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How come Republicans are the most fervent Christians? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 9 months ago by filister to c/asklemmy

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[Disclaimer] - I am not an American and I consider myself atheist, I am Caucasian and born in a pre-dominantly Christian country.

Based on my limited knowledge of Christianity, it is all about social justice, compassion and peace.

And I was always wondering how come Republicans are perceiving themselves as devout Christians while the political party they support is openly opposing those virtues and if this doesn't make them hypocrites?

For them the mortal enemy are the lefties who are all about social justice, helping the vulnerable and the not so fortunate and peace.

Christianity sounds to me a lot more like socialist utopia.

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[–] kromem 4 points 9 months ago

Not at all. There's a very good case that the historical Jesus was extremely outspoken about the grift of Temple Judaism.

Not only do you have tidbits like him prohibiting carrying anything (including sacrifices) through the temple after throwing out the merchants in Mark (theologically problematic given he isn't dead yet and supposedly that's what invalidated the need for animal sacrifices, so you see this line left out when Matthew copies from the passage).

But you have one of my favorite apocryphal lines:

Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, 'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'"

Gospel of Thomas saying 88

(The work also uniquely has a parable about a son inheriting a treasure in his parent's field, selling it not knowing a treasure was buried within, and then the person he sells it to finding the treasure and lending it out at interest - and I can't think of better description for the grift of selling salvation for tithes than "lending a buried treasure out at interest".)

Which is again in the vein of another part of Mark left out of the other Synoptics, when he responded to a complaint about eating from a crop on the Sabbath with "was the Sabbath made for man or man for the Sabbath?"

So out of the many things I'm not sure about a historical Jesus, at very least "dude wasn't a fan of the religious grift" was one I'm pretty sure of, particularly when both early canonical and heretical sources agree about the subversive position.