Jesus: oh so moral

In the comments section of the Labi Siffre speech transcript over at the March for Free Expression blog, one chap responded angrily to a comment that it was common to ridicule Jesus:

Crusader, you said:
"We have already done our duty challenging, criticising, caricaturing and satirizing Jesus. He is an easy target."
Words of wisdom. How pathetic that we try at all cost to vilify and denigrate a man (and it does not matter in the slightest whether one believes that he was the Messiah or just an extraordinary man), who represented one of the highest moral standards in history (and even the most extremist secularist cannot deny this) of leadership, in the name of the very odd idea of bringing all religious leaders to the same ethical level. I find it quite disgusting.
Will someone please tell me what their problem with Jesus is?
I am waiting in anticipation (of total silence).
What is your problemn with the man called Jesus Christ? Mind you I said THE MAN and not God.

Dear oh dear. It's amazing how few people have actually read the Bible! I was incensed at the suggestion that I could not deny that Jesus is a good representation of moral standards, and responded. For posterity, here is my post:

From the book of Matthew alone:

3:10: "every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

3:12: "he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire"

5:29-30: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."

8:12: "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

10:15: "Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city."

10:28: "fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

10:34-35: "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."

25:41: "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"

See also 15:4-7, 18:8-9, 22:12-13, 24:37, 24:50-51, 25:30.

The Biblical Jesus is every bit as dogmatic and intolerant as every other cult leader in history. Anything he said of any value had already been far better, less ambiguously, and less conditionally articulated by philosophers and religions across the globe. To proclaim him as a representation of the highest moral standards in history is to spit on history's great reformers. Did Jesus free the slaves? Did Jesus empower women? Did Jesus legalise homosexuality? Did Jesus encourage free speech?

No. Jesus' rules were 1)Love God, then 2)Love others. God before people. That says it all really.

Joss
tabtasm.blogspot.com

In many ways, pointing out the bad things Jesus said is a red herring. It's the noticeable things he didn't say. The period of 100 years or so known as the Enlightenment can be credited with a good proportion of the values that we now consider to be quintessential to human dignity and happiness. Consider the truths in the American Declaration Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Whence are these truths derived? Certainly not from Jesus.

Jesus did not speak out for equality, for all ages, sexes, sexualities, colours and races. Jesus did not speak against slavery. He did not speak out against political religion, yet the diminution of the Church's political power is a crucial element of modern inclusivity and freedom. He made no mention of freedom of speech. In fact, Jesus' message ruled out rebellion, he commanded loyalty and subservience of subjects and servants to their masters (and, ultimately, to the master of all, God). What about democracy? Held up by Western leaders as the ultimate moral political system, yet there is no possible way you could get a call for representative rule from Jesus' example.

Stripped of all references to hell and damnation and adherence to 'every jot and tittle' of the vicious Old Testament laws, Jesus' message is simply to love. I hardly see how that is an astounding moral example since it has been articulated by so many throughout history. And also, it is hardly particularly useful. You cannot go from love to free speech, or from love to separation of church and state - love just isn't the fundamental moral grounding of utilitarian morality, and it is also completely subjective and ambiguous. If I choose to consider Jews, say, as sub-human, there is nothing in Jesus' words that necessarily tells me that his message of love should apply to them. Clearly Jesus wasn't thinking that we should love all living things when he killed a fig tree because it wouldn't bear fruit out of season.

I'll give Jesus credit as having a more compassionate message than most of the other cult leaders, such as Moses and Mohammed. But if I was going to pick a good moral example from history there's no way I'd pick Jesus. Ghandi beats Jesus by a huge long road, and I still disagree with half of what he said.