CHRISTIANISTS AND CHRISTIANS

A loyal reader has taken Ned gently to task for exhibiting an apparent antipathy towards people of faith. Now, Ned does not consider himself a person who adheres to any particular cult or belief system, but he is not so arrogant as to deny the existence of a higher power. That said, Ned would like to offer his apologies if his sentiments describing Christians seemed too heavy handed or unfair.
Ned believes one of the greatest advances humans have ever reached was the promulgation of the teachings of Jesus.
And one of the greatest tragedies of humanity has been the abject failure of most of those calling themselves Christians to even attempt to live up to those teachings.
Think of those who, professing to be Christians, deny equal rights to all of their fellows.
Think of those calling themselves Christians who support murderous wars carried out by mercenaries in the pay of this country mainly against persons of color.
Think of those who, amassing filthy lucre like the Dragon of the Nibelung, justify their own colossal greed and selfishness by appealing to Christianity, saying, as one of the Wall Street plutocrats, that they were "doing God's work."
Think of those who support the wanton destruction of the planet in pursuit of material excess, smugly justifying it either as James Watt, Reagan's notorious Secretary of the Interior, who said it didn't matter what happened to the environment since Jesus was coming soon and he would fix it, or as those who say that since the Old Testament gave "man" "Dominion" over the Earth, that we can do damn well what we please to it.
Think of those who support ignorance when it comes to science, but expect "scientists" to provide them with the latest video game so they can idle away their increasingly meaningless existence.
And think of those who treat their bodies, the "temple of the spirit", with contempt, becoming morbidly obese and expecting "society" to provide them with as many drugs as necessary to "cure" their addition to sloth and gluttony.
No, friends, Ned can think of no higher philosophy than the teachings of jesus. He wishes there were more followers of these teachings than there are 'Christianist' opportunists, prostituting those sacred teachings for their own gain.