The following passage from the Christian Bible is essential reading for
all Christians who have ever voted for a centre-right "Christian"
political party. If you believe that the Bible represents divine truth,
and if you also believe in life after death, you may have a serious
problem.
Tip: In the following, "right" represents today's political left wing,
and "left" represents today's political right. Don't get confused!
From Matthew 25 in the
New International Version (NIV):
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all
the
angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All
the
nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people
one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was
thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was
sick
and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit
me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him,
‘Lord, when
did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something
to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in,
or
needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or
in
prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell
you, whatever
you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you
did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart
from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the
devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me
nothing
to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I
was a
stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not
clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after
me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did
we see you
hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in
prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you,
whatever you did
not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment,
but the righteous to eternal life.”
A little atheist
commentary
This brilliantly poignant, insightful, ancient text suggests to us
today that the foundations of politics have not changed in 2000 years.
Politics is still divided into those who essentially care about other
people and those who essentially don't (but say they do). Of course it
is more complicated than that, and of course those who basically don't
care have all kinds of sophisticated arguments up their sleeves to
justify their position, but such arguments are essentially what Jesus
(as portrayed in the Bible after a century-old oral tradition was final
written down) called hypocrisy. That part hasn't changed in 2000 years
either.
The opinions expressed on
this page are the
authors' personal
opinions.
Suggestions for improving or extending the content are
welcome at parncutt@gmx.at.
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