"America won't vote for a Socialist Jew"

[JDPriestly]

61. Yes. I don't believe that the Bible is under copyright any more.

At least not the King James version.

Here goes:

About the Jewishness:

Matthew 4,

16 "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.
17 And there was delivered to him the book of the prophet E-sa-ias. And when he opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
. . . . .

Matthew 6,

(The Beatitudes are stated here more or less elaborately but as stated in the post to which I am responding, but then what is left out so often are these lines which follow the Beatitudes in Matthew 6 and which set out the difficult challenge of a Christian life that is so often ignored by the fundamentalist preachers):

24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
25 Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
26. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
27. But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you.
28. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29. And unto them that smiteth thee on one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.
30. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31. And as ye would that men do to you, do ye to them likewise.
32. For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love that love them.
33. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do the same.
34. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be children of the Highest; for he is kind to the unthankful and the evil.
36. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.
38. Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

Holy Bible, King James Version (set forth in 1611), American Bible Society

And so the Christian message is one of humility, forgiveness and caring for others.

I think that is the message the Bernie Sanders is conveying. We have this one chance to change our nation to one that doesn't just call itself "Christian" in terms of our morality but that maybe just a little bit begins to live as if we were. Of course, we are not a "Christian nation" in the religious sense. We are not a nation with any one religion because religious tolerance is basic to our Constitution and has served us well. But in a moral sense, maybe our nation could move a tiny bit closer to putting into practice what Jesus taught.

Changing our laws so that many of the nonviolent crimes are dealt with outside of prison would be a beginning. Making sure every American has enough to eat and good health care would also mean progress toward living as Jesus taught us. Jesus did not ask the poor for their health insurance papers before healing them. We should all automatically have health insurance and pay for healthcare for all out of our paychecks and other earnings according to our ability.

I cannot understand how people can oppose single payer insurance and claim to be Christian. It baffles me.

Anyway, seems to me that Bernie is more of a Christian than many self-described Christians because I suspect he agrees more with Jesus than do many right-wing Christians.