254]Yeah, he sure did ignore money
like when he said rich people won't be going to heaven[/QUOTE]
It depends on how you take "rich people" into account.
Do you take "rich" at face value with simply wealth, or do you take "rich" with all the connotations of greed, elitism, and self-glorification that were many times associated with the wealthy during that time period?
You also have to consider what people did to get rich back during those times. Unjust tax collecting, deception, scams, standing outside the temple and refusing to let people inside until they pay for a "suitable" sacrifice; all of these things were ways to gain wealth outside of being a monarch or high-ranking religious figure.
And if Jesus really believed that people weren't going to Heaven based on their wealth, why would he have accepted Zacchaeus, a hated and infamous tax collector who gained his own personal fortune from unfair taxation?
[editline]3rd February 2012[/editline]
The point here is that the Bible is fucking backwards-confusing and contradictory unless you put an ungodly amount of effort into sorting it's metaphorical and literal teachings.
[QUOTE=johnlmonkey;34520961]I wish we could have an irreligious president. I don't care if you believe in some sort of god, just don't use it in public policy.
Maybe one day we'll get an atheist president.[/QUOTE]
We have an Atheist prime minister
[quote]President Barack Obama sought to emphasize his Christian faith on Thursday, telling a key election-year voting bloc that he prays every morning and has crafted elements of his economic policies in line with Jesus' teachings.[/quote]
Well there is your problem.
You should probably use the biological super computer that is inside your skull instead of a fictional deceased wizard.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;34521034]Economic policies from Jesus? So, socialism. Clever.
Obama sure is a crafty bugger isn't he[/QUOTE]
That's true. I remember some lyrics from an anti-Bush song back when he was President.
[QUOTE]And you all say you're Christian, GLAD we got saddam,
But if he were here today - WHO WOULD JESUS BOMB?
You hide behind that wall of faith, the one you can't resist,
I hate to break it to you, but he'd be a communist.
Yeah he's the hippy, who doesn't take showers,
He's the lovenik, who hands out flowers,
He denounces wealth, the american way,
Yet you pray to him each night, then look the other way,[/QUOTE]
Here's the song, if anyone's interested.
[video=youtube;M6iHP98u6SQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6iHP98u6SQ[/video]
I guess the US is going to become a socialist state then
[QUOTE=johnlmonkey;34520961]I wish we could have an irreligious president. I don't care if you believe in some sort of god, just don't use it in public policy.
Maybe one day we'll get an atheist president.[/QUOTE]
How about an agnostic president so there could be even less room for bias in relation to religion?
Don't forget that bias swings both ways (such as against religion, rather than just against atheists), an atheist president could have as much bias in religious matters as a christian president.
[QUOTE=Contag;34523260]I guess the US is going to become a socialist state then[/QUOTE]
We are all going to fish a great deal and drink a lot of wine.
Everyone will be drunk and there will be fish guts everywhere.
[QUOTE=GunFox;34523279]We are all going to fish a great deal and drink a lot of wine.
Everyone will be drunk and there will be fish guts everywhere.[/QUOTE]
and lots of bread
sounds like utopia
I guess Obama will wash our feet for free as well!
[QUOTE=GunFox;34523241]Well there is your problem.
You should probably use the biological super computer that is inside your skull instead of a fictional deceased wizard.[/QUOTE]
Merlin?
[QUOTE=GunFox;34523279]We are all going to fish a great deal and drink a lot of wine.
Everyone will be drunk and there will be fish guts everywhere.[/QUOTE]
... I've got no issues nor quarrels with this type of Utopia.
[QUOTE=johnlmonkey;34520961]
Maybe one day we'll get an atheist president.[/QUOTE]
Yes,but definitely not in America.
[editline]3rd February 2012[/editline]
I also hope this is just a political move to gain more votes.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;34522254]Yeah, he sure did ignore money
like when he said rich people won't be going to heaven[/QUOTE]
Well yeah, he preached that rich people more often became consumed with Earthly possessions and so they didn't seek God.
That's not exactly preaching economics. Let alone a particular system like socialism.
[QUOTE=Meller Yeller;34523765]Well yeah, he preached that rich people more often became consumed with Earthly possessions and so they didn't seek God.
That's not exactly preaching economics. Let alone a particular system like socialism.[/QUOTE]
If we all lived as Jesus taught, we would be living in a socialist world.
None of this is new, and it's not surprising he has a specific topic when he is talking to specific voters.
He isn't going agianst anything he has said before. I remember quite clearly him (and the people around him) saying that he prayed daily to a christian god.
There really is no reason to think he is atheist, especially when he starts talking about his faith after he was elected.
I know more about US politics than I do my own country :v:
[QUOTE=znk666;34523463]
I also hope this is just a political move to gain more votes.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, loving the poor and destitute would be stupid, wouldn't it? Damn Jesus fella.
Wish we could go back to the times of our founding fathers where securalism was of utmost importance and most of them were deists.
[QUOTE=SomeRandomGuy16;34521602]It takes quite a leap to equate approval of charity and condemnation of greed with the destruction of private property rights and forced redistribution of wealth.[/QUOTE]
Destruction of private property? I think our ol' Isrealite pal has that down-pat!
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FJ1LP4HysQ[/media]
Do you understand that all the religious miracles are actually elaborate tricks done by greedy bitches? Religion is just a scare tactic,and people took it too seriously.
What are you people even bitching about anymore.
because repping Jesus gives you votes
Whatever, it's election year pandering to Christians.
There's nothing wrong with the majority of what Christianity or most of the other religions preach. In fact, most of it should be common fucking sense. (don't be a dick to other people, be kind to those less fortunate, don't bang your friend's wife etc.)
The problem arises when people start twisting the words of a fucking book to justify whatever heinous crap they're up to. (Muslim extremists using passages in the Quran to justify killing American troops, Christians using passages in the bible to justify lynching gays)
[QUOTE=johnlmonkey;34521636]But it does, honestly as a non-believer I've noticed some terrible things done by the government with religion in mind. I mean look at the whole gay marriage debate, the fact that creationism is taught in some classes and that they have to put stickers in textbooks in TX that state "EVOLUTION IS ONLY A THEORY". Look at George W. Bush using Jesus Christ to justify the war in Iraq. Religion does actually have a negative impact on our public policies in many cases.
Furthermore our government was founded by some men who were very much anti-religion and anti-Christianity:
"What is it the Bible teaches us? -- rapine, cruelty, and murder. What is it the Testament teaches us? -- to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married, and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.” -Thomas Paine
""There is not one redeeming feature in our superstition of Christianity. It has made one half the world fools, and the other half hypocrites." - Thomas Jefferson
"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise" - James Madison
There exists a separation of church and state for a very good reason.[/QUOTE]
'christian faith' not 'religious following' - its not as if he just walked up to a podium and said "I WANT THE POPES DICK RIGHT NOW RELIGION IS MY SAVIOUR"
come on, you wrote out all that and didnt even interpret the title correctly?
If I were religious I would trust politicians that stress their faith in their campaigns less than those that don't. They're basically confirming that they're using religion as a tool rather than a guide.
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