The Cloaking of Evil (MUST READ)

[Widgetsfriend]

http://www.counterpunch.org/martin01032004.html (DUH, thanks)
The Cloaking of Evil
Jesus vs. the Beast of the Apocalypse
By GLEN MARTIN

Recently, I have been reading the gospels of Jesus Christ once again (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). The teachings of Jesus about how to live our lives are astonishing. Essentially, Jesus says that all our worldly values must be turned upside down, for God's judgment is on the rich, on "the nations" and on the powerful of the world. God's love and mercy are for the poor, the downtrodden and the oppressed.

snip....

Evil presents itself as "respectability," as the established way of doing things, as the accepted social morality of a society. Evil hides, they say, in everydayness, in business as usual, in what is given honors and the highest praise. Evil poses as its opposite, for the goal of the Antichrist is to prevent the realization of God's kingdom on Earth, to destroy the possibility of human beings living together in love and peace upon the precious planet granted to us as our home by God.

If one thinks about it, this is fairly obvious. Evil could not be successful in preventing people from living together in peace and harmony on the Earth if it appeared to us as a hideous monster (the traditional image of the devil). We would see it for what it is and turn away in horror. But if evil can cloak itself in the image of good--if it can appear as its opposite--then the destruction of God's kingdom on Earth can proceed unhindered.

snip...

Who are the Samaritans of today that we should love as ourselves? I'll bet they are the good people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea. I'll bet they are people of the Muslim faith, or people of no faith at all. Who are the followers of Jesus today that are persecuted in his name by the dominant system of evil that cloaks itself in the appearance of goodness and respectability?


As we grapple with the Right Wing's ability to cloak its evil in a veil of Christianity, it is comforting to read such a succinct article expressing so much truth. Appropriate for Sunday morning.

[Dirty Hippie]

1. Link?

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[Widgetsfriend]

2. Added link. Thanks!

[ithacan]

3. right wing pseudo-christians

check out this site. It really lays out very clearly and in great detail that the right wingers claiming to be christians, very compatible with the counterpunch article:

http://www.right-wing-pseudo-christians.com/

Matthew 25:31-46: WWJD?
What Would Jesus Do? Jesus Would Send All These Right-Wing Pseudo-Christians Straight to Hell (And Liberals May Not Be Far Behind)

by Jack Clark

Introduction

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus proclaims that how you treat the hungry, the thirsty, the sick and other "least of these," is how you treat Jesus himself. And if you fail to help the "least of these," Jesus promises, he will send you to Hell.

The premise of this essay is that you can't be a true Christian if the focus of your life is thwarting others and the society itself from fully implementing such a fundamental teaching of Christianity as Matthew 25:31-46.

It's fine to oppose government programs to help the Matthew 25 "least of these," but then you must propose Equivalent Alternative Solutions. Equivalent Alternative Solutions are ones which:

help at least the same number of those people who legitimately need help provide at least the same amount of effective assistance to those people
get the help to them at least as quickly
are at least as certain to accomplish these goals


Equivalent Alternative Solutions can certainly be completely non- governmental, as long as they meet the four criteria directly above.

Right-wing Christians are defined by both their opposition to the plans of others to help the "least of these," and their failure to offer any Equivalent Alternative Solutions.

Their behavior puts right-wing pseudo-Christians into the category of the cursed goats whom Jesus describes in Matthew 25 and condemns to Hell.
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[gator_in_Ontario]

4. Great link!

I have long been amazed at how the message of Jesus gets skewed towards hatred....when it clearly is a message of unconditional love...

[randr]

5. The time has come for all those who act as Christians

to recognize the pervasive evil of those among us who profess Christian beliefs at the same time they go about destroying our planet and it's precious cargo.
Call them what they are---The Antichrist!

[JesusNoRepublican]

6. Check out NEW http://www.JesusNoRepublican.Org

Have you heard of the NEW http://www.JesusNoRepublican.Org ?
or http://www.LiberalsLikeChrist.Org ?

[GOPFighter]

8. Nice website

I like the layout and the parchment background. Hope you get lots of traffic.

[slor]

7. Thanks for posting...

great article.