The word atheist is usually associated with being non-religious. Although this is usually the case, there is a group of atheists who identify themselves as being Christian. They follow the moral teachings of the faith while rejecting the existence of a God, as well as the divinity of Jesus. Rather, Jesus is seen as an ideal model of morality which one should strive to reach. Instead of accepting Jesus as a way to heaven, Jesus is seen as a way to humanity. This humanistic view gets to the root of Christianity, and represents the core teachings of Jesus: peace, love, helping the downtrodden, and rebelling against popular belief of the time. Does this sound familiar?
Going back to the left wing peace rallies of the 1960’s, you would see an abundance of this ideology. If this is so, why does the American right wing advocate religion so heavily? Religion is a powerful political influence with its core message manipulated, misconstrued, and institutionalized to the point where even Jesus wouldn’t want to be associated with it. The right wing makes God partisan, while advocating for individualism and free markets that inevitably create a greater societal dichotomy between the rich and the poor. This is done while simultaneously cutting social programs that the poor rely on.
Jesus is to the American right-wing as Nietzsche is to the German Nazi party. Their messages misconstrued in order to justify an end that directly contradicts their real meaning.
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