Easter Thoughts

Today millions of Christians around the world are celebrating a man they claim to follow.  They really like the idea that no matter what we do, we are "redeemed", are forgiven, and have been granted eternal life. Unfortunately, they are not as happy with some of the other lessons Jesus taught.  We are not happy with the idea that we need to "turn the other cheek" and need to forgive everyone for their "tresspasses" against us. That is very hard, so we make it conditional.  We are not happy with the lesson of the Good Samaritan, teaching us that all people, no matter their race, ethnicity, sex, or religion, are important in God's eyes, so we discriminate in hiring, educational opportunities, housing,  in order that we can isolate ourselves from "the other", even though these practices have cost our economy and country the benefits that all these thrown-away lives could have brought.  We are not happy with Jesus' message that "whatever you do for the least of my brothers you do for me", so we have interpreted that to mean that our care and compassion can be reserved for people we decide are worthy, and we should help those, particularly if it doesn't cost us any money.  And we are particularly not happy with the idea of the rich man having as much chance of getting into heaven as a camel has in getting through the eye of a needle.  Some even have rationalize this away to the point where wealth is a sign of God's favor, and the poor are poor because they don't follow the proper theology.  Almost all religions were given such a road map. Almost all religions have rationalized away the hard parts. The results are obvious in our violent and divided country and world. What a shame.