Are pro-war, pro-violence, pro-retaliation Christians who don't care about the poor really Christian?

Question

To be is a Christian is to be not only a believer but a follower of the teaching of Jesus. Jesus implored his followers over and over to follow the golden rule, turn the other cheek, love they neighbor, abandon an eye for an eye, see peacemakers as blessed and to help the poor.

Don't tell me Christians aren't perfect - I don't expect them to be. But if you don't believe in the basic teaching of Jesus - how could you possibly be considered a Christian?

Answer 1

An excellent point. I never did view the pro-war bunch as "Christians", although ironically it is the religious right wing hawks, through their "Christian" leader, Bush II (or Bush Lite, if you prefer), who are hard at work destroying the heart and soul of this country. Most of these "Christians" are also rich -- what part about the camel and the eye of the needle don't they understand? I think your definition of Christian makes more sense, but then, I never thought any of it made much sense anyway.

Answer 2

Pro-war? Stop acting so superior. I'm a Christian and a vet. We don't like warany more than anyone else. Have you considered that many of us have loved ones out there. If you honestly think that we wake up in the morning hoping we can go to war with someone then your an idiot. We hate war just as much as you or any of your arrogant friends. But we also believe in protecting the people we love. If that takes war or violence then so be it.

Golden rule- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" If I was going around raping and killing women and children, If I was a mass murderer, etc, then I would expect someone to kill me in order to protect everyone else. So on this point you simply don't know what your talking about.

Turn the other cheek- Slapping someone in the face was a form of insult. This is what jesus was talking about when he said turn the other cheek. It does not mean that we are all supposed to be pacifist and allow someone to kill us and our loved one or strangers either for that matter. So again you don't know what your talking about.

Love thy neighbor- My neighbor isn't trying to kill anyone. Crazy muslims are.

Abandon an eye for an eye-- We never had that policy to begin with so how can we abandon it. We have never tried to kill the same # of them as they killed of us. Our strategy is based on obfectives not body counts. Again your wrong.

See peacemakers as blessed--- Hey news flash! Were trying to help the peaceful Iraqis establish a stable government that is not likely to abuse its people. That makes us the peacemakers. You should see us as Blessed.

Help the poor- Hello, The guys were helping are pretty poor.

Think with your brain and not your feelings.

Answer 3

The answer to the question you asked is.. probably not. To love fighting and killing is not right. To not care about other people is also not right either.
But I think what your really asking is why aren't many Christians for peace at all costs and social welfare.
As for your question about war, violence, etc...the goal of turning the other cheek is to bring about peace. If I slap you face and you slap my face back, I may then feel justified in punching you in the stomach. But if I slap your face and you don't retaliate, then not only will I not feel justified in punching you in the stomach, but I might even regret slapping your face in the first place. That is because I have a conscience, a sense of right and wrong, and treating people fairly.
The problem with some people like extreme Islamists is they don't have the same conscience. They always feel justified in attacking us because we aren't Islamic, we are infidels. They believe it is good and right to kill infidels. It doesnt matter whether we respond or not. In fact, if we don't do anything they will see it as easy pickin's and attack and kill more. The goal of radical Islam is making the whole world Islam by force. So our options are to resist (which violence is the only effective means), convert western civilization to Islam (then maybe we have peace except then if your in the wrong sect of Islam, another sect will be trying to kill you), or wait around for the Islamic extremists to obtain the means of carrying out their goals.
I don't think that's what Jesus had in mind. He wanted us to promote peace by being peaceful, but I don't think we're supposed to let people walk all over us and kill us. As I heard an ex football player turned preacher say once "Jesus said turn the other cheek, but after that gave no further instructions."
You have to understand your adversary. If it's the white American society of the 1960's non violence works. If it's the British in India non violence works. If it's Hitler in the 1930's it doesnt work (the Allies let him have Poland hoping he'd be satisfied and stop, but he was only emboldened). If it's radical Islamists today, I don't think turning the other cheek works.
Finally, Jesus himself used violence to express his anger with people selling stuff in the temple.
As for helping the poor, there are a lot of Christians giving a lot of time and money to help poor people in the United States and in other countries.
Social welfare is something that is debatable. It's not that christians don't care about the poor. The question is, what is most effective at helping the poor? If you help someone too much, they often get spoiled and never learn to earn what they eat and use. They never learn what they have to offer to society. Read the parable of the Talents in the bible (Matthew 25:14-30).

Answer 4

Hmm, there is a difference between being pro-war and being pro-defense. I am praying that the war in Iraq will come to a speedy end. I think strong spirits or angels will need to be sent in to calm down inflamed emotions running way too high. In regards to turning the other cheek, my family put up with lawyers, judges, and bankers coming after my family's land for 15 years, and only one of the those lawyers went to prison for doing the same thing to other clients. It took a lady judge to finally say it was a travesty of justice and needed to be stopped. What if we had turned the other cheek until those lawyers had walked off with everything we owned? Sometimes you have to fight back to defend your families. I think it is also wise to be careful about how you judge people who help the poor. Sometimes we do it anonymously and won't provide proof even if people ask.

Answer 5

Yes, pro-war, pro-violence, pro-retaliation Christians who don't care about the poor can be considered Christian.

Why? Christians believe in a fictional character named Jesus who was featured in another work of fiction named the Bible. Christians also believe in a man-made religion that's filled with contradictions and hypocrisies.

So, Christians from all walks of life can be considered Christian.

What a mess!

Answer 6

Please look up the following logical fallacies and cease using them:

Argumentum ad misericordiam

Fallacies of composition

I should also mention that applying personal morals to social conditions is absurd. Christ's message of turning the other cheek does not mean that a society allow murders, child molestation or drug dealing by telling their police officers to turn the other cheek when confronting criminals. Nor does it mean that Christians should refuse to fight a just war. And you'll find very few Christians who think war first then negotiatoin or who don't care about the poor. Please keep your ridiculous reasoning and poorly thought out politics out of your provocational questions.

Answer 7

Pro-violence? You are talking about a very tiny minority of Christians here.

As far as the War on Terror, do you realize how many times and for how long we have turned the other cheek? There is a line that has been crossed.

Answer 8

Yes

Answer 9

Hello Kitty is the Second Coming.

Answer 10

Yep. They're really Christian.

Just give into the platitude that Jesus died for your sins, and then you can be as evil as you want and still get into heaven...

At least, that's what those people will tell you.

Sad, eh?