Now, some peaceable apologetic Christians will argue that Christians like Milosevic have merely misunderstood the teachings of the Bible. They'll claim that God required his followers to commit genocidal atrocities during the time of the Old Testament but that Jesus brought a New Testament which instead instructs people to turn the other cheek.
First of all, Christian history does not bear this New Testament idea out. Christian armies never turned the other cheek when they slaughtered their enemies in the name of God. Church leaders supported these acts and often led the clamor for holy wars.
Secondly, the New Testament argument destroys the very foundation that Christianity is built upon. If God is really all-powerful and all-knowing and all-loving, then he can't possibly have meant to tell his followers to go out and engage in acts of ethnic cleansing and then have changed his mind a thousand years or so later. If God really knows all and can do whatever he wants, why couldn't he have brought Jesus and the New Testament down earlier and saved the Earth a whole lot of bloodshed? Waiting around to teach forgiveness after you've been teaching human slaughter doesn't sound very all-loving to me. Whichever tack you take, the argument that a New Testament separates modern Christianity from the atrocities of the Old Testament is a theologically unsound excuse.
That also goes for the whole rigamarole that Christians go through to give themselves the title of God's new Chosen People. This old Christian canard argues that God used to call the Jews his Chosen People, but the Jews weren't worthy, so since the arrival of Jesus, the Chosen People are the Christians. Honestly, I don't see what difference it makes who the Chosen People are -- I don't think that they ought to have the right to go around and kill people just because they aren't Chosen. It doesn't matter whether genocide takes place on the basis of ethnicity or religion. It's still genocide.
Besides, all the Christian protestations about being followers of the New Testaments and not the Old Testament are shown to be the hollow excuses they are by the continued use of the Old Testament by practically every Christian church on the face of the Earth. If Christianity really repudiates the Old Testament, then why is the Old Testament still included in the Christian Holy Bible? Why do Christian priests and preachers still base entire doctrines on Old Testament Verses? Why do Christian politicians try to get the Ten Commandments posted in public places? Why do most Christians still circumcize their little boys if they don't believe in keeping the old covenant with God?
return to irregulartimes.comChristians accuse New Age practitioners of taking a buffet approach to religion: just taking whatever teachings from whatever traditions they like and then ignoring the ones they don't like. Pardon me, but I don't see how the Christians are any different. If you're a real, consistent Christian, you ought to join with other Christians to form a holy army to massacre as many non-Christians as you can, starting today.
On the other hand, if you really believe in compassion, mercy and forgiveness, it might be time for you to stop looking to Christianity for answers. Of all the sources for you to search in your quest for peace, love and understanding, Christianity and the Bible upon which it is based are among the least likely for you to find it.
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