EMBRYOS....AND....ZYGOTES....ARE....NOT....BABIES!
Sure, they may be FUTURE babies in several months....but a microscopic-to-rice grain-sized doodad does not a child make, me friend!
And killing random people because they share a similar religion to a bunch of Wahhabi maniacs or killing medical professionals because they occasionally flush out the above-mentioned doodads is neither "self-defense" nor is it Christlike.
VARIOUS BITS FROM THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
(MATTHEW CHAPTERS 5-7 - KJV-EDITION, IN CASE YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE KJV-ONLY GUYS....)
5:5 - Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
5:7 - Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
5:9 - Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
5:38 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
5:39 - But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
5:43 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
5:44 - But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
5:45 - That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
5:46 - For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
5:47 - And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
5:48 - Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
6:14 - For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
6:15 - But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
7:1 - Judge not, that ye be not judged.
7:2 - For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
7:3 - And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
7:4 - Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
7:5 - Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Also, there's a huge difference between "self-defense" and "premeditated murder".
*Sheesh*! It's been roughly almost 2000 years! Could you idiots be more like the guy you supposedly follow for once?! True Christians are peaceniks and humanitarians who don't cotton to stuff like greed, hate and violence. They are noble and gentle souls who stand up for what's right in the manner of nature similar to Sojourner Truth, Mohandas Gandhi & Martin Luther King Jr. They "Speak The Truth To Power"...not use wanton firepower!
A True Christian isn't a warmonger. A True Christian is a hardcore altruist. A True Christian would try to talk things out and use diplomacy first. A True Christian is not JUST about saving souls but about bettering lives in the Here & Now! As Above, So Below!
For many centuries, the established Church has been anything BUT these things! When Jesus sees the pogroms, death camps, witch hunts, inquisitions, murders, rapes, homophobia, misogyny, warmongering, imperialism, genocide and hyper-capitalistic greed done in his name, HE WEEPS!
JESUS WEPT....JESUS WEEPS!
A man (who may or may not have existed but even a myth can speak truths) comes with a new take on Judaism that is far more universalist, humanitarian and peace-promoting and you pervert it into "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!".
A strictly secular government is not just good for government, it's good for religion, too! When both are completely separate, both remain pure!
You don't want purity. You don't want peace. You don't give a damn about Christ or Christianity! You want POWER! You want to dominate and control! You are sadists who love to watch the world burn! You and your Demiurge are the REAL DEVIL!
I say this as a Universalist Interfaith-thinking NeoPagan! I'm more Christian than you'll ever be!!!!
