Essay: Real Christianity is liberal

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Real Christianity is liberal

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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#God is #love. Good Samaritan. #Jesus' example



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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Real Christianity is liberal

Christianity started out as a very liberal way of life. Take a look at the things Jesus personally did and said. A red-letter version of the New Testament will help. I won’t cite chapter and verse, but if you’re up for this discussion, you will already feel right at home.

Above all, Jesus lived and taught love. He even made the blunt assertion that “God is Love.” Jesus pointed out that the greatest law was Love – of God and neighbor – and he used the parable of a good Samaritan to point out that everyone is our neighbor.

In contrast to the popular idea that “you are on your own,” a core liberal belief is that “we are all in this together.” That is, we are all neighbors and need to care about our common good at every level, not just our own family or religion.

While teaching personal responsibility, Jesus also taught us to not focus overmuch on individual liberties. He

Essay: Would you rather hitch a ride with a conservative or a liberal?

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Would you rather hitch a ride with a conservative or a liberal?

From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee

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Chum For Thought:
Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters

Would you rather hitch a ride with a conservative or a liberal?

It was getting late on a cold Iowa afternoon when I stopped for a hitchhiker on an empty stretch of two-lane highway. 

After putting his three heavy bags into the back, settling in, and thanking me, he told a story about a conservative town down the road that had confiscated his companion dog of 3-years and refused to release it without a $100 ransom that he couldn’t afford.

He asked me why I had picked him up. I said, “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about politics recently and about the differences between liberals and conservatives. I’ve become absolutely certain that we’re all in this together and it really bothers me when people take the attitude that as long as they get theirs, everybody else can go to heck.” 

He replied, “Yeah, I figured you were a good guy when I saw your Obama bumper sticker.”

Science Fiction: Everyone Takes a Test

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Everyone Takes a Test

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

Science fiction. A planetary visitor becomes the object of crude hostility while having dinner at a local bar. Note: Contains a little crude dialogue. Our hero hesitates, but never blushes. He is up to the task, and we are proud of him.

Everyone Takes a Test

Althon was new to the colony planet. He had arrived at Spaceport Delta near Nuk d’Faln just after local sunrise. There was a muted bustle typical of a full-time operation in the diffuse pink-tinged amber light of dawn while the rest of the city was still yawning. 

Althon was booked with a tour group that was bound for the interior where they hoped to experience the region’s dramatic geography, exotic animals, and authentic primitive culture.

We can simply agree that the day’s cross-country travel by rail and cart was tedious, uncomfortable, and tiring. That night, the travelers arrived hungry. They were herded by the travel host into a large room – already occupied by locals who had evidently finished their evening meal and stayed for conversation and music… and to examine this next batch of tourists. The locals had rearranged themselves to accommodate the arriving group. Five musicians in a corner were playing lively tunes that allowed talkers to hear each other while pairs and quads danced at a moderate pace to a complicated rhythm.

A quiet man by nature, Althon took a seat at an empty table along a wall near the boundary between locals and visitors. He noticed that most people comfortably spoke a mix of local language and Commercial Common. Forms were passed around to determine what special foods and beverages they would expect. Althon left his blank.

A steward collected the forms and paused in front of Althon to

Poem: You Must Love Thy Neighbor

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You Must Love Thy Neighbor

Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

Find out more, including where to buy books and ebooks

Read or download this story as a PDF file at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4eNv8KtePyKZXlDQVhCaWRZZXc/edit?usp=sharing

A little ditty about empathy and compassion.

“You Must Love Thy Neighbor” 

(The saints among us)

All good things must run their course

And reach their final end.

So say the laws that govern us,

Which no one can amend.

We weep for sorrow not our own,

In love of fellow man.

And on these empathetic hearts

You can impose no ban.

For they can sense the tender need

Within a mind or heart.

And from compassion for such ones

These men will never part.