Pick Your Christian Values

[surfered]

[markodochartaigh]

1. I like Sirach 13:

Touch pitch and you blacken your hand;

associate with scoundrels and you learn their ways.

2
Do not lift a weight too heavy for you,

or associate with anyone wealthier than you.

How can the clay pot go with the metal cauldron?

When they knock together, the pot will be smashed:

3
The rich do wrong and boast of it,

while the poor are wronged and beg forgiveness.

4
As long as the rich can use you they will enslave you,

but when you are down and out they will abandon you.

5
As long as you have anything they will live with you,

but they will drain you dry without remorse.

6
When they need you they will deceive you

and smile at you and raise your hopes;

they will speak kindly to you and say, “What do you need?”

7
They will embarrass you at their dinner parties,

and finally laugh at you.

Afterwards, when they see you, they will pass you by,

and shake their heads at you.

8
Be on guard: do not act too boldly;

do not be like those who lack sense.

9
When the influential draw near, keep your distance;

then they will urge you all the more.

10
Do not draw too close, lest you be rebuffed,

but do not keep too far away lest you be regarded as an enemy.

11
Do not venture to be free with them,

do not trust their many words;

For by prolonged talk they will test you,

and though smiling they will probe you.

12
Mercilessly they will make you a laughingstock,

and will not refrain from injury or chains.

13
Be on your guard and take care

never to accompany lawless people.†

15
Every living thing loves its own kind,

and we all love someone like ourselves.

16
Every living being keeps close to its own kind;

and people associate with their own kind.

17
Is a wolf ever allied with a lamb?

So the sinner with the righteous.a

18
Can there be peace between the hyena and the dog?

Or peace between the rich and the poor?*

19
Wild donkeys of the desert are lion’s prey;

likewise the poor are feeding grounds for the rich.

20
Humility is an abomination to the proud;

and the poor are an abomination to the rich.

21
When the rich stumble they are supported by friends;

when the poor trip they are pushed down by friends.

22
When the rich speak they have many supporters;

though what they say is repugnant, it wins approval.

When the poor speak people say, “Come, come, speak up!”

though they are talking sense, they get no hearing.

23
When the rich speak all are silent,

their wisdom people extol to the clouds.

When the poor speak people say: “Who is that?”

If they stumble, people knock them down.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

7. Brilliant!

Every quote is apt! Thank you!

[ReRe]

9. I loved the book of Sirach

When I think of the Bible in general, I always think of the book of Sirach. I think it's my favorite in the O.T. It's not in the Protestant Bible, only in the Catholic. (I was raised Protestant, turned Catholic as adult, now I'm a Senior and am nothing. ) In the N.T., my favorite would be Matthew. Thanks for sharing this chapter of Sirach.

[markodochartaigh]

14. You're welcome.

It's definitely my favorite. A lot of it shows how little people have changed. It's a shame that it isn't more well known

[Skittles]

2. you don't need religion to be a good person

Jimmy was a good person, Charlie was not and it had nothing to do with church

[soldierant]

5. It's not 100% unrelated.

Jimmy was a good person who used his religion as one tool to become a better one.

Kirk was a terrible person who used his religion to justify being a bad person.

Religion exists - some people do well with it, others not so much. But it isn't the religion that is a political problem so much as it is the abuse of it.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

6. Well said!

[Skittles]

11. I disagree

"christian values" are pretty much the "values" of ANY DECENT PERSON - NO religion needed

the main difference is a lot people do the right thing without expecting a reward in the end

[soldierant]

15. You are more than welcome to disagree.

But in my experience (which includes my experience of watching people like Jimmy). being a good person still comes down to being able to live with oneself. Or, worded another way, of trying to become a person who is actually ably to appreciate heaven if one gets there.

And you are absolutely right about values being essentially the same in every culture. C. S. Lewis once wrote a book about that, and his appendix, which was almost as long as the book, was quotes from faith leaders from multiple religions and cultures to demonstrate how alike they are. He wrote it the fifties, when many educators (or maybe I should say educational influencers) were attempting to make every classroom and all the materials therein totally objective - in practice, to eliminate feelings. It was his protest against that. (Does this remind you of MAGA - "Eff your feelings"? It probably should.)

[Skittles]

16. I'm not religious but DO UNTO OTHERS is really the only "value" needed

[surfered]

22. That's it. Empathy, which Elon and Kirk thought was a bad thing.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. To quibble -- used HIS INTERPRETATION of "his" religion to justify being a bad person.

GOPers always interpret holy scripture as if it were their right to do a massive re-editing.

[surfered]

3. I agree, but It is important to the GOP. It was an attempt to highlight their hypocrisy.

[RainCaster]

4. You did a fine job of showing the difference

I'm with you on this!

[Norrrm]

8. There are two major groups of 'Christians' in our country;

There are two major groups of ‘Christians’ in our country;
Christians of faith and
Political Christians who praise proud adulterer Trump who does not need Christ’s forgiveness and ridicules Holy Communion.

[Skittles]

12. how about there are two kinds of people

decent folk, and fucking assholes

[eppur_se_muova]

19. Also that. nt

[Mariana]

21. Unfortunately, the latter are the majority of Christians in the US.

In 2024, Trump got 63% of the Protestants' votes and 59% of the Catholics, according to the exit polls. These aren't narrow margins. Trump represents Christianity as it is currently practiced in the US.

[ReRe]

10. Well, I have Jimmy Carter values.

Always did, always will. Thanks, surfered for this OP. The only reason Kirk called himself a Christian was to get his foot in the door of someone's mind.

[Norrrm]

13. I was wrong about Jimmy Carter.

I was originally against Carter because he was just another phony Christian.

I was wrong.

Our Mammon worshiping, political Christians have overwhelmed those few good ones.

[Emile]

17. K & R

[bluestarone]

20. THIS is perfect!!

So true!!! When major media discuses Kirk on the news, THIS picture and story should be the number one!!!

[unblock]

23. there are christians who worship christ and try to emulate him and follow his teachings.

and there are those who worship christ but maybe don't particularly try to emulate him, but at least they tend to pray quietly.

and then, there are those who simply worship the worship of christ -- for them it's all a show. the bigger you display your worship of christ, the bigger your mansion in heaven, i guess, and emulating him is just woke mind virus. they don't even worship christ, really. they glorify the display. it's all about proclaiming your worshipping, the louder the better.