Regular readers of this column know that I've often commented on the hypocrisy of many theists... of how some Christians accuse others of not being "Real" Christians... and so on. But something occurred to me recently that never had, before. And that's that the whole concept of "Judeo-Christianity" is an oxymoron.
I mean, think about it. Jews don't pay a lot of attention to the New Testament, right? That's the Christian book. But Christians include the Old Testament (the Jewish book) as part of their Bible. Of course, this makes sense, because Jesus would've been a Jew. The Old Testament... that was his faith, right there! The God of the Old Testament... that was the guy he called "Dad."
But what I don't get is how Christians rationalize the two. How can they take the God of Judaism, who was, by about every account you can find, one nasty bastard... and reconcile that with the Jesus of the New Testament... whom they claim is either the Son of God, or God himself in human form. The two are like night and day!
Sure, Jesus threw his little hissy fits now and again, but overall, he was a swell guy. But his dad (or himself... whatever)? Total prick. I don't get it. Christianity preaches forgiveness, etc… warm fuzzy stuff... while the Old Testament contains the mentality of "work on the Sabbath, get stoned to death." Judeo-Christianity... being a combination of the two... doesn't really make a lot of sense to me.
What it boils down to, I think, is that many Christians are drawn to the Old Testament deity, the one who condemns all sorts of things, who metes out punishment left and right, destroying entire cities in a pique of rage. These same Christians only give lip service to Jesus.
On the other hand, you have the benevolent Christians who talk up Jesus real good... but pretty much pretend the Old Testament version of God isn't even in the book. They probably think it's just something we atheists make a big deal out of because we like to see the negative side of religion all the time.
Nope. I don't think so. I think this whole business is seriously messed up. I think these Christians need serious psychoanalysis. Half are in denial about one thing, the other half dwell on it to the exclusion of the rest.
Judeo-Christianity is an oxymoron. With emphasis on the latter.
