Yeah, I've always found loving your enemies and turning the other cheek to be pretty stupid rules. If Jesus were in charge, he would have just allowed Hitler and Mussolini and Hirohito to take over the world. Like it or not, violence is sometimes necessary for self-defense.

But that's not the worst of it. If we take Jesus at his word, he demands we do things so grossly unethical that not even the most fundamentalist Bible-thumper would dare consider doing them. Here's an example from the celebrated Sermon on the Mount.

Near the beginning of his speech, Jesus makes clear his relation to the previous prophets in the Bible (specifically Moses):
Matthew 5:17-20: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Okay, so the laws of Moses are perfect and immutable (and you have to be as righteous as the prophets to get into heaven, but let's ignore that part for now).

He later goes on to say, in Matthew 5:27-28:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
This is obviously a reference to one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14).
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
All right, so looking at a woman lustfully counts as adultery. So, that means that pretty much every man is guilty of adultery, since we have these innate sex drives that we can't possibly control that cause us to look at women lustfully.

And what does the perfect and immutable law of the prophets, the law that Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfil, the law from which one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass till heaven and earth pass, have to say about adulterers?

Well, in Leviticus 20:10, the Lord gives the following commandment to Moses:
And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
So, if looking at a woman lustfully counts as adultery, and adultery is bad because the prophets told us not to commit adultery, and the prophets also told us to kill adulterers, then shouldn't we logically kill every man who has looked lustfully at a woman? I think that would be a pretty hard Christian thing to do.
Oneironaut Reviewed by Oneironaut on . Hardest "Christian" thing to do? What is the number one teaching of Christianity that is the hardest for youto follow? I believe heavily in the teachings of Christ, but like every other human being in the world I "walk the line" like a drunk with a blindfold on. Atheists and agnostics please post your opinions, too; what do you think is the most demanding and spritually testing? Do you think the world would be a better place if more people followed it, or about the same? For me, personally: Love thy enemy. Rating: 5