Something about fruit, intruders, commandments, Good Samaritans, neighbors, sheep, goats and liberals in "godless"

[lees1975]

northern cities.

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/09/something-about-fruit-intruders.html

Matthew, the former tax collector and outcast, who was one of the original twelve apostles, says that false prophets can be identified by their "fruits." meaning by the outcome of their works or their lifestyle. At one point, he records a conversation Jesus had with a lawyer who was a member of the Pharisee party, what amounted to a theological "test" of his knowledge of the scriptures.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"

Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments." [Matthew 22:34-40, NIV]

I put the emphasis in bold on those words, because in this short passage, Jesus is actually equating these two commandments, tying them together, and literally making one of the core theological points of the Christian faith. He's saying that loving one's neighbor as one's self is the way that one demonstrates that they love God with all their heart, soul and mind. And he says that the essence of one's faith, "all the law and the prophets," hang on these two commandments.

At another point, recorded in Luke 10:25-37, Jesus relates a parable to illustrate the answer to the legal expert's question, "And who is my neighbor?" The parable, known as the Good Samaritan, goes to a very dramatic length to show that Samaritans were included in that definition, and that God expected a demonstration of love for the Samaritans as a demonstration of love for himself.

There are a couple of things to catch here. One, this is not an optional virtue, or a choice for Christian practice, it is a commandment. Christians are to love God with all of their heart, soul and mind, in other words, all of their being, and they are to demonstrate this by loving their neighbor, who is, by Jesus' definition, all of their fellow human beings, most particularly all those with whom they come in contact with and with whom they share community.

So it's a correct conclusion to call what Trump and Vance are doing to the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio evil. Clearly, they are not loving their neighbor, and that means they are showing contempt and disrespect to God as well. How does that sit with hypocritical Evangelical leadership?

And if you're considering the Pope's remarks, calling the election a choice between the "lesser" of two evils, then it is very clear, by this Biblically supported doctrine, that Trump and Vance are guilty of being the greater evil.

"They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

[lees1975]

1. No wonder no one trusts them.

Is that the kind of hatred and bigotry Evangelicals want as their own image? Because that's what standing with Trump is going to get you.