To: BigSimonia
What about these chapters and verses. How do they fit in?
Very well, actually, every one of them.
"Blessed are the peacemakers . . . " Note, it does not say blessed are the passive. Peace is something that sometimes has to be made, with 'blood, toil, tears and sweat.' Is it preferable to fight? No. But true peace is more than the absence of armed conflict - more than the passivity of slaves. Remember, Jesus IS God, one with the Father who told the Israelites to commit war when it was appropriate.
" . . whosoever shall smaite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." This is one of the most misunderstood phrases in the Bible, mostly because of a cultural change since the time of Jesus. It is not a coincidence nor insignficant that the true lesson from Jesus (as you correctly reported) starts out with a strike on the right cheek. In that culture, the left hand was used for one purpose only (cleaning oneself) and so if someone has struck another on the right cheek, he has used the back of his right hand - as one strikes an inferior. For him to strike you on your other (left) cheek means he has to use the front of his hand, as one strikes an equal. Jesus said that even if you are poor and powerless, as the world measures power, you can still require that others treat you with respect. It celebrates that each of us is a child of God, regardless of circumstance, AND that it is our right and responsibility to stand up for ourselves. The response is not, "If someone strikes you, run to someone else for help." Nor even, 'run and hide.' The lesson is to stand up for yourself.
The key to the next several passages you quoted, each of them, is that individuals should choose to be charitable. In none of those cases does Jesus talk about what society should do for someone. They are always about what we, as individuals, should do and not because we're forced to do so.
And the last one, about it being hard for a rich man to enter heaven, is because anyone who defines himself by 'things', like money, or power, or fine clothes, or anything of this world has let that come between him and God. If you think of yourself as "a rich man," and not 'merely' as a 'Child of God', then you're not ready to enter Heaven.
So, let's see. Self-reliance instead of government intervention in everything. Voluntary charity instead of coerced redistribution of wealth. Which political philosophy is that?
The answer - as others have pointed out - is that it is neither 'liberal' (as liberal is defined today) nor conservative. It is indeed compassionate, though.
35 posted on
12/09/2003 2:19:04 PM PST by
Gorjus
To: Gorjus
I wanted to say that I had a reply to the same post as you, but yours is much more eloquent and deserving of special note. Your reply is much better than mine and it was good to read it... lol Thanks!
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