The Sermon on the Mount is Bad Advice

Thank you CON for your comments. Although the second round was for you to make your own argument in support of your agreed upon resolution, I will be happy to address the points you brought up. The Beatitudes It is my contention that the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount are telling people to accept their lot, and to not try to improve their position. CON has argued that I am misinterpreting these verses by saying, “he never said anything about accepting one's lot in life. he's merely saying if you are lowly such as those, keep your chin up.” Unfortunately, this does not fit with other things Jesus said. In Matthew 19:21, Jesus says that in order to receive eternal life, one must “sell your possessions,” in order to gain “treasure in heaven” [1]. In Luke 14:26 Jesus says that in order to truly be his disciple one must hate their family [2]. Now it is possible that Jesus is making an extreme claim to make a point, but the fact that he said these things suggests that being of low station, and having no earthly ties is a virtue, which is exactly the point of the Beatitudes. If one is of low station, one will receive “treasure in heaven.” Therefore, he is saying that the way to get to heaven is to make yourself lower; he has turned being persecuted, in mourning, etc, into a virtue. Thought Crime CON has contended that we can control our thoughts, but has admitted that we can only do so, “for the most part.” CON seems to suggest that these “thought crimes” are only such when we dwell on them. Unfortunately, this viewpoint lacks biblical support. As I noted previously, Matthew 5:28 equates a lustful thought with the action, and earlier in that chapter in verse 22 anger is equated with murder. When this is seen in the broader context of the God of the bible judging humans based on their beliefs [3][4], I think it is clear that we are talking about simple thoughts, not dwelling on things as CON suggests. Another claim CON has made is that it is our choice if we dwell on things. While this may be true to a point, the existence of disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [5], and Generalized Anxiety Disorder [6] show that we don’t always have control of our thoughts, so even if CON’s claim that Jesus is talking only about dwelling on things is correct, he is still damming numerous individuals who dwell on these things uncontrollably. Giving Stuff Away I made the point that Jesus gives some really bad advice on how to handle one’s personal property. My claim is based on the actual words of Jesus as written in the bible. CON is trying to claim that this passage should be interpreted differently, but has given no support to her claim. I submit that her claim can be disregarded unless it is supported. No Thought for the Morrow In pretty much the same way as the previous section, CON is lobbying for a particular interpretation, while I am actually discussing the words on the page. I noted that Jesus instructed his followers not to plan for the future because God would provide, but CON would have us believe that his words should not be followed, but instead that there is an underlying meaning that should be followed instead. I request that CON provide evidence for that viewpoint. I would, however, like to elaborate on this point. If we look to Jesus’ other teachings for context, which I have already mentioned above, we see that he tells would be disciples to hate their families [2], and to sell all of their possessions [1][7]. It seems that Jesus often instructed his followers to do things that would violate common sense, so CON’s claim that we should temper his teachings with “commons sense” would seem to violate the spirit of Jesus’ teachings. Good Bits While I freely admit that there are some good bits in the Sermon on the Mount, I would like to point out that CON has yet so bring any of them up in order to explain how they outweigh the negative things I have brought to bear. Final Thoughts I feel I have answered CON’s objections to my points, I look forward to the next round. [1] http://www.biblegateway.com...[2] http://www.biblegateway.com...[3] http://www.biblegateway.com...[4] http://www.biblegateway.com...[5] http://www.nimh.nih.gov...[6] http://www.nimh.nih.gov...[7] http://www.biblegateway.com...