Fixing America In 500 Words Or Less Chapter 15 DO CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS REALLY FOLLOW JESUS? Having had the misfortune of enduring far too many conservative Christian sermons, what was most striking was how little they focused on what Jesus actually said.  Instead, they tend to focus on what Paul ¹ or some Old Testament author said.  I cannot recall a single sermon in a conservative church that centered on the actual words of Jesus.   According to the New Testament, Jesus said:  "Therefore, whatever you want people to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." ²  The word "therefore" indicates that this is an important, conclusive statement and the phrase, “for this is the law and the prophets" meant similar in Jesus' society, as if a Greek teacher had said, "this is the sum of all wisdom".  In other words, not only is this an important and conclusive statement made by Jesus but also, it is by far, the most all-encompassing moral statement made by anyone in history.  Even though a similar idea pops up in a great many societies in the historical record, no one else placed such an all-encompassing importance on loving our neighbor as ourselves.   Calling oneself a "Christian" does not in any way, shape or form, make someone a follower of Jesus.  As the New Testament very clearly says, "blessed are those who do his commandments" ³ and, as Jesus very clearly taught in his extremely pacifistic, so-called "sermon on the mount", a wise person is someone who hears and practices what Jesus actually said, while a foolish person is someone who hears but does not practice, what Jesus actually said. 4   By definition, if someone does not focus on loving our neighbor as ourself and make this idea central to their core beliefs and agenda, then they are by default, not a follower of Jesus, regardless of what they promote or practice.  Likewise, by definition, a follower of someone minimizes and ignores what the leader did not address. Does the New Testament promote capitalism and free enterprise, rather than sharing material wealth and giving our excess to the poor?  Did Jesus center on an anti-abortion agenda?  Did he even mention abortion?  Did Jesus promote pre-emptive wars of aggression?  Did Jesus promote war for any reason?  Did Jesus call the Samaritan woman at the well “illegal” and build a wall to prevent her from feeding her family?  Did Jesus have a “family-focus” agenda that failed to focus on the health and welfare of the family?   Do conservative Christians focus their message on loving our neighbor as ourselves?  Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another...” 5  Do they center on this singular command?  Do they put their swords away, turn the other cheek and promote peace, as Jesus taught? 6   Are they focused on helping the sick of our society, as Jesus taught by example?  Do they center on helping the sick and poor, as Jesus taught every God-fearing patriot should do? 7 Do conservative Christians really follow Jesus?  You decide. NOTES: 1. The letters of Paul are often maximized in conservative Christian churches at the expense of the rest of the New Testament, other than "Revelations", because Paul is mistakenly thought to be conservative by their theologians of record.  Paul, in fact, was more liberal than the other early followers of Jesus and quite possibly, considering his historical culture and timeframe, the most liberal author in all of known history.  Paul several times referred to himself as a follower of the "way" and not only did not refer to himself as a Christian but rather, towards the end of Acts, he appears to have deliberately side-stepped the term when asked by a Roman ruler if he was one.  Perhaps even then, Paul suspected that what was meant to be a new lifestyle of communism, personal and collective freedom, was instead leaning toward the conservative fundamentalism Paul originally was an advocate for and from which, he continually praised God for having been rescued.  His concepts of "not under the law, but under grace", "to the pure all things are pure", "there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female" and similar, remain among the most liberal ideas in the human civilization record.  Paul's insistence that both males and females have extreme value outside of reproduction represents a huge leap forward for his society and time. 2. Source: Matthew 7:12 3. Source: Revelation 22:14 4. Source: Matthew 7:24 5. Source: John 15:12 6. Source: Matthew 26:52, Revelation 13:10, Matthew 5:39, Matthew 5:9, 7. Source: Matthew 25:31-46.  Also compare Ezekiel 16:49.  According to Ezekiel, God destroyed Sodom because she ignored the sick and poor.  According to Jesus, as noted here in Matthew, God will judge all nations by how they treat the sick and poor.  It would seem fair to conclude that both Jesus (New Testament) and Ezekiel (Old Testament) vehemently disagree with conservative Christians over what it means to be an American patriot, as well as regarding everything else that their absurd and entirely assinine religion promotes. 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