Share wrote: 'OTOH maybe God does want to enslave us, but only out of pure Love.'
Were I this god, I would love this; you have succumbed to the propaganda of a tyrant. Thomas Jefferson, an admirer of Jesus but not of much else in the Christian Bible wrote of this god of the Torah (as the Christians inherited the scriptures of the Jews) in rather disparaging terms: 'There are, I acknowledge, passages not free from objection, which we may, with probability, ascribe to Jesus himself; but claiming indulgence from the circumstances under which he acted. His object was the reformation of some articles in the religion of the Jews, as taught by Moses. That sect had presented for the object of their worship, a being of terrific* character, cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust. Jesus, taking for his type the best qualities of the human head and heart, wisdom, justice, goodness, and adding to them power, ascribed all of these, but in infinite perfection, to the Supreme Being, and formed him really worthy of their adoration. Moses had either not believed in a future state of existence, or had not thought it essential to be explicitly taught to his people. Jesus inculcated that doctrine with emphasis and precision. Moses had bound the Jews to many idle ceremonies, mummeries and observances, of no effect towards producing the social utilities which constitute the essence of virtue; Jesus exposed their futility and insignificance.' *meaning terror-ific - 'terrifying' in more modern language This passage (from which the part I bolded is often quoted out of context or modified) is from a letter Jefferson wrote to one William Short in 1820. ( http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/jefferson_jesus.html http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/jefferson_jesus.html ) One might accuse Jefferson of racism on the basis of the content of this letter. Jefferson was referring to the character of god in the 'Old Testament', the Torah etc. which are a part of the Christian scriptures. Jefferson himself made a version of the Bible where he cut out all the tyrannical passages and mythology including the entire Old Testament, and most of the New. He admired Jesus to the extent the character of Jesus can be extracted from these writings, but he admired not much else in the Bible. http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/62/The_Jefferson_Bible_The_Life__Morals_of_Jesus_of_Nazareth_1.html http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/62/The_Jefferson_Bible_The_Life__Morals_of_Jesus_of_Nazareth_1.html Can you imagine an American President speaking like this today?
