How do right wing Christians resolve Jesus' apparent liberal leanings?

Question

If you read the Bible you see that Jesus was extremely liberal in his teachings, give your money the poor, easier for camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven, etc. Further Jesus was clear about loving one's enemies and leaving judgement to God. So what are we to think of the many conservative Christians apparently full of hate bashing liberals and anyone else who thinks differently than them?

Answer 1

Yay for proving Christianity wrong!

Answer 2

First lets get the political thing out of the way:
Jesus was liberal according to Judaism, while Christians are conservative when compared to what is considered liberal now.
Its a sliding scale.
Jesus did not come to make a political statement, he came to save the world from their sin, only the jews thought they had sin covered and wanted a political messiah to get rid of their roman persecutors.

As for the other thing, We are not to judge other peoples faith or lack of it, because we cannot read their minds and hearts, and neither are we to condemn them. However, the Bible clearly states a number of times that the Christian community is to watch out for one another and correct each other if they sin.
Unfortunately, many Christians like to apply that correction to everyone they come into contact with, not just other believers.
I, as a Christian, try to live by Jesus' standards, and although I think the world would be better if everyone lived by Jesus' standards, I do not expect them to. (Why would unbelievers live like believers?) People will make their own choices. I can help guide them toward the truth, but I cannot make them believe it. Jesus also warns against this. He basically says not to bother presenting the message of salvation to people who do not want to hear it. They will only see it as an attack, and Christians should try to live at peace with all men, without compromising their faith.
Sorry for the wordiness, just my attempt at a sincere answer. :-)

Answer 3

Forgiving a sin does not mean condoning
it, which is what many liberals do. By the way just as many liberals are rich white men who don't really care about helping the poor, but are just looking for reasons to bash the other side. Do you really think all those rich liberals would rather give up all their wealth and have Communism instead?

Answer 4

Many people call themselves Christians, but they are only feeble followers of Christianity. I consider myself part of the Christian right only due to the fact that I agree with more policies of Republicans than I do Liberals or Demorats. I am all for helping others, giving money to the poor and forgiveness. This does not mean throwing money away on people who can help themselves but don't. This does not mean giving absolution to people who have every intention of re-offending. When Jesus refered to the rich and the "Eye of the needle" he was referring for those who rely on their money instead of trusting in God. The "Eye of the needle" was a smaller door within a larger gate in Jesus' time. Therefore it was difficult to fit a camel through it but not impossible.

Answer 5

How do liberal christians resolve Jesus' apparent conservative leanings? Jesus taught looking at a woman with lust = adultery. Not exactly a liberal point of view.

The reality is, Jesus was far too complex to be put in a US conservative/liberal box although I'm aware people from both sides love to try to force him into theirs.

Answer 6

WONDERFUL QUESTION!!

I am a Christian with a strong liberal political leaning and I've been trying to figure this out for years!

Right wing political agenda and economic dogma are wholely incompatible with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. Actually, they're down right mutually exclusive, however, they're the first ones to use Christianity as their cover. I think its a sinister but brilliant plan, because they have taken advantage of people who most unfortunately, would rather listen to grandstanding proclamations of belief and trust in Jesus than look to the actual actions and motives of individuals.

Now, Conservatives pretend to work for the common man in the Bible Belt, capriciously wielding allegiance to God and "Our American Values," but all the while, they only work for the highest strata of the economic spectrum, most often times trampling on the individual rights of Americans, all the while, either ignoring the Constitution or taking terrorist (yeah, I said it! Terrorist) guerilla warfare tactics to re-write it to expand the rights of the Executive branch.

It brings a nauseous twinge to the pit of my stomach that my people have repeatedly bought into this madness and have overwhelmingly augmented the right's resources without realizing the hypocrisy!

Anyone who knowingly (and I know that they know) and repeatedly misrepresents the will of God in such a manner is definitely subject to His wrath in the end. I'm not generally one who condemns others to Hell, but, I definitely have to wonder about the sincerity of these people. When you mislead others as to matters of the soul, you're playing with fire. This goes double for televangelists and other professed "men of God" who swindle people out of billions each year to fatten their own bank accounts.

Answer 7

Loving enemies doesnt mean you condone their behavior. I dont believe Christians should be bashing anyone since none of us are without sin, but just as Jesus loved, we should also. Notice however that Jesus was not always a nice guy, He had a lot of things to say to people who thought they were great, those spouting arrogant questions at Him and not really wanting an answer (not unlike folks here) but those who really wanted to learn, He loved like family.

Answer 8

You know that argument goes both ways. There are thousands of liberals bashing Christan's and refusing to hear anything that disagrees with them. As far as Jesus being liberal, liberal only means moving away from customs of our time, so there are good forms of liberalism and bad. It depends on what you're moving towards. Liberals of our time stand for things I agree with, and some stuff I'm strongly against. But I respect there opinion, even though I strongly disagree. But the sad thing is, that I haven't run across many who will treat me with the same respect.

Answer 9

we should give to the poor and we do, however it is not give to pay for someone to live there whol life i.e. welfare, food stamps, medicade. They need to do there part to try wich I believe is what Jesus would want. The camel quote is reffering to the fact that money changes people. If we use welath to help people it is ok. As far as loving our enemies God also allows us to defend ourselves our familys and our freedom. However there will always be extremists on both sides so don't take anything politicians or pundants say too serious.

Answer 10

You asked too many many questions, so I'll answer the first. Jesus taught to give Your money (or similar support,) to the poor. Not to take other's money and give it. We sometimes expect the government to do things that we don't want to be bothered with, but they (the gov't) can't do it without taxing more that it's worth. "A dollar can't make the round-trip to Washington and back without shrinking in the process."

Answer 11

Excellent question, one I've wondered myself. I think some Republicans try to cling to religion to gain people's support, but never actually keep promises to the religious, a la Bush, who only threatens to do something about those "dangerous gays" when elections roll around. The GOP only uses christians for their votes, then leaves them by the wayside as they count their billfolds.