Merry Christmas. Let’s a take a minute to think about what that means. Jesus was undoubtedly a rock star in his day but the real power of Christianity has been diluted over time. When you’re born into a particular society you take its beliefs and customs for granted. Of course you shouldn’t kill and of course you should give charity and love thy neighbor but in the time of Jesus these were the kind of heresies that could get a guy crucified. In Roman society, in fact, in all societies up until the Holy Roman Empire the Law of the Jungle, the survival of the fittest was the order of the day. The strong survive and the weak perish was the way it not only was, but they way it was suppose to be. Nature saw that only those deserving of survival would be able to live long enough to reproduce. The weak not only deserved to die but had to leave for the sake of the species. This was God’s way, not peace and love.
Then society got to the point where it could afford to change, where the gene pool had evolved enough to not have to worry about a few bad apples ruining the barrel. Charity and kindness no longer had to be viewed as weaknesses and “turning the other cheek” viewed as cowardice. So along comes Jesus to lead the way to a gentler, kinder tomorrow. Naturally, he is killed as he is teaching everything the status quo says will bring about the end of the world. He is viewed as radical because he is extremely radical. Practicing love and peace is inviting attack and murder. It’s the peaceful, gentle rabbit who is slaughtered by the wolf, the wolf has no guilt, the rabbit is dinner, nothing more. To turn people into rabbits is to invite the slaughter of the human race.
Now, two thousand plus years later and we know it doesn’t mean to live like a rabbit if you’re kind and helpful to your fellow wolves. It just keeps wolf on wolf violence down to a minimum and makes for a more pleasant atmosphere in which to eat rabbits. The lessons of Jesus have been so well received and adapted that they seem obvious and natural and the real importance of Jesus is lost. Jesus now has to have performed miracles, raised the dead and walked on water to impress us because simply bringing a teaching that transformed a violent, unforgiving and ruthless world into one of peace and love and rock and roll just doesn’t seem good enough. You just can’t please some people. Merry Christmas.
Then society got to the point where it could afford to change, where the gene pool had evolved enough to not have to worry about a few bad apples ruining the barrel. Charity and kindness no longer had to be viewed as weaknesses and “turning the other cheek” viewed as cowardice. So along comes Jesus to lead the way to a gentler, kinder tomorrow. Naturally, he is killed as he is teaching everything the status quo says will bring about the end of the world. He is viewed as radical because he is extremely radical. Practicing love and peace is inviting attack and murder. It’s the peaceful, gentle rabbit who is slaughtered by the wolf, the wolf has no guilt, the rabbit is dinner, nothing more. To turn people into rabbits is to invite the slaughter of the human race.
Now, two thousand plus years later and we know it doesn’t mean to live like a rabbit if you’re kind and helpful to your fellow wolves. It just keeps wolf on wolf violence down to a minimum and makes for a more pleasant atmosphere in which to eat rabbits. The lessons of Jesus have been so well received and adapted that they seem obvious and natural and the real importance of Jesus is lost. Jesus now has to have performed miracles, raised the dead and walked on water to impress us because simply bringing a teaching that transformed a violent, unforgiving and ruthless world into one of peace and love and rock and roll just doesn’t seem good enough. You just can’t please some people. Merry Christmas.
FRIDAY FUNNIES
BEER BOTTLE BEANING
This is so dangerous to Country bands that they have to play behind chicken wire!
No comments:
Post a Comment