According to the bible, while being crucified, Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Roman soldiers were gambling for his clothing (John 19:23–24). Religious leaders were mocking him (Matthew 27:41–43). The crowd was blaspheming him (Matthew 27:39).
All this, immediately after Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea, saw that he was outnumbered by a rabid crown and essentially washed his hands of any responsibility. (Mathew 27:24)
Yet Jesus prayed for them.
Believe scripture as fact, as a requirement of your faith, or don't.
Religious people everywhere either live their lives according to the bible's teachings or do not, while hypocritically claiming otherwise.
So between the two massive groups, which one will first try to take advantage of a Jesus quote to justify their ideology, behavior and especially their social media spews?
One group are masters of projection. They challenge and deny facts, pick and choose which religious teachings they support, and have adapted the philosophy of President George W. Bush, who said in front of a joint session of Congress post 9/11 said, "Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
Except they don't think about nations. They think about their next door neighbors. Fellow citizens.
And you are either with them or against them.
They consider anyone who doesn't share their public ideology and actions as terrorists, even as they claim to be patriots. They call the opposite tribe the radical left, or socialists, or enemies of the state, or communists, or antifa, or black live matter/defund the police anarchists, or fools seduced by the main stream media.
They are all about their brand, which is religious infallibility.
In America, their brand is Christianity, particularly evangelical . And adopting a Jesus quote that communicates forgiveness because the traitors are innocently ignorant is genius. Projection at its finest. And fund-raising to boot.
The other group, I believe, are the true Christians who follow Jesus' teaching. Love over hate. The Golden Rule. Help people instead of harming them.
They do not care about their brand. They don't argue on facebook.
Real Christians follow Romans 14:22, or “The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God.” And James 4:16, "But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil."
I think we know which group will hijack the words of Jesus to boast about their magnanimous faith and righteousness.