Jesus could sort out the parades: Church could find solution

John Coulter, with one of his regular Irish Daily Star columns. It initially featured in Newshound on 15 January 2014.

Ireland's Christian Churches have a moral duty to take the failed Haass bull by the horns and find a solution to the crisis engulfing parades, the past and flags.

The political parties are using the doomed Haass document as an excuse to campaign for votes in May's elections.

Over the past five years, the Churches have sat on their asses and wasted the renewed interest in Christianity created by the 150th anniversary commemorations of the Great Spiritual Revival of 1859.

The Churches must seek a return of Biblical Christianity as a central core of political thinking by getting parties to focus on the New Testament account of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus Christ as told in St Matthew's Gospel Chapter Five.

For any true peace and reconciliation to work in Ireland, this Sermon by Jesus must be the foundation stone of political thinking.

Christ outlines a series of attributes, commonly known as The Beatitudes. There is a school of ideological thinking – to which I personally belong – which maintains that communist hero Karl Marx based his 'Das Capital' on The Beatitudes.

His overt criticism of religion was merely a tactic ploy to disguise the fact that he had pinched his ideas from the Bible, and the words of Jesus Himself.

In reality, Jesus Christ was the first real communist – not Marx. My Christ and State ideology is, therefore, based on St Matthew's Gospel chapter 5, verses 1 to 12. Many of the Beatitudes begin (using the Authorized King James translation) "Blessed are …"

However, when the words of Jesus are taken in a modern context, they make the basis for a realistic political agenda for our Churches to champion. Here are the key points which the Beatitudes highlight:

The poor in spirit (verse 3) – the need to restore national pride in society;

Those who mourn (verse 4) – the need to remember and help the victims of the conflict in Ireland;

The meek (verse 5) – the need to help the working class, and for the rich to invest their wealth in helping those less well off in society;

They which do hunger (verse 6) – the need to combat growing poverty in society, and also provide a sound educational and health system for all;

The merciful (verse 7) – the need for a fair and accountable justice system;

Pure in heart (verse 8) – the need to restore the moral fabric of society, to encourage family values and implement the concept of society's conscience;Peacemakers (verse 9) – the need for compromise and respect of people's views based on the concept of accommodation, not capitulation;

Persecuted (verse 10) – the need for Christian Churches to have the guts to stand up for their beliefs;

When men shall revile you (verse 11) – the need for a free press with responsible regulation.

Tragically, Irish Christians are bogged down in theological debates about women clerics, translations of the Bible, abortion, gay marriage, relations with Islam, and even petty issues such as should women wear hats to church, and how 'loud' in colour should men's ties be before they can enter a church building!

Christians have even 'gone to theological war' with each other over the type of worship coming from the pews.

Ironically, extreme Christian fundamentalists – particularly from the militant pro-life lobby – have coined the perfect rallying call which can see a rebirth of church influence.

Based on the abbreviation WWJD? – it is commonly known as What Would Jesus Do?

8 comments:

  1. John no harm to you but...George Carlin sums up God & religion better than I've ever heard...


    Based on the abbreviation WWJD? – it is commonly known as What Would Jesus Do?

    Assuming he existed...Probably like he is dipicted in the gospels. A dissident. So I guess he'd dissent.

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  2. Frankie, there is no evidence that a historical Jesus ever existed, the Flavian and and Piso family used his parable as a political tool and the rest is history. but that's by the by people believe in him so he exists. you can interpret the jesus story any way so see fit people have been doing it for centuries. I like the way Johns had a look and said know what Ireland needs more religion. magic.

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  3. david, who do you believe wrote the communist manifesto?

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  4. Grouch, as far as i know Marx, Engels wrote it, But if there were other forces behind it, it would hardly be a surprise, i 've not really researched marx but i 've read the manifesto a couple of times when i was a socialist and i was going to change the world, but thanks to the internet you can access all sorts of sources and through that you realize the elite capitalists control socialism.
    Of course that's seems a paradox until you see how how socialism is put to work consolidation of wealth in the hands of a tiny elite, a capitalists wet dream. I know people will say that's not how socialism supposed to work but that's how it's worked in every other country why would Ireland be different?
    I think by your question Grouch you might think other forces were behind the manifesto that wouldn't be a surprise to me the truth is recorded history is 90 per cent bullshit. The fact that there was wall street money in the origins of soviet communism tells its own story. I get a wee bit depressed when people start putting isms on movements i think it narrows and directs the movements potential conclusion. Instead of isms why don't we have society based on real justice, accountability, freedoms, and reason instead of doctrines? Maybe we'll get there some day but in our life time we'll still be arguing over the colour of shite while the elite play their rigged game.

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  5. David,

    Instead of isms why don't
    we have society based on real justice, accountability, freedoms, and reason instead of doctrines?


    before too long some dictator of the proletariat will manage to fashion it into an ism. Orwell said of the world, at all times and everywhere there are three type of people in it: those at the top, the bottom and the middle.

    But your sentiment seems right to me.

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  6. good call david, my answer to the question is i dont really know who wrote that pile of crapitalist shite. same as yourself i havent been working for last six weeks, enjoyed surfin and havin a rant these last few weeks, sound aul heads on this site,sad the people i looked up to when younger turned out to be a load of wan*ers, cant believe the grief some warriors of the movement have been subjected to by quisling $inn feind as marty calls them just because they tell it like it is, but hey thats ireland for u. i hav to say though i dont believe the flavian piso thing - the gospels are the only thing that stop me goin mad altogether but im no holy joe either. nobody could write the opening few lines of John Gospel unless they were divinely inspired.cant believe the mils cant see they are being used/controlled whatever, if they do make any headway can u imagine what is going to happen, doesnt bear thinkin about so i will try not to. please god they will see the war is at the psyche-information level and that they are playin into their hands. the only armed struggle i believe in now is using the arms on the end of ur shoulders if someone really pisses you off with a good slap around the head, but thats not very christian either but its as gud as i can do. goin to dub tomoro might hav bit of work up there, hope u get a bit of obair too oldstock.

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  7. cheers grouch, yer a good man, there's no doubt the Favian Piso dynasties were instrumental in the creation of the church,and the propagation of their interpretation of Christ. However i never meant they wrote the gospels they came across the parable of Christ and used for their political advantage, turning the Roman empire from a poly-theological people into an mono-theological system improved their control no end.
    Concerning the gospels although their is no historical evidence of Christ, it doesn't mean the gospel aren't gospel so to speak . There's definitely something mystical and enchanting about the message there. In my opinion it doesn't really matter if there's historical evidence to back the story of Jesus if there's anybody in history you want to emulate Jesus is the man. Him and the blanket men/ hunger strikers.

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  8. and groucho marx dont forget him!

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