Danes feel Obama is greater than Jesus

[Jester]

He is exactly the kind of religious zealot in which you and I are both disgusted. The kind of zealot whose followers actually may be incited to do violence. He is a bad example for Christianity, and humanity in general. I'd throw in many other notorious examples as just bad Christians, like Pat Robertson and anyone associated with the 700 club.

I can't say I like any of them. What's notable about Phelps is that he is hated by everyone, including the Pat Robertsons of the world. That takes a special kind of crazy.

Phelps and his followers are filled with hate and rage.

They're filled with zeal, a powerful outlet for hatred. But they don't beat people up, they don't murder people. They are not terrorists, although much of what they do is socially unacceptable, and occasionally illegal. What they do is, loudly, without restraint, and in socially taboo places, declare that their God is an intolerant God, who offers people a stark choice: absolute belief, or eternal hellfire. If they're crazy (and they are), it's a matter of degree - most religions explicitly or implicitly offer a similar choice. They're just not so forceful or obnoxious about it.

But in all of that controversy within Judaism, Jesus never stopped preaching anything but total love for humanity.

Jesus says, over and over and over, that anyone who does not accept his message is going to be cast into hell by God. Wailing and gnashing of teeth, and all that. He is not shy about saying so - he goes to the temple and kicks over the stands of moneychangers. He stands up and publicly declares that existing religious authorities are simply hypocrites who are going to burn for eternity. His tolerance extends to everyone - so long as they accept his message - not just the "total love for humanity" bit, but the "I am the messiah" bit, too. Anyone who doesn't, even family members, are to be cast aside, because the end times are coming, and they will all burn in hell. Horrible calamities are to be expected, because the world is living in sin, and can expect no better than Sodom and Gommorah when God decides it's all over.

This sounds like Fred Phelps' message almost word for word. This is not surprising, since his message is based on a very direct, very strict reading of the Bible. Almost everything he says or does, regardless of how inflammatory, hateful, or simply insane, is taken straight from scripture. It's uncomfortable in the extreme, but he's not joking - it's all in there somewhere between Genesis and Revelations.

Which puts Jesus' schism of walking among the lepers and sick in the streets into a different light. No wonder he became wildly popular with the people, as he was willing to mingle with all classes of people.

And what should happen to these lepers, these sick in the streets, if they decide they'd rather keep their beliefs, rather than covert to his?

Jesus' sect was small, and his firebrand preaching not appreciated in the slightest by the existing religious authorities. He was a fringe lunatic and a dangerous man who claimed to speak for God - and they killed him for it. This caused no popular uprising or protest of any kind that is recorded - not even in the Gospels. In the next century, ambitious and devout followers spread this sect far and wide, Paul being notably effective in this.

The only solid evidence we have of his contemporary popularity are the Gospels, which are hopelessly biased for obvious reasons. We barely even have evidence of his existence, outside of the various Gospels and a couple rather questionable passages from Josephus, written half a century after Jesus' death. While it's dangerous to argue from lack of evidence, it does seem rather strange that, were he very popular in his lifetime, his existence would not have been better recorded outside his own sect.

-Jester