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I'm wondering if there are any atheist/agnostics who still admire Jesus Christ but don't necessary have to belong to Christian faith ?
I know some that hate religion but love Jesus
Although a believer might find comfort in some of Jesus' words, it should serve as a reminder that just because a man appears righteous does not necessarily mean he always practices it. Imagine observing a man who tells the truth most of the time but occasionally tells a hurtful lie. Should we not feel wary of such a person? Or if someone breaks his promise, should we not feel cheated? Especially if that person calls himself the Son of Man, we should expect him to act perfectly all the time, not just some of the time. His saying should reflect consistency, giving no hint of hypocrisy. However, the main character of the gospels, Jesus "Christ," gave no hint of consistency. The performances of Jesus describe the actions of a con-artist, gives obvious half-truths and then promises them salvation for their sacrifice. Moreover, the Biblical Jesus gives wrongful information, breaks promises, lies, calls people unsavory names, orders killings, and threatens to kill children. He gave questionable advice about income, marriage, and future plans and he ended his short life in tragic suicidal death. As David Hume wrote, "A man delirious, or noted for falsehood and villainy, has no manner of authority with us."
I think Jesus existed and taught some very wise things.
My favorite is, "If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out." I have used that many times. To me, it means that if something in my life is causing me unhappiness, get rid of it.
In addition, his religion has inspired some great music. In fact, I was just playing "Onward Christian Soldiers" on Youtube this morning. Fantastic piece of music.
On the other hand, it appears that Jesus was pretty full of himself, thinking he was the son of a god and everything, and tried to boss people around too much for my taste. When one guy said he wanted to bury his poor father, Jesus said, "Let the dead bury the dead." Not very sympathetic if you ask me,
If he were alive today, I wonder what religion he would join?
Jesus is a fantasy character who is the idealistic embodiment of the perfect human leader.
He is humble and unconcerned with worldly riches, doesn't seek power or wish to dominate but has all the power and wisdom in the universe at his fingertips. He never does wrong; he knows when NOT to use his power just as well as when, and he uses that power to shut down petty tyrants and hypocrites while lifting up the poor, the unfortunate and downtrodden of his world. He is a guy who would love and respect you personally, help you grow and never give up on you no matter how bad you screw up, provided you honestly try to do better.
What's not to like? The guy is like an awesome, bearded personal Superman who's only kryptonite is his love for humanity!
But the fantasy character Superman does not actually exist to edify humanity... it was made to sell comic books and later cartoons and movies. At a profit. A very large profit. Superman speaks to common and deep human longings and aspirations and people will throw money at it without blinking, because they can't separate the ideal from the symbol in their heads.
Likewise, Jesus the character is merely a tool to pull on good people's heartstrings and manipulate subconscious longings into real-life profiteering and control over the masses. If we started loving truths and principles themselves instead of the manipulable symbols that serve as proxies for them, we'd move a long way towards moving to a higher perspective as a species.
I'm wondering if there are any atheist/agnostics who still admire Jesus Christ but don't necessary have to belong to Christian faith ?
I know some that hate religion but love Jesus
Do I believe in Jesus? No. More than likely the man did not exist.
Do I admire the myth of Jesus? Yes and no. He supported slavery and by today's standards his political views would probably be called "communism". I think he had some interesting ideas about the poor and downtrodden, he seemed to show a lot of sympathy and understanding for them. Probably because he was a member of the poor and down trodden.
If you look at the myth of Jesus, there is not a lot of admirable stuff going on there. Jesus was the member of a political and religous underclass. The only time he spoke of love, understanding and enrichment was when he was talking about the underclass that HE belonged to. Other underclasses, such as slaves, were not on his radar.
Compare that to a follower of Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr, who said "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". MLK believed in uplifting everyone. Jesus really only cared about his small circle of influence. I don't blame him though. The world was a smaller place back then. It would have been impossible for him to grasp all the people that were suffering in the world. Further proof that if he DID exist, he was obviously not divine.
I'm wondering if there are any atheist/agnostics who still admire Jesus Christ but don't necessary have to belong to Christian faith ?
I know some that hate religion but love Jesus
It is all a myth, there are no gods, there are no sons of gods. It's ancient fairy tales from the bronze age.
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