Over at the friendly atheist, the question is asked; 'was Jesus worth following?'
my response is, 'possibly, but maybe so are you.'
“If Jesus Christ came back today and saw what people are doing in his name, he wouldn’t stop throwing up”.-From Hannah and Her Sisters
There’s a popular idea that gets passed around that goes like this: 'Jesus was such a great moral teacher. It's too bad so many of his followers are total dicks.'
I’m tired of this idea, and it’s not one that I adhere to. Let’s flip it on it’s head:
There are some really great christians out there, too bad they have so little to work with in Jesus Christ.
A piece over at friendly atheist deals with the inadequacy of Jesus as a moral teacher in a good and convincing way. Take a look.
Jesus has been used as a symbol for some really great things. Kurt Vonnegut used him to maximum effect. He has been turned into a symbol of forgiveness, grace, and justice for many social movements and in many people's private lives. I know wonderful christians in my own life who aspire to be like Jesus, although they think they will never be as good as he was. They don’t know that they are already as good as he was, and sometimes they are better.
Maybe Jesus was a pretty decent person; I’m all for adopting role models.
I just wish christians would stop underestimating themselves.
cross posted at EVERYTHING IN THE MEDICINE CABINET HAS EXPIRED