IF CHRISTIANS WANT TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE, READ.... THIS....

WE ARE JEWS, NOT CHRISTIANS...

Most Christians -especially those who are most orthodox- do not realize that we are closer to the Jewish ethnocentric spirit than to the universal Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Why, do you think, did Jesus say (to the Samaritan woman) that God must be worshipped in spirit and truth?

There was only one reason for it. God was not worshipped in spirit and truth. The Jews and Samaritans alike were incapable of it.

If you know anything about the Way of Jesus Christ, you'd know that the hallmark of this amazing spiritual vision and discipline is its universality. Judaism was national and ethnic. Jesus was uncompromisingly universal.

What is the essence of this difference? What is local and national in religion is focused on rituals.

[We have now compelling evidence taking shape in our times. The nationalistic version of Hinduism (Hindutva, that is) has its icon in Lord Ram. It is centred in a temple, rising in Ayodhya. Its hallmark is ritualism. Ethics are irrelevant to it.) In the context of its bhoomi poojan, the Prime Minister became a de facto pujari.

What is the reason for the unending bad blood between the Orthodox church and the Jacobites? Ethics or rituals? [Well, in this case nothing but the immoral covetousness which has attained murderous proportions. But, both are, in their eyes, glorious specimens of Christianity, far superior to all the rest.]

Look at all national religions, including the religions once followed by Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Athenians, and Romans. They consisted entirely of rituals; especially rituals to protect a people-group. Their gods were national gods. Not worshipping them jeopardized the viability of these nations. [That was why Christians were persecuted in Rome. They won't worship the State gods]

That too was the hallmark of Judaism. It was the religion of the Jews. The Jewish God fought for the Jews and had no compassion on the Gentiles. He chose the Jews as a special people as though they were superior to the rest.

Such a notion is alien to Christianity. In the Kingdom of God, there are no God-favourites. The idea that God is not partial to any one (Acts chapters 10,11) is basic to Christianity. All are given the right to be children of God (Jn. 1: 11-12).

This also means that rituals cannot be the defining aspect of such a universal religion. Rituals are necessarily local, sectarian and denominational. There is no universal RITUAL. Every ritual separates. But every spiritual value is UNIVERSAL and integrative. Put simply, values unite; rituals divide.

Now consider the Christianity we practice in this light. It is made up entirely of rituals. [That is why, despite Jesus' anguished prayer for unity ( St. John 17), Christians are frightfully fragmented and disunited.] What separates each denominational church from all the rest is a set of rituals, unique to itself. No church can claim separate existence based on UNIVERSAL VALUES.

Priests are monopolists of rituals. They do not claim a monopoly over ethical principles, to which they are actually indifferent.

This explains why no church emphasizes ethics. Churches are obsessed entirely with rituals. So, it is either ethics, or rituals.

Given the above, I am not surprised that churches have historically accommodated a great deal of immorality, without any discomfort of conscience.

This is the ambiance in which Christians are nurtured. So, they too are, unlike Jesus and the Baptist, indifferent to moral aberrations within the church. Most Christians remained indifferent when Franco Mulakkal was accused by a nun of having raped her repeatedly.

I don't think there is a Christian -except the mentally retarded among us -who does not know that every church, every Christian institution, is reeking with corruption. But that is not felt by many as a problem.

So long as rituals are conducted every Sunday by priests in their congregations, Christians (who assume that they are believers) don't mind anything else. Never mind that the priest is a criminal and a rogue, so long as he performs the ritual for them, Christians are happy and grateful.

Especially our bishops know this. They are happy; for this works to their advantage. An ordinary believer will be damned if he does what a bishop does. Imagine the incredible advantage in being a bishop! He can do what he pleases -including unmentionable misdeeds- violate every teaching of Jesus Christ -the teaching about simplicity being one among them - and continue to enjoy abject loyalty and unlimited respect (and riches) from their flock.

That was the case with Jews. Need any proof? Well, here's it.

Jesus said about the Pharisees. Do as they tell you, but do not as they DO.

Think of the High Priest. It was natural for him to plot a murder. It was natural also for the Sanhedrin to endorse it and to invest money in it.

Crime is nothing if committed for the benefit of one's religion. If this is done by Hindus, we make a hue and cry about it. If we do it ourselves -as in the Inquisition - we think it is very honourable and pious.

That was precisely what the Jews also did. Jesus was the foremost victim of this religious aberration.

Irony of ironies! Those who claim to be his followers now practise precisely the same kind of religion which led to his judicious murder.

If this is not Judaism wreaking vengeance on Jesus through Christians, what is it?

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