Gunpowder Jesus II.

Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

And while he yet spoke, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.

Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.

And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.

And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.

And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.

Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.

Think thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me.

But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. ~Matthew 26:46-57

One of my people quote-Tweeted this last night.

Because, another day in America...another goddamn shooting, this time in Kentucky.

I've written about this crap before.

I'm tired of these fucking people. I'm tired of their obsession with guns. I'm tired of their racism. I'm tired of their outright stupidity.

I started out as a Christian. I was raised conservative. 

I've been shooting and had guns since I was a kid. I had to show myself to have some degree of responsibility before my Dad would teach me how to shoot, and I learned on his bolt-action .22 Winchester, a rifle I still own.

I was always, always taught that "Thou Shalt Not Kill." I was taught all people were the same in the eyes of God. I was taught not to combine guns and religion...indeed, as a kid in the 1980's I pretty much got the idea that incorporating guns into one's religion was a thing fanatics and terrorists did.

I'm a United States Air Force security forces veteran. "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and the possibility that I might've had to break that commandment were things that, for a few years of my life, were not an academic or theological question.

I was taught that God, being a Spirit, has no race. I was taught that Jesus was a Brown-skinned Middle Eastern Jew. 

I mean, fuck, if you really want to get technical about it the only people in the Bible who'd be considered "White" in the modern sense of the term were some of the Romans.

I actually don't even remember when I was specifically taught this but it says so in the Word and I literally remember memorizing the verse about Jesus teaching in the Synagogue on the Sabbath...as was his custom.

More to the point, if Jesus was who He says He was and He really did check all the boxes for being the Messiah, He was a devout Jew, not Romanized, and Rome would have been anathema to Him. Remember, Revelation was a diatribe against Rome.

And yet, given the meanings of the words in the name Judas Iscariot...Judas being a diminutive of Judah which was a common Jewish name at the time as well as the name the Israelites collectively gave themselves...Iscariot being a Hellenic form of the Roman term Sicarii which means "Dagger-Wielder" and was the Roman name for the Zealots who fought against Rome.

Jesus was very likely betrayed by His own people, sold out to the religious hierarchy which would've considered Him competition, and thus handed over to the Romans for what...very likely...were some serious local Realpolitik consideration.

First-Century Israel was, to the Romans, rather like Iraq almost 20 years ago was for Americans.

If you're stuck in the middle of an insurgent war...that's hell. So, it's not unlikely there was some Jewish or otherwise local equivalent to the Anbar Awakening fighting alongside the Romans simply to try and make this shit stop.

And somebody like Jesus? 

Well, He Himself said He was here to upset the delicate balance of that kind of life by bringing His Truth that God could be found in compassion, not hate, that God was not the possession of any one ethnic group or race, but was accessible to all by simply asking Him to be.

That's dangerous for politics, it was a hell of a mess for Rome, it completely upended even the very purpose of priestly castes and religious law.

And He said people would hate Him for it, and lie about Him.

He was not wrong. You just have to get rid of all the bullshit "Interpretations" to see this.

Because giving Man access to God by cutting out the greedy political or religious middlemen and the scheming social climbers completely undercuts those who desire only to be money-changers in the Temple or who are a wannabe Priestly Caste of some gimcrack theocracy.

And these absolute shitgibbons whack off to the idea of turning America into that.

Which is exactly why these motherfuckers want to make it all about guns and race and worldly politics and treat "god" like some kind of personal enforcer.

Never mind that our country was founded to be the exact opposite of this, because our Founders and their generation had lived in that kind of Empire and had to fight to get out of it.

But people like Donald Trump or Lance Wallnau or Lauren Boebert simply don't care about that.

Because they can't grift enough or get enough Power off of the Truth.

And these assholes see guns as a far more immediate route to Power than persuasion, politics or religion. They care far more about the immediacy of the power of the Gun and the threat of death to enforce compliance than they do about the power of God to change hearts and minds.

Actually, they could give a shit what anybody actually believes, so long as they submit.

Hearts and minds are irrelevant.

Because Freedom is not "profitable" enough for these false prophets, who want to force you to give them your money and let them have Power.

In that context, what's the difference between the Prosperity Gospel and Putin-Communism or Russian Orthodox nationalist Jihadism?

You think these idiots wouldn't convert to radical Islam if it was a sure ticket to money and power??

Spoiler: They Would.

Hell, these fucking people's beliefs are based more on the Turner Diaries than on the Bible!

And they see getting people hooked on outrage and racism as ways to get there. They don't care what it does to civilization or society.

The Kingdom of God will not be built by reactionaries, not that they give a shit.

Because, more than anything, these fucking people know they're all damned and it's all bullshit and one "faith" is as good as any other if it provides cover for stealing. God is, after all, God. He doesn't need money or politics!

He sure as hell doesn't care if your favorite beer brand has drag queens or trans folk in its ads. That's on you, bro.

They know it's all nothing but a bunch of bovine excrement, but they want company in hell.

The Truth is simple, Man makes it complicated because he does not want to obey.

Just remember, You can say "No."

You don't have to go to hell with them.

You don't have to believe in their Gunpowder Jesus or serve orange false prophets.

Remember that.

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And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. ~Matthew 26:26-32