American Inconsistency

I've had the opportunity to notice in my few years as an adult the fact that many people don't know what they're talking about. I'm sure everyone has had similar experiences. I mean, can you believe that some people think that this is a Christian nation??!!! Founded on Christian ideals???!!!

I started doing some research to figure out just what exactly those Christian ideals are. Here's what I discovered.

Almost unanimously, abortion is considered NOT a Christian ideal. It sort of makes sense. I mean, after all, if you kill a baby you're kind of violating that whole tenet of "Thou Shalt Not Kill". Which is actually more of a Jewish ideal if you think about it. But I digress. It's unclear whether foetus's exist in the Bible, but I'm willing to guess that if they did, some people did kill them. There are recorded instances of abortion being used in many prehistorical cultures. The earliest described abortion suggests that the practice was common in Egypt. Also in China, various abortions are mentioned having taken place about 500 years prior to Jesus. But these countries obviously weren't Christian, so while abortion was present, it was probably not a Christian ideal.

Pre-birthed babies (or foetuses) aren't mentioned much in the Bible. Some point to Jeremiah 1, 5 "Before I fromed you in the womb, I knew you before you were born I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." I maintain that this only applied to Jeremiah, seeing as how God was addressing him directly. I don't speak Hebrew, so I don't know what the original texts say.

Some point to Psalm 139 v 13 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." However, this is a Songwriter addressing God, not God addressing the songwriter. The Songwriter leaves it to Faith that God was the one that created her.

So other than that, abortion isn't mentioned in the Bible. As to abortion not being an American ideal I can't attest to that. I just happen to think that Jesus and God didn't really mention whether or not a foetus was a human, so the issue of whether or not it's morally permissible to perform an abortion shouldn't factor into the discussion of whether abortion should be legal or not....assuming that we're a Christian nation.

Also, guns. Guns and the Second Amendment seem to be a Christian ideal. After all, Jesus HIMSELF said in Matthew 10 v 34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." [Emphasis mine.] Now, allowing for anachronisms and developments in technology, it's obvious that Jesus meant that he came to Earth to bring weapons to the Christians. Then they could use these weapons to do whatever they wanted to do. Jesus meant for us to have Guns!

But perhaps Jesus had a change of heart because in Matthew 26 v 52 "Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." So, I guess Jesus had a change of heart and decided at a time near his death that maybe violence wasn't the answer.

OR if guns are supposed to be an American ideal, then Jesus meant that fighting would not allow the prophecy to be fulfilled. So, in order for the prophecies to come true and Jesus fulfill his role as the Messiah, he must lay down his weapons just this once in order to die so that everyone would be free to worship him and shoot their guns.

OR If American really were a Christian nations with Christian ideals, we would not look down on efforts at gun control considering that most violent crimes are committed with firearms. Jesus also said, "An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind," though that may have been Mahatma Ghandi. If so, ignore that quote.

Jesus also said stuff like, "Taxation is a bad thing. Keep all your money for yourself. Nationalized healthcare options are the work of the devil."

Except Jesus didn't say those things. I think he said something about, "You can't take your riches to Heaven," and maybe, "Blessed are the poor and hungry." I don't know. I don't claim to understand Jesus' motives, but I'm pretty sure he didn't care about whether or not you had health insurance....I'm pretty sure the only thing he might care about is what you did to make sure that someone else that doesn't have healthcare gets it.

Oh, and in case you couldn't figure it out, I don't believe that this nation was for one second founded on Christian ideals. It bothers me, however, when the same people that say that America was founded on Christian ideals later decries nationalized healthcare on the basis that it will "raise their taxes and the government is evil."

Or as Wanda Haught Etchason of Facebook fame stated on America's Facebook page under the topic of "Do you think Obama should nationalize healthcare?":

"If you dont work then you arent entitled to anything."

Well said, Wanda Haught Etchason. Well said. Jesus would approve of not giving anything to children, the elderly, the poor, the destitute, or the disabled. Jesus would be proud.