Saturday 10 May 2014

Jesus is one of the worst role-models in all fiction... here's why.

When discussing whether or not Jesus really was a magical being, Christians and their apologists frequently tell me that it matters less than the moral teachings of this character. They claim he is someone we should all look up to. In response, I inform them that from my perspective, the Jesus character is one of the most horrid in all fiction. They are typically stunned and ask me to justify my statement. To save me from having to repeat myself every time, I shall expound on it here. 


It's by no means a unique view. If you read the New Testament free from Christian brainwashing, it is fairly easy to come to. No doubt Christians will either continue to dismiss it, or their heads may explode, I'm not sure which.

The Jesus character said he came not to bring peace, but a sword. He said those who don't listen to him will face worse than the Old Testament horrors when Judgement day comes (judgement by him or his father depending on your view of the Trinity - for those who do believe in the Trinity, Jesus must by necessity also be as nasty as God). He said to people that if they love their families more than him they aren't worthy (classic Charles Manson or any other cult leader).

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." Matthew 10:34-35, Luke 12

He's certainly not against violence and tyranny, according to the divinely inspired Revelations he'll be doing a fair bit of it himself when he returns, dressed in blood soaked clothes to smite nations with the sword protruding from his mouth before he seeks to establish his rule with an iron rod, killing all who stands in his way.

He says that his is the only way to avoid this fate and yet he purposely talks in confusing stories, supposedly so those who are ready to go along with it will understand; that isn't much different from the cold calling that spiritualist quacks do. People will clutch at vague ideas, read something into it, and the stupid ones will think it is profound and him their savior. He also says he trips them up so he can then save them. He'll speak plainly to his cult's officers though. Classic con artist.

When criticised by Jews for not eating hygienically as per tradition, Jesus' response was to call them hypocrites for not putting to death their children who did not honour their parents, as per the word of God. Clearly they touched a raw nerve. Matthew 15, Mark 9

"And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life." Matthew 19:29. Again with the forsaking of family. This time he decided to include children. Child neglect is a crime and a disgrace. In the same chapter he's busy giving people unsound financial advice. Given how much of a threat family is to him, and how poor his grasp on economics is and how his ideas would inevitably lead to more poverty, he seems a lot like a leftist. You'd think he'd be less popular on the economic right.

When he came across a man supposedly possessed, rather than simply banish the demon, he pushed it into 2000 pigs and drove them off a cliff into the sea. Basically, he turned up at a place, lied to a man with mental health issues and then destroyed thousands of livestock, pretended he did them a favour, and then buggered off. The man is a menace. Clearly not too fond of animals either.

In Mark 11:13-21 Jesus spots a fig tree so off he goes for fruit (you'd think he'd understand seasons, but clearly he's not too bright) but the tree hasn't produced the fruit yet. In effect his response was to say that if he can't have fig, no one can, so he destroyed the tree.

Obviously his wickedness has its limits. For example, he didn't look too kindly on people thinking they could do bad things when he's not looking, such as beating their slaves (the old and new testaments fully and explicitly endorse slavery) in a drunken orgy. For those people he'll come when they least expect it and cut them in sunder and deal with them like the unbelievers. Luke 12:45-46

The vast immorality of Jesus can be represented by "take no thought for the morrow". Matthew 6:34. This is his primary doctrine. He's either deluded or wicked. Take a few minutes to watch Christopher Hitchens' take on the matter.


Jesus was psychotic, he was a dangerous narcissist, a megalomaniac, manipulative, a poisonous pædagogue, and given the more pleasant utterings he made, he clearly suffered from some form of multiple personality disorder. Now, let's be fair to Jesus, this wouldn't all be his fault; Jesus was clearly a very mentally ill person. That being said, he's still no one to look up to, and he's certainly no one people should use as a positive role model. By any rational modern standard, Jesus is one of the most disturbing characters in the whole of fiction.