Those Who Preach Intolerance In The Name Of Christianity ...

To some, being a Christian simply means
glorifying in the bloody death of enemies

Strange, isn't it, that those who claim to be 'guided by God' are among the least Christian people we know?

And that those who echo his values and his beliefs ... are demonised by those very same 'Christians' ?

There is no doubt in our mind that if he were to appear today, most Right Wingers would demand Jesus be 'sent back whence he came', if only going by the 'version' of Christianity they project. The Daily Mail would probably call him an unemployed migrant trouble maker.

We think Jesus would be appalled at what the Right Wing in the UK and the USA have done in His name. Forums and threads where they speak of Christianity are full of 'Crusader' memes and imagery, full of bloodied heros and bloodied swords, glorifying in the deaths of 'infidels' that occurred in the medieval era ... and calling for the same Crusades now.

Well ... that's not the Christianity we recognise .. and the rest of us Christians have moved on.

Is this Christian? We think not.

This writer is a 'mild' Christian ... but I place more value on Faith, behaviour and right actions than dogma written too many centuries ago. I volunteer with a multi-faith group that shares local resources and encourages contact and co-operation between various faith groups in my local area. We share together the fact that all faiths are basically spreading the same message - try to be as good a person as you can.

The overlap in messaging in the Bible, the Torah and the Quran is huge. It's basically the same texts. Phrases found in one, will be found in the others, reworded slightly, and translated ... but the same message.

Is this? No.

It particularly infuriates me when some claim to be Christian yet espouse such a hatred for those of a different skin colour, nationality, of faith. Don't they read their own Bible?

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." - Hebrews 13:2

UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who is another who claims to be 'guided by God', seems to have no compassion for the poor, the weak, the sick the dispossessed. She is no Christian.

And Trump's Republicans, again 'guided by God', seek to refuse shelter to those in need, and remove health care from the poorest. That is no version Christianity I recognise.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me." - Matthew 25:35.

American Republicans love to sport a bumper sticker, "WWJD" - "What Would Jesus Do?". Actually, we think he'd tell them to stop being such assholes.

Christians? No.

It's no better in the UK, where Far Right group "Britain First" parade with outsize crosses, hijacking an entire faith for their hatred of anyone different, using a faux Christianity to attack and invade places of worship of those who pray at a different kind of pew.

We think, actually, that if He returned tomorrow, He would preach the values today spoken of by Democrats in the US, and Liberals in the UK. He would, in fact, be on our our side.

"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall do him no wrong; You shall treat the stranger as the native among you." - Leviticus 19:33.

From today's Guardian:

Jimmy Carter got it right.

"A voice that continues to rise above the fray, urging Europeans not to make scapegoats of others, is that of Pope Francis. Since he was elected in 2013, the pope, whose family were Italian migrants who made a new life for themselves in Argentina, has spoken frequently of the need to welcome people who flee terrorism, tyranny and despair. “Migrants are not pawns on the chessboard of humanity,” he once said, urging greater efforts to eradicate the poverty that leads to the movement of people."

"His words have been matched by public gestures, from travelling to the Italian island of Lampedusa to commemorate thousands of lives lost in the Mediterranean by people fleeing Africa in leaky boats to taking several Muslim families home with him last year to new lives in Rome."