On May 29, 9:42 pm, "Alex W." <
ing...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On Mon, 28 May 2012 22:50:11 -0700 (PDT), Richo wrote:
> > On May 28, 2:35 am,
saturn_...@yahoo.com wrote:
> >> Believe in Jesus, the son of the God, who died on cross for our sins.
>
> > How can someone else die for my sins?
> > It doesnt make any sense.
> > Think about it.
>
> This is a practice called "scapegoating", and Jesus wasn't the
> first nor the last such example. In fact, he was fullsquare in
> line with Jewish tradition from which we derive the very term
> "scape goat": a goat would be ritually burdened by a community's
> sins and then driven out into the desert to die.
>
Yes - a truly disgusting and corrupting idea.
If Jesus actually existed then his death was rather a shock to his
followers - the idea of his death being a sacrifice came 50 -100 years
AFTER his death.
His followers believed him to be the Messiah. They would have been
devastated by his death.
Traditionally a Messiah isn't supposed to get killed - he is
triumphant - restores the Temple and the Kingdom of David.
Jesus was a disappointment as a Messiah - so Paul came up with the
Sacrifice shtick - and the rest, as they say, is history (or
Mythology!)
A stroke of genius - turning an abject defeat (getting killed by the
Romans) into a mystical Victory!
> It's a very fundamental and widespread human instinct: someone
> else pays for mistakes and misdeeds (whether your own or anyone
> else's). We have whipping boys and fall guys. We have scape
> goats to take the blame and suffer the punishment. Whenever a
> horrific crime occurs, much (most) of the community wants to see
> someone, anyone, caught and punished, and it is only of secondary
> importance whether it's the right guy. Social unrest, economic
> woes and military disasters? It's the Christians' fault, let's
> throw them to the lions in the Circus Maximus. Crops fail, wells
> run dry, the plague kills thousands? It's the Jews what did it,
> let's kill them all.
>
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoating
A most disgusting idea. I love how Christopher Hitchens expresses his
contempt for the concept.
I couldn't do better than he.
Mark.
--
Mark Richardson mDOTrichardson61ATgmailDOTcom
Member of S.M.A.S.H.
(Sarcastic Middle aged Atheists with a Sense of Humour)
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