I thought it would be good to put parts of this response to agent H in a new thread about Jesus vs Christianity because there is a larger discussion to be had here that has nothing to do with the subject of the original thread. This will be edited to a degree from the original post I made because in that post I was addressing someone who I don't have much respect for and I want to de-emphasize that in this thread. Whether you are Christian, Rastafarian, Hebrew Israelite, Wiccan, Whatever, you should get to know Jesus.
Jesus wasn't a priest or mega church pastor. He was a protester. He was a rebel. He talked about having his own kingdom with his disciples ruling with him. The title of messiah wasn't some kind of spiritual leader. Literally every king of Israel was "anointed" (with oil) so every king was a messiah. Of course Christians don't talk about this because they act like they care about Jesus but couldn't be bothered to understand the culture he came from.
When the Pharisees and Sadducees attacked Jesus, trying to make him seem demonic, Jesus pointed out that their ACTIONS identified THEM as children of Satan because "the lusts of your father ye will do". He said that their father was a liar from the beginning. Jesus said of the Pharisees that they were trying to pull a small piece of wood from their brother's eye while having a 2x4 in their own.
[The previous discussion included the common slander that Aleister Crowley was a satanist when in reality this only really means anything to bible believers, which Crowley was not.]
Crowley's idea of ethics was a response to the hypocrisy and convoluted system of the church he was raised in. And it is similar to the beliefs of pagans and wiccans. He said do as thou wilt (good) and what is wrong is to restrict, inhibit, repress, or divert one's and another's will. (source: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Thelemic_Ethics)
Which, as I said, is similar to:
Wiccan morality is largely expressed in the Wiccan Rede: 'An' it harm none, do what ye will' - old-fashioned language for 'as long as you aren't harming anyone, do as you wish'. While this could be interpreted to mean "do no harm at all," it is usually interpreted as a declaration of the freedom to act, along with the necessity of thinking through and taking responsibility for the consequences of one's actions.[
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccan_morality
This isn't that far from Jesus as you'd imagine. Jesus was famous for his rejection of the Mosaic law, shortening it to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you". You can also said it was "love God and your neighbor as yourself". There was a need for this, if you've actually studied the law and Hebrew culture, because the law was so oppressive that a lot of people weren't really even trying. There was restriction after restriction and it turned people into lawyers. And because you could be stoned, that's why there was a commandment about false witness because people could simply lie and pay people to lie and say you were guilty.
If Crowley was bisexual then his rejection of his parents religion makes perfect sense. "restrict, inhibit, repress" That's probably how he felt. His parents probably couldn't accept him for who or what he was and the truth is that a lot of children feel unloved by their parents for these reasons and they struggle with morality because the version fed to them doesn't seem right when their differences isn't hurting themselves or anyone else. He wanted to be free to do what he wanted as long as he wasn't hurting anyone. And for that he's called satanic.
People with alternative lifestyles have been severely mistreated by society and I don't excuse myself because I made gay jokes too because I didn't love them. I was too judgmental to care. I just knew I wasn't gay. But Jesus said judge not lest you be judged. The bible says that we have all sinned. So what if after sinning one time you just got instantly struck by lightning? You wouldn't even learn why what you did was wrong, nor could you make any amends. If we hate each other... that's not following Jesus at all. That's why 1 John 3 was and still is my favorite chapter in the bible. Because it shows you that the "children of God" are those who LOVE their fellow man. Period. You can have all the laws you want but if you don't know love it is all for naught.
Do you choose religion or spirituality? Do you really want to know Jesus? Or do you just want to be in a church that named itself after the European version of his title? I fear I have more respect for Yeshua (Jesus) than any Christian. That's why I care who he really was and don't use his identity to serve my personal desires or agenda. He wasn't for the government. He was always for the people. He wasn't for church. Although it was his custom to go the synagogue on shabbat, his "church" was everywhere he went. He "fulfilled" his duty to the law but he wanted to transform people's understanding.
Christianity did NOT follow Jesus. Only individuals, who understood the gospel, and who consume (that is to say, take into their hearts and minds) the character of Jesus Christ, only whose are they that actually follow him. I believe this is what made Haile Selassie a follower of Yeshua after the Ethiopian, and not the Catholic, tradition.
So am I defending Crowley? I don't know the man. I don't know what was in his heart. So I do not JUDGE the man. YOU call him a satanist the same way they called Jesus one. Do you know his heart? Or are you picking up stones because you see other people with stones in their hands? Jesus was the one who said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone". You think you know who all these people are that you're judging? That you think are pedophiles because someone else said so, because someone else said so? If any of you had evidence of such they'd be in jail. We have a system for that. And if you have evidence they are pedophiles that you're hiding from that criminal justice system then you are protecting pedophiles so you must not think it's so bad. So why, if you know, why aren't they in jail already? I'll tell you why. Because the people who don't like them, LIE.
JUST LIKE THE PHARISEES LIED AGAINST JESUS, the people who don't like them, LIE.
If I go around falsely accusing my enemies then how am I better than them? My biggest pet peeve is hypocrisy. When I was young I was arrogant in my beliefs and didn't know it. And I was a zealot. That's why I went and still go by Zealot X. I debated people hard, but I learned a lot in the process. And age has shown me my errors. And when I was finally able to read the bible more critically it was like the scales had fallen off my eyes because I had finally found the limit of what I could even pretend to defend. And for me that was women being taken as spoils of war. Especially as a descendant of slaves I could not do or justify doing that to another human being, much less women. And then kill the older women while keeping the virgins to take as wives? ... that was way too far for me. You want to call me a satanist for that? Then I'm a satanist. But in reality I was more satanic (more like satan) when I was in Christianity.
I follow righteousness. That's why I love Yeshua. That's why I love Selassie. That's why I love Bob Marley. And I love my people even when no one else loves them enough to take action against our oppression by white supremacy.
Also See: Yeshua(Jesus) Vs Moshe (Moses)
http://www.jah-rastafari.com/forum/message-view.asp?message_group=7186&start_row=1
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