Thou shalt have no other gods before me...

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Exodus 20: 3-6.
 
And if you really want a laugh:

 

Yes, I do believe in the "golden rule (or rule of reciprocity), but the NRA is about the most diametrically opposed organisation to the Golden Rule I can think of.  They are the last organisation to try and use the "golden rule" for any purpose.

If you would rather be judges by 12 than carried by six, then you should allow criminals to have their legal right to a trial--not allow for summary execution and vigilante justice.

BTW, the picture above is of a piece by an artist named Al Farrow.  I'm not sure what his take is on this.  The work is called "Fingernail of the Trigger Finger of Santo Guerro".  The picture ended up on a gun loon page as a mash up between Christianity and guns.  Maybe that's Mr. Fallow's point.

Quote of the day

"A Republican doesn't care if it doesn't affect them. And a Democrat cares even if will never affect them."

You may be more of a lefty than you realise...

Many early Utopian Socialist movements and Social-Democratic parties were influenced by the Golden Rule. That is to treat others as you would expect them to treat you.

Then there is Ayn Rand's praising selfishness as a virtue...

From Penigma:

As part of my broad interest in comparative religions, including not only the well-known major religions, but also the minor ones, I did some reading on the various pagan faiths, including the works of Anton Lavey. Contrary to popular belief, pagans are not, for the most part, Satanists. Pre-Anton Lavey (a rather pretentious revision of his real name, Howard Levey), Satanism in the medieval European sense was a revision or opposite specifically or western Christianity. Most paganism, past or present, has no connection to Christianity, good or bad, whatsoever. Lavey's Satanism does NOT rely on a reworking of either Christian ritual or the Christian mythos.

Naturally, I've also read nearly everything ever written by Ayn Rand.

While I don't expect Ryan to be conversant with the finer points of either Lavey OR Rand, as he seems to be more of a poseur than any kind of genuine intellectual figure, either philosophical or mathematical, the dominant themes of both Rand and Lavey of selfishness as an expression of individualism, the opposition to altruism as the antithesis of selfishness, the emphasis on materialism are all consistent with both authors.

Lavey might actually be more positive towards the equality of women, and less of a misogynist than Ryan and the Rand-loving right.

So when I post the following, it is with a certain wry appreciation of how superbly accurate in detail, beyond the simple quotations shown, it really is. This was NOT taken out of context, it is not the gross distortion that someone unfamiliar with either Rand or Lavey might take it to be; it is a fair representation of Ryan, Rand AND Lavey.

Cosmic Debt

One common concept in world religions is something called the rule of reciprocity, or the Golden Rule. That is to treat others as you would have them treat you. In that spirit, I sshare this with you--

One concept that many of us who practice spirituality understand is that there is no such thing as an accident.

There are some things that need to take place in the universe because of the universal law of cause and effect. It is up to us, however, whether we will be the initiators of such events. For example, let’s say we are driving a car and, God forbid, we hit someone. Even if we think it was a completely unavoidable "accident," we need to realize there is a reason why our energy put us into a place where we ended up being behind the wheel.

In life, as most of us have seen if we are old enough, there is no such thing as an unpaid debt, even though it might look as if there is. Let me give you an example.

There is a kabbalistic story about a man who was very evil. In this life, however, it seemed that he had everything. Whatever he wanted just seemed to come to him—money, friends, family, etc. But while many opportunities presented themselves for him to do good deeds, he never took advantage of them. Instead, he was selfish and cold, and contributed to the suffering of many other people. As a result, he could not bring himself to a higher level of care and spirituality. Nevertheless, though he was not a good person on the inside, on the outside his life seemed easy and effortlessly comfortable.

The angels in Heaven kept on saying, “God, why are You doing this? This man is so evil. How can You give him all these things?” To this the Creator replied, “Wait and you will understand.”

Finally, the man passed away. He went Upstairs and met the angels at the gate, and of course they gave him a ticket straight to hell. The guy immediately objected. “Wait a second. Didn’t I do something good in my life? I mean, once I gave charity. Once I helped a friend. You know, once I volunteered.” God replied, “Yes, you may have done some good things in your life, and for those you were paid in material blessings on Earth. Now it’s time for you to pay back the suffering you caused in the world.”

Don't misunderstand. I am not saying that everyone who has blessings in this physical world is evil. What I am saying, however, is that there is a spiritual bank account. Every blessing we have is a withdrawal from this account. Every positive action is a deposit. If you are taking out more than you are putting in, perhaps it is time to check your spiritual balance sheet.

The energy we put out in the world will always come back to us—even if not necessarily in this lifetime. Therefore, it is in our own best interest to add to the positivity in the world rather than detract from it. Nor do we have to wait for the “right time” or the “right opportunity” to do a good deed. It can begin with a simple action. Simple actions in our daily lives will wake up our consciousness so that we can change.

We need to examine our small gestures. Are they based on the consciousness that every being on this Earth has the right to be safe being who they are, no matter what their religion, race, beliefs, sex, etc.?

Are we willing to extend a hand to someone else who is different from us? Are we willing to fight for something that might benefit others but in the short term is not good for us? Are we peaceful when we can be? Do we extend tolerance when we want to create separation? Do we behave and treat others with human dignity when it’s hard to do so because it is not what we learned?

Every time we change something in ourselves for the better, we also make the world a better place, and this positive energy comes back to us in turn.

If you like this please share it with a friend.

Christianity, The Golden Rule, and Social Justice

I'm a bit bored, but I thought I would post this from my other blog. The relevance is that there is a serious ethical aspect to the concept of gun control and anti-death penalty. This gets to one of the basics in the debate.

There are many people who argue that the US is a Christian nation and needs to show Chrisitian values. Perhaps, they should start with this one:

I have had these thoughts simmering in my head for a while after having received something from a Jewish Social Justice site talking about the golden rule: Love your neighbor as yourself.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)

The Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, in which each individual has a right to just treatment, and a reciprocal responsibility to ensure justice for others. The main point of the Golden Rule is that a person attempting to live by this rule treats all people with the same consideration as he would expect to receive, not just members of his or her in-group. The "golden rule" is exemplified in many Christian stories, in particular the Parable of the Good Samaritan. One point that gets missed is that the Samaritans is that the Jews and Samaritans didn't get along, yet the Samaritan was the only person who helped the traveller.

It seems that the question being asked today is "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) with the answer being "NO".

But does the Bible make a responsibility to watch out for and care for one another? When one turns to the New Testament, it becomes clear that the answer is in the affirmative. In fact, there are many passages which emphasize that people do have responsibilities to others, and not just our immediate families: hence the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10: 29-37

These were two groups that normally did not get along, yet the Samaritan showed the Jew compassion. Southern Beale had an interesting quote from Ezekiel 16:48-50 about Sodom and Gomorrah where God compares Jerusalem to Sodom:

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

“‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Daisy Deadhead pointed out that Christ was no fan of the rich, and that is the Gospel. Daisy points out the passage:

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Matthew 19:21-22

That is not the only place where riches and materialism are pointed as being contrary to proper spiritual growth. For example:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6:19-20

Oddly enough, we have those who would say that the Gospel of Social Justice is a perversion of Jesus's message, yet that statement is wrong. There are more than enough examples of where there is the commandment to "be your brother's keeper" in most of the World's religions. I have only scratched the surface of where the Bible commands that should one maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor. The Bible contains more than 300 verses on the poor, social justice, and God's deep concern for both.

Ultimately. there is nothing wrong with a prosperity gospel, as long as it makes clear that EVERYONE deserves to share in the prosperity, not just the few. But, that's prosperity and not GREED that I am talking about. Social justice is about treating others as you would have them treat you. Indeed, it is being your brother's keeper in that you watch out for his welfare as you would your own.

See also:
Isaiah 58
Versions of the Golden Rule in 21 world religions
Am I My Brother's Keeper? | Daily Devotion from Genesis 4:9-16 | RayStedman.org
The Bible on the Poor or, Why God is a liberal
God Calls Us To Show Mercy and Compassion to Our Fellow Man
How Greed Destroys America