Madness in orthodox Christianity

Today my position is that, though I admire much in Christianity, I am unable to identify myself with orthodox Christianity. –Mahatma Gandhi

I came across an article in another website named “Truth or Heresy” and I have been inspired by it to write down…

 10 questions orthodox Christians don’t like to be asked:

1. No one knows the year when Jesus was born, much less the month and the day, so how can they be sure that 25^th December was the birthday of Christ?
2. Jeremiah 10: 1- 5 opposes the worship of a tree decorated with silver and gold. It is compared to idolatry. But, all over the world, this idolatrous act takes place on the supposed birthday of Christ. Why?
3. Why isn’t there much credible evidence about the existence of Jesus outside the Bible?
4. Why is it that the New Testament is full of Paul’s teachings, someone who wasn’t handpicked by Christ Jesus, never even met Him, and whose teachings contradict the ones of Jesus?
5. All four Gospels can be neither true nor precise, since they contradict each other when it comes to order of events or the events that took place. So, which one is the real Gospel?
6. What is the real and exact reason Jesus was crucified?
7. If it really is a word of God, why are there so many versions of the Bible?
8. If Jesus died for our sins, why do sinners still go to hell?
9. Why did the Church murder so many innocents over the centuries?
10. Why are there so many versions of Christianity? And each one claims itself to be true, so which one actually is?

Believe it or not, not a single Christian can answer all of these questions logically. So, if any “Christian” thinks that they can answer at least half of these questions, feel free to give it a try. I will be awaiting your responses.

Now, how to identify an orthodox or fundamentalist Christian?

1. They deny that salvation can be found in other religions. They keep spouting lies about other religions but are outraged when someone says the truth about their own.
2. They feel offended when scientists say that humans evolved from monkeys but they have no problem accepting the fact that humans were created from dirt.
3. They laugh at polytheists but have no problem believing in the Trinity.
4. They talk about Islamic terrorist activities while their beloved Old Testament talks about murder, rape, animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, genocides and so on. Plus, they try to forget that it is Christianity who has murdered the highest number of innocent people so far, not Islam.
5. They will keep persuading other people to become a Christian and say that if they don’t join Christianity, they would burn in hell.
6. They try to prove the scientific theories about evolution and the Earth to be “wrong”.
7. They believe that not only non-Christians, but also the Christians who follow a different version of Christianity are going to burn in hell.
8. They have a tendency to dislike scientists, but they still use computers and other technologies to spread their madness and false propaganda.
9. Their “Thou shall not kill” applies only to humans.
10. They know a lot less about Jesus than many atheists, agnostics and people of other religions do.

As you have seen, even in my previous articles, I have publicized all the embarrassing things about which fanatic orthodox Christians like Dave don’t like to be asked. They call the Bible a “holy” book, but they cherry-pick only the passages of the Bible which they like to preach or claim to follow. In today’s world, if someone would even try to follow some of the laws of the Old Testament, he would end up in jail in a day or two.

Of course, the true version of Christianity, which can be found in books like The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, is almost flawless. But, the corrupted version of Christianity which people like Dave are preaching is full of hypocrisy, self-contradictions and madness. This version of Christianity would be strongly disapproved by Jesus Himself. Plus, Dave’s claim that the Bible has no self-contradictions is laughable. Anyone who says that the Bible has no contradictions is either lying or hasn’t properly read the Bible.

The following are just examples. There are hundreds of self-contradictions in the Bible, plus passages that support murder, rape, meat-eating, animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, slavery, genocides and so on. What I am listing below are only a few of many examples.

Self-contradictions:

Number 1- Does God approve stealing?

Luke 19: 30- 31: “Go to the village there ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If someone asks you why you are untying it, tell him that the Master needs it.”

Exodus 20: 15: Do not steal.

Number 2- Does God ever sleep?

Psalms 121: 4: The protector of Israel never dozes or sleeps.

Psalms 44: 23: Wake up, Lord! Why are you asleep?

Number 3- How should foreigners be treated?

Exodus 22: 21: Do not ill-treat or oppress a foreigner; …

Deuteronomy 7: 2: When the Lord your God places these people in your power and you defeat them, you must put them all to death.

Number 4- Can men keep long hair?

Number 6: 5: As long as he is under the Nazirite vow, he must not cut his hair or shave.

1 Corinthians 11: 14: Why, nature itself teaches you that long hair on a man is a disgrace …

Number 5: Is poverty a blessing?

Matthew 6: 20: … “Happy are you poor; for the Kingdom of God is yours! ...”

Proverbs 10: 15: Wealth protects the rich; poverty destroys the poor.

Number 6- Can Christians commit murder?

Deuteronomy 5: 17: Do not commit murder.

Deuteronomy 13: 9: Kill him!

Number 7: Does God approve robbery?

Numbers 31: 9: The people of Israel captured the Midianite women and children, took their cattle and their flocks, plundered all their wealth…

Leviticus 19: 13: Do not take advantage of anyone or rob him.

Number 8: Should Christians judge others?

Matthew 7: 1: Do not judge others so that God will not judge you.

1 Corinthians 6: 2: Don’t you know that God’s people will judge the world?

Number 9- Does God approve rape?

Deuteronomy 22: 25: Suppose a man out in the countryside rapes a girl who is engaged to someone else. Then only the man should be put to death; …

Zechariah 14: 2: The Lord will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped.

Number 10: Should enemies be hated?

Matthew 5: 44: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…

Proverbs 29: 27: The righteous hate the wicked and the wicked hate the righteous.

It’s kind of pathetic. Dave and his chums proclaim the Bible to be the absolute truth, yet he can’t answer any of the questions I asked with proper logic. He calls me rude and accusatory just because I don’t accept the Bible as the word of God. He expects others to believe in the Bible which is a book full of hypocrisy and madness. He expects others to believe in the Bible, a book written millennia ago, with no proof that it wasn’t tampered with. Dave says that animal sacrifices were commanded by God. While only a stupid idiot would believe such a thing, let us also know that the Bible also supports human sacrifice. I will give examples of human sacrifice and animal sacrifice below so that even stupid idiots can understand what kind of madness the Bible is full of.

Passages supporting human and animal sacrifices:

Number 1- Genesis 22: 2 shows God commanding Abraham to kill his own son as a sacrifice. Abraham even lied to his son while preparing for the sacrifice. Yes, I know the sacrifice wasn’t performed, but still, commanding someone to kill his own son as an act of worship is undoubtedly a cruel and evil thing to do. This passage also shows that this God wanted to “smell some burnt flesh” and so Abraham killed a ram instead. If Abraham did that today, he would probably be in jail for violating “Child rights” and “Animal rights”. This scene shows nothing but plain cruelty. I don’t find it hard to believe that ancient Hebrews could not imagine a god without desire for blood sacrifices. What I find hard to believe is the fact that in today’s advanced world, people like Dave, who even knows how to operate a computer, can take this passage not only to be true but also to be just.

Number 2- Leviticus 1 and 2 shows how to offer animal or plant sacrifices to their Lord. These offerings are to be burnt so that the Lord can “smell” them. It even goes as far as saying that the smell of this food offering is “pleasing” to the Lord.  If you read through Leviticus 1 and 2 carefully, you will soon realize that the so-called priests of the ancient times wrote these so that they could get their followers to make a big feast for them every week. Those wicked so-called priests wanted to enjoy themselves at the expense of those poor people. People who can use logic know that God doesn’t approve blood sacrifices. Later, prophets like Isaiah confirmed that the Lord hates animal sacrifices. Psalms 50: 13 specifically says that God doesn’t drink blood of innocent animals. But, no matter what kind of evidence you provide, people like Dave have been brainwashed and will always believe the sacrifices in Leviticus 1 and 2 to be commanded by God, no matter how much irrefutable evidence you slap in his face.

Passages supporting rape and sexual abuse:

We all know that rape is one of the most heinous crimes. But the Bible supports and allows rape in numerous passages. Let me show some examples.

Number 1- Take a look at Numbers 31: 17- 18. These passages show God commanding Moses to kill every innocent child and every woman who is not a virgin. But, the people were allowed by God to keep the virgins for themselves, which shows that this God allowed Moses and his men to rape those innocent women.

Number 2- Judges 21: 21 clearly says “Each of you take a wife by force from among the girls and take her back to the territory of Benjamin with you.” Seriously, what kind of a God who is supposed to be “kind and compassionate” would command his men to capture young women from other territories and force them to be their wives? Such a god would be a monster.

Number 3- Isaiah 13: 16 say that the foreigners, who try to escape from Babylon, would be stabbed to death. As if that’s not enough, their babies would be battered and their wives would be raped. Plus, what’s surprising that such atrocities were commanded by this supposed God.

Christianity claims to be the most loving and compassionate religion, yet it is the very religion which has killed the highest number of innocent people so far. The claim, “Salvation can only be found through Jesus” shows how intolerant orthodox Christians are about other religions. They say that non-Christians will burn in hell. For a religion that claims to be the kindest and the most tolerant one, it is actually the exact opposite.

Many Christians also try to hide the fact or pretend not to know that Hitler was a Christian. The Holocaust was an act of orthodox Christianity. Yes, now all orthodox Christians will say, “No, he was probably an atheist.” But, since when did atheists start believing in persecution of Jews? Since when did atheists start supporting genocide? If you are not convinced that Adolf Hitler was a Christian, and that the holocaust took place because of orthodox Christianity, then you should read the book "Main Kamph” by Hitler himself.

Do religions like Buddhism have a horrible past like Christianity does? No. In fact, Buddhism is one of the few religions that have no record of any kind of violence. Yet, many Christians hate Buddhism and claim that Buddhists are going to hell just because they don’t believe in Jesus. Their hypocrisy and madness knows no bounds.

What more can I say? These passages above must have shown you the truth about orthodox Christianity. Of course, some orthodox Christians may try to defend their “precious” Bible. Feel free to.

Blessed are the merciful.

Funny self-contradictions

If I have read the Bible correctly, I know many men who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ or have even rejected the official interpretation of Christianity will, probably, if Jesus came in our midst today in the flesh, be owned by him more than many of us.- Mahatma Gandhi

Sadly, Dave is under the delusion that the Bible is the absolute Word of God, and only the Bible can guide humanity. Dave is under the delusion that everything else is nonsense. Dave is under the delusion that people who don’t accept Jesus are going to hell. Dave is under the delusion that God gave us permission to kill innocent animals for food. Dave’s ignorance knows no bounds.

I know his mind cannot be changed because he has been completely brainwashed by false doctrines and false teachers to believe in the false idea of Biblical perfection. But, I do pray that in his next life, it will not be the same, and I hope Dave finds the true path.

Here is another list of self-contradictions from the Bible which may make you chuckle. Unless you are Dave, that is.

Number 1- Why did Jesus come to this world?

John 9: 39: I came to this world to judge…

John 12: 47: I came, not to judge the world, but to save it.

Number 2: Should every man bear his own burden?

Galatians 6: 2: Help to carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will obey the law of Christ.

Galatians 6: 5: For everyone has to carry his own load.

Number 3- Should we publicize the good things we do?

Matthew 5: 16: In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6: 1- 2: Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public so that people will see what you do.  If you do these things publicly, you will not have any reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give something to a needy person, do not make a big show of it, as the hypocrites do in the houses of worship and on the streets.

Number 4- How are enemies to be treated?

Proverbs 24: 17: Don’t be glad when your enemy meets disaster, and don’t rejoice when he stumbles.

Psalms 58: 10: The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.

Number 5- How should Christians treat their parents?

Exodus 20: 12: Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.

Matthew 10: 35: I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; …

Number 6- How should we respond to foolish people asking silly questions?

Proverbs 26: 4: If you answer a silly question, you are just as silly as the person who asked it.

Proverbs 26: 5: Give a silly answer to a silly question, and the one who asked it will realize that he’s not as clever as he thinks.

Number 7- Were Adam and Eve created at the same time?

Genesis 1: 27: So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said…

Genesis 2: 21- 22: Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, He took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him.

Number 8- Should Christians look for a wife?

Proverbs 18: 22: Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the Lord is good to you.

1 Corinthians 7: 27: Are you unmarried? Then don’t look for a wife.

Number 9- Can the blood of innocent animals take away sins?

Hebrews 10: 4: For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.

Leviticus 5: 10: Then he shall offer the second bird as a burnt offering, according to the regulations. In this way the priest shall offer the sacrifice for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven.

Number 10- Should children be punished because of the crimes their parents committed?

Deuteronomy 24: 16: Parents are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their children, and children are not to be put to death for crimes committed by their parents; a person is to be put to death only for a crime he himself has committed.

Leviticus 26: 21- 22: If you continue to resist me and refuse to obey me, I will again increase your punishment seven times. I will send dangerous animals among you, and they will kill your children, destroy your livestock, and leave so few of you that your roads will be deserted.

Isn’t it laughable that even though the Bible is full of hypocrisy and madness, Dave and other such people keep defending it as if it is not?

So, for Dave and all his chums, don’t forget to offer a ram as a sacrifice to your god tonight. If you don’t, he will be angry and may bring a curse upon you. That’s all.

Blessed are the merciful.

More about Dave's hypocrisy

I read the book of Genesis, and the chapters that followed invariably sent me to sleep. –Mahatma Gandhi

Greetings, everyone! In my previous article, I proved how hypocrisy is prevailing in the name of Jesus. Also, I hope you noted that I don’t oppose Christianity. But, I oppose the hypocrisy of orthodox Christianity.

Why did Mahatma Gandhi dislike the Old Testament?

For a book that’s supposed to be “holy”, it really talks a lot about murder, rape, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, genocides, burning towns, and so on. In my opinion, it is better to be an atheist than to be someone like Dave who believes the laws of the Old Testament to be legitimate even today. If you don’t agree, then think about why no one has been stoned to death by atheists!

We live in an age of science, logic and reasoning, and even in such a world, some people still believe in fairytales. Such people not only hinder the progress and development of this world, but also try to force other people to believe what they don’t want to.

Dave says that salvation can be found only through Jesus. We all know that God will not judge us by where we were born, or what our skin color is. All God wants from us is righteousness. But, according to Dave, no matter how righteous you are, if you are not a Christian, you are going to hell. They claim their religion to be true and others false. Such people should not even dare touch the subject of love and compassion because they are showing the exact opposite through their false propaganda. Such people are making a mockery out of God’s love and kindness. They make it seem as if God is a cruel monster. So, according to Dave if you are born in a very rural area, where Christianity never got preached, and in your entire life, you never heard of Jesus, it means you are going to hell!

If Jesus existed, I admit he is undoubtedly the best or the second best person in the whole world. But, my point is that people like Dave are far from being followers of Jesus. They don’t even know what the real name of Jesus was. They don’t worship Jesus; they worship the Bible which was not written by Jesus nor any of his followers. Majority of the pages of the Bible were written by people who wanted to misguide humanity. Dave and his chums take all words from the Old Testament to be words of God. They are actually insulting God when they are indirectly saying that God asked for human sacrifice and animal sacrifice.

I asked Dave to read the Gospel of the Holy Twelve and even sent it to him through an email. But, without even reading a single paragraph, Dave looked up on some random articles written by anonymous people in Wikipedia or somewhere and claimed that it was a hoax without even reading it! I don’t know what else to say about his foolishness.

It’s funny that though nowhere in the Bible it says that Jesus liked the Old Testament, Dave and such people claim that He did. Dave’s version of Christianity contradicts with the teachings of Jesus. Let me show you some major differences between the two:

Teachings of Jesus Christ	Teachings of Dave Gifford
1. The laws of the Old Testament are flawed. They should be rejected. (John 8: 1- 11)	1. The laws of the Old Testament are commands of God. Accept them.
2. God desires mercy, not animal sacrifice. (Matthew 12: 7)	2. God desires both mercy and animal sacrifice.
3. God loves animals. (Matthew 6: 26)	3. God does not love animals.
4. To enter heaven, one needs to be righteous. (Matthew 7: 21)	4. To enter heaven, one needs to believe in Jesus.
5. Christians are not supposed to eat animal flesh. (Gospel of the Holy Twelve)	5. Christians are free to eat animal flesh.

If you have any questions about God or morality, the Bible will not give you an absolute answer. The following is a list of self-contradictions in the Bible-

Question number 1: Is every word in the Bible the word of God?

1 Corinthians 7: 25: … I do not have a command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is worthy of trust.

2 Timothy 3: 16: All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth…

Question number 2- Is Jesus equal to God?

John 14: 28: …for the Father is greater than I.

John 10: 30: The father and I are one.

Question number 3- Should we observe the Sabbath?

Exodus 20: 8: Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.

Romans 14: 5: One person thinks that a certain day is more important than other days, while someone else thinks that all days are the same. Each one should firmly make up his own mind.

Question number 4- Can we see God?

Exodus 33: 11: The Lord would speak with Moses face to face, just as a man speaks with a friend.

John 1: 18: No one has ever seen God.

Question number 5- Were the laws and words of God perfect?

Hebrews 8: 7: If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one.

Psalms 18: 30: This God- how perfect are His deeds! How dependable are His words!

Question number 6- Does God want some people to go to hell?

Proverbs 16: 4: Everything the Lord has made has its destiny; and the destiny of the wicked is destruction.

2 Peter 3: 9: …He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.

Question number 7: Where does God rule?

Psalms 9: 11: Sing praise to the Lord, who rules in Zion!

Psalms 123: 1: Lord, I look up to you, up to heaven, where you rule!

Question number 8- Is it okay for Christians to curse people?

Romans 12: 14: Ask God to bless those who persecute you- yes, ask him to bless, not to curse.

2 Corinthians 16: 22: Whoever does not love the Lord- a curse on him!

Question number 9: Who gave Moses the Ten Commandments?

Exodus 20: 1: God spoke, and these were his words: …

Galatians 3: 19: The Law was handed down by angels, with a man acting as a go-between.

Question number 10: Should innocents be killed?

1 Samuel 15: 3: Don’t leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys.

Proverbs 6: 16- 19: There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people…

And, that’s not all. The ten self-contradictions listed above are just a few examples. The Bible is a book full of such worthless messages and that’s the reason it is extremely offensive to say that everything written in it was commanded by God.

People like Dave are trying to take over our free will. They want us to do as the Bible says. Plus, they want us to follow it by heart according to how THEY interpret the Bible. People like Dave are also probably convinced that the Bible says whatever they themselves believe to be right.

Many people, in order to gain advantage over others, wrote a few doctrines, claimed it to be the word of God, and expected others to obey it. Many people were fooled. And, people like Dave, even today, are still deceived by those false doctrines and fairytales which were written by people two millennia ago. In addition, there is no evidence that those events ever took place. It’s pathetic that even in today’s world people like Dave still believe that those ridiculous and laughable laws and commands came from God. They have been completely brainwashed and even if Jesus comes back to our world in the flesh, they would turn a blind eye to Him. Instead, they would laugh at Jesus, and call him a “hoax”.

These people like Dave who call themselves Christians are the very people who are murdering the teachings of Jesus. If He were to come back, people like Dave would be nothing but an embarrassment to Christ Himself.

Blessed are the merciful.

Hypocrisy of Dave

                                         CHRISTIAN HYPOCRISY

“I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. You Christians are so unlike your Christ.” –Mahatma Gandhi

Greetings, everyone! I am Wright. Here I am going to tell you about the hypocrisy of (so-called) Christians or Christian missionaries. If you are an orthodox Christian or a Christian fanatic, then I advise you to read no further.

I came across the blog of a man named Dave Gifford who “claims” to be a Christian missionary. I doubt that he actually is. He claims EACH and EVERY word of the Bible not only to be absolute but also THE WORD OF GOD. But my sense of logic won’t let me accept something as the absolute truth without any evidence. After all, THAT is the reason God gave us the power of “logic.” So I had an argument with him. But, it seems that God has made a horrible mistake. He has even created human beings without giving them the power of logic and the power of thinking. Let’s see how the discussion went.

(Note that I am writing down the discussion briefly and parodically. So, this isn’t exactly how the conversation took place. It has been shortened and made easy for you to understand.)

Dave: I believe each and every word in the Bible to be the absolute Word of God.

Wright: You claim every word in the Bible to come from God. So, what about the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament? Would a loving, kind and compassionate God really be pleased with the brutal killing of his innocent children?

Dave: Yes, God did allow animal sacrifice. It was done so that humans could be absolved of their sins. Every one of us deserves to go to hell for rebelling against God, but by offering blood sacrifice, the penalty for our sins was paid.

Wright: But, what about God being kind and compassionate? Would a compassionate God really allow the killing of innocent animals so that humans who committed horrible sins would be free?

Dave: That idea repulses me too. But, that is why Jesus came and offered himself as a sacrifice so that we no longer have to sacrifice animals to pay for our sins.

Wright: You are still missing the point. Why would a compassionate God ask for blood sacrifice to forgive sins? And, if Jesus died to replace the animals, it would mean that God was hungry for sacrifices. In other words, God indirectly killed Jesus.

Dave: God IS kind and compassionate. But, if the Bible claims that God wanted sacrifices, so it means that he DID want them.

(In other words, poor Dave failed to prove his point logically. And he was still sticking to the false idea of Biblical perfection.)

Wright: What about prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah? They told us that God doesn’t ask for blood sacrifice? Even Jesus himself said that God wants mercy and not sacrifice. So, don’t you think the Bible is contradiction itself?

Dave: Actually, their point was that God prefers mercy over sacrifice. If someone offered animal sacrifices to God but still continued to sin, the sacrifices were meaningless. That was their point. They didn’t mean to say that animal sacrifices were never asked for.

Wright: Jeremiah 7:22 says that neither God nor Moses asked for animal sacrifices. Doesn’t it make Exodus 12 invalid?

Dave: It doesn’t. Jeremiah was saying that sacrifice was not the main point. God did ask them to offer sacrifices but the main point was having righteousness which the people didn’t have.

Wright: But Jeremiah clearly said, “I did NOT ask for sacrifices.” He never said that animal sacrifice is the “less” important point. He is saying that God NEVER asked for sacrifices. Even Jesus said, “I desire mercy, NOT sacrifice.” Psalms 40: 6 also clearly says that God does NOT want sacrifices. So, it means he never asked for blood sacrifice.

(Now, note that Dave is going to derail the topic.)

Dave: God did ask for animal sacrifice. But, we no longer need to offer sacrifices now since Jesus already paid the price for our sins.

(Even though I PROVED that God hates blood sacrifice, Dave remained unconvinced.)

Wright: Don’t you know that opposing animal sacrifice was the very reason Jesus was crucified?

Dave: No, many scholars would disagree with you on that.

Wright: Forget what your so-called scholars say. I do have evidence.

(This evidence I gave him is listed below. You needn’t read it thoroughly if you don’t want to. After all, the conversation between me and Dave is the one you should pay attention to.)

(John 2:13-16 says- "When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords and drove all from the Temple, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said: 'Get out of here.'

Matthew's gospel does not detail the kind of animals that were being sold for slaughter, but it gives the same order of events.

"Jesus entered the Temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 'It is written,' he said to them, 'My house will be called a house of prayer but you are making it a den of robbers.'" (Matthew21:12-13)

The same account is given in the gospel of Mark who, like Matthew, also reports that Jesus accused those at the Temple of making God's house into a "den of robbers." And there is universal acknowledgement that in both gospels, when Jesus said this, he was quoting from the prophet Jeremiah (7:11).

Now, you may have noticed that prophet Jeremiah had hurled the same accusation at the people of his own time, almost six hundred years earlier. He said it while standing at the Temple entrance, after he had already warned the people "do not shed innocent blood in this place." And when Jeremiah said God's house had been turned into a den of robbers it could not have had anything to do with moneychangers--they did not exist in his time.

In the time of Jeremiah, as in the time of Jesus, there was a great distinction made between "robbers" and "thieves." In contemporary times that distinction can best be understood by comparing the crime of petty theft with crimes of armed robbery by those who violently attack/kill their victims. But in ancient Israel there was an even greater distinction. A thief could be anyone who succumbed to a momentary impulse to steal something, but a robber was someone for whom violent crime and killing was a lifestyle.

Both Jesus and Jeremiah were indignant about the violence of sacrificial worship, not the possibility of petty theft by moneychangers. It was the violence of the system, the "robbing of life" from innocent victims in the name of God, that they were condemning. The moneychangers operating in the time of Jesus were driven out of the Temple because they were taking part in the process of sacrificial religion, not because they may have been cheating the pilgrims.

The gospel of Mark correlates Christ's attempt to dismantle the sacrificial system with the plot to kill him. Like Matthew's gospel, Mark's account of the Temple Cleansing starts by saying that Jesus "began driving out those who were buying and selling there." It goes on to relate how he explained to the people why he was doing this, by quoting Jeremiah's opposition to animal sacrifice: "My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. But you have made it a 'den of robbers.'" And in the verse of scripture immediately following that statement, Mark reports that "The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard about this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him because the whole crowd was amazed at his teachings." (Mark 11:18).

It is ridiculous to claim that the religious leaders of Christ's time would have plotted his death because he undermined the function of the moneychangers. Nor would the crowd have been "amazed at his teachings" if Jesus was simply telling them to make sure they were not short-changed when they purchased Temple coins. What the people were amazed at was his condemnation of animal sacrifice; it had been hundreds of years since that kind of condemnation had been heard in Jerusalem. And it would not be tolerated.
A few days after he attacked the cult of animal sacrifice, Jesus was crucified. The religious leaders of his time were determined to preserve the belief that it had been ordained by God, who demanded its continuance.

That determination is echoed in the teachings of contemporary Christian leaders. In spite of Jesus, and in spite of the many biblical denunciations of animal sacrifice, people like you continue to maintain the ancient fiction that it was God who demanded His creatures be killed and butchered as an act of worship So, it defeats the whole purpose for which Jesus died.)

Dave: I am still not convinced that your version of the death of Jesus is correct.

Wright: Even though I gave you irrefutable evidence? Fine, then. So, point out why you remain unconvinced. And why exactly do you think Jesus was crucified?

(Now, instead of refuting my arguments since he can’t, let’s see what reply Dave has to give.)

Dave: I must warn you, Wright. I am a pretty busy person. I have a church to take care of, and a family to attend to. So, I don’t have time to answer all your questions. In fact, for the questions you asked, I had to spend hours doing research.

(He talks as if he is the ONLY one who has a job and a family to take care of.)

Wright: You gave me neither a proper answer nor a proper argument to any of my questions, in the first place. So, I doubt you did any “research.” Again, I am also not asking you to do any “research”, but I want you to prove your points using plain old logic.

(So, Dave failed to prove his point logically that God asked for animal sacrifice. He also failed to prove his point that Jesus died for some reason other than opposing animal sacrifice.)

Dave: … (Silence)

Wright: Fine, then. I won’t push this issue any further. But, tell me this. Even if the Bible was the Word of the God, how can you be so sure that this is the very Bible which was written years ago? Many historians say that people have falsified parts of the Bible. Many historians claim that parts of the Bible were tampered with. Many also say that wicked people inserted their own words but said that they came from God.

Dave: Historians, who say that the Bible was tampered with, do so, so that they can throw away things that they don’t like.

Wright: I disagree. They have mountains of evidence that the Bible WAS tampered with, especially in the 4^th century. Also, what evidence can you give me to prove that the Bible was never tampered with?

Dave: … (Silence)

Wright: Hello?

(He is going to derail me again.)

Dave: I understand that you are just compassionate about animals, Wright. But, the Bible is the Word of God whether you like it or not.

Wright: Sigh…

Dave: Any more questions?

Wright: When God created the world, it was perfect. There was neither killing nor any kind of violence. Everyone lived happily. And God gave humans permission to eat only plants. So, aren’t Christians supposed to be vegetarians today? Why do majority of them eat meat?

Dave: But he gave us permission to eat meat after the Flood.

Wright: Wrong. He gave only Noah permission to eat meat because all the plants were destroyed by the Flood.

Dave: But Jesus ate fish in the Gospel of Luke.

Wright: That’s because as I said before, the Bible was tampered with. Jesus was a vegetarian.

Dave: I disagree.

Wright: Fine, then. Even if Jesus did eat flesh, that was before the modern day pollution of meat. Would Jesus meat today? Our slaughterhouses are disgustingly inhumane. Check www.meat.org to know more. Do you really think that Jesus would approve of such cruelty?

Dave: I know that slaughterhouses are cruel. But, boycotting meat is not the only way to solve this problem.

Wright: So can you suggest a better way to stop this cruelty?

Dave: … (Silence)

Wright: Sigh... So, tell me. If the Bible is really precise and the absolute Word of God, how come we have four Gospels? Only one of them can be precise according to the order of events and the events that took place. All four of them describe Jesus doing different things but only one can be absolute. And, if one is absolute, it would also mean that the others are wrong. So, which one of the four Gospels is precise?

Dave: … (Silence)

Wright: Paul McCartney said that if anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is stop eating meat. So, as a Christian, isn’t it your duty to save the planet by going vegetarian?

Dave: The Beatles are known to say many foolish things. They also claimed to be better than Jesus.

(I doubt they said such a thing. Even if they did, would it make Paul McCartney wrong?)

Wright: Fine, then. Forget the Beatles. What about Leo Tolstoy? He said that as long as there are slaughterhouses, there will be battlefields. St. Basil said that anyone who eats meat can’t have virtue. St. Francis of Assisi called animals our brothers and sisters. Are you saying that these great people were wrong?

Dave: … (Silence)

Wright: Hello?

Dave: Wright, I thought that you wanted to have a peaceful discussion with me, but it seems that your goal is only to criticize me incessantly. I told you that I am a busy person and have a lot of things to do, and I can’t answer each and every question of yours with each and every detail. So, I must discontinue this conversation.

Wright: He, who never questions, never learns. You claim the Bible to be a “holy” book and expect others to do to the same. But, can you really expect people to accept it as “holy” without asking any questions?

Dave: The Bible is the Word of God. We have no right to question it. We should only obey. I am sorry but I don’t like your attitude. I am going to have to stop this discussion. And, even if you comment on my blog, I won’t approve your comments.

Wright: So be it.

Now, I don’t think much more is left to be said. This conversation alone must have told you about the mentality of these so-called Christians. If Jesus were to come back to this world, what would he do? He would fight these VERY so-called Christians who are corrupting His teachings.

Dave is looking for converts. Dave wants more and more people to join Christianity. I’m fine with that. I am an animal rights activist. I want people to stop torturing and killing animals. But I can provide logical reasons and arguments about why animals should deserve kindness and compassion. People have also scientifically proved that animals can feel pain and so they deserve humane treatment. But, people like Dave can’t provide logical or scientific reasons for “why” and “how” the Bible is “holy”. The Bible can’t be “holy” just because they claim that it is.

I am not saying that the Bible is an “evil” book. In fact, I have been inspired by many quotes and passages in the Bible. But, that alone doesn’t make the Bible a “holy” book, because the Bible is also full of hypocrisy and self-contradictions. Even Mahatma Gandhi said that he didn’t regard every word in the Bible to come from God.

People like Dave have no sense of logic or justice. They were just brainwashed by false doctrines and by ignorant preachers who taught them that there is no other truth than the Bible.

People like Dave don’t understand logic. But, don’t get the wrong idea. My purpose of writing this article was not to defame Dave. But my purpose is to bring every misguided Christian into the right path. I don’t want them to become atheists nor do I want them to adopt another faith. But, I want them to become true Christians, and I want them to rid themselves of their hypocrisy.

Christians are supposed the follow the teachings of Christ instead of paying so much attention to the Bible because they are Christians, not “Biblians”. Not a single word in the Bible was written by Jesus. So, why do they take the Bible to be literally true when Jesus himself didn’t?

We know about the story of the adulterous woman who was brought before Jesus so that she could be stoned to death. “People who commit adultery should be stoned to death” that’s what the Old Testament’s law says. So, Jesus was asked whether it would be right to stone her. Jesus replied, “The one among you who has not sinned should be the one to throw the first stone.” And, since, everyone knew that they were sinners, left the woman alone. And, Jesus forgave her and let her go. In other words, Jesus knew that the laws of the Old Testament were flawed and imperfect and He himself rejected them.

“Should adulterers be stoned as the Old Testaments says?” if this question is brought before a so-called Christian, his answer would probably be, “Yes, people who commit adultery should be stoned to death. But, Jesus died for our sins. So, in today’s world, we won’t stone an adulterer to death.” But, as we can clearly see from the story, Jesus forgave the adulterous woman before he died.

So, we can know how today’s so-called Christians are corrupting the teachings of Jesus even though they claim Him to be their Savior.

Also, it is funny to note a few things like:

1.       Christians talk about love and compassion, while the Old Testament talks about child murder, human sacrifice, animal sacrifice, genocides, mass murder and what not?

2.      In the Old Testament, for a loving, kind and compassionate God, He really talks a lot about how much He wants to KILL people and DESTROY cities. Doesn’t this God even know that destroying cities would also kill the innocent children and animals? Surely, EACH and EVERY person and animal living in a city CAN’T be that evil!

3.      They say Jesus died for our sins. So, if Jesus already died for our sins, why do we need to be righteous? Why do sinners still go to hell?

Of course, this list can go on and on. I can also continue telling you more about the hypocrisy of Dave and other such self-proclaimed Christians. But, for now, this is all.

Blessed are the merciful.