JC Superstar vs The World

A Facebook post today that essentially complained about people (presumably on Facebook) making rash judgments and using their words as weapons of the most violent nature. It alluded to Jesus and their not being crucified; which I interpreted as essentially saying that the people making the rash judgments were not acting as Jesus might have taught or wished. I posted a comment that I wanted to share here since it’s instructive (I think) of how I feel about people and society in general; the teachings of Jesus relative to our behavior; and real life expectations about people’s behavior and how it relates to Jesus’ teachings. Following is that comment:

The real Jesus of history, not the mystical creation of Paul that forms the basis of the teachings of the Christian church today, taught that very thing. He understood that people needed to support each other; and that the problem with the world is that it was too me / survival / competition based. Whether one believes that Jesus died for our sins or died because he was 'fool' enough to teach such a radical concept that had the potential of upsetting the order of things, you have to eventually conclude that his radical ideas were supplanted by the 2nd century by the mystical concept taught by Paul. The world at large (which comprises most people on FB) is not, and likely never will be ready for Jesus' concepts. Most people do in fact follow the me / survival / competition mode of thinking and did so centuries before Jesus; right up to the present time; and, it’s likely, for millenia to come. That's why it's so important that we connect ourselves to people who share what can only be considered an altruistic utopian belief of being supportive rather than competitive. Nonetheless, and admittedly regretfully, we must adopt the me / survival / competition mode in our dealings with the world at large lest we find ourselves 'nailed to a cross'.

I for one believe that Jesus died for the latter of the two reasons stated above; and that he was not divine, but a human—a human with a great, if utopian and unrealistic, human idea which he himself at least attempted to live—that we should help and support each other; do unto others as we would want done unto us. When I say 'attempted to live', I am acknowledging a conflicting, and as yet unreconciled concept about Jesus which affects somewhat the interpretation of those teachings—namely, that he, like the rest of us, was given to prejudice and dislike of other people(s). In that regard I am thinking of his negative feelings for the Gentiles. His teachings were really directed to his followers who were Jewish, living in the Jewish culture of the time. In any event, his idea survived to this day, though it was overshadowed by the mystical religion that ensued from Paul's teachings because those latter teachings were easy and required little of people—just that they believe. I believe that it was overshadowed simply because it was utopian and unrealistic in our everyday lives with the world at large. As happens all too often in life, we have thrown the baby out with the bath water. We have forgotten that those teachings nonetheless do have applicability in some circumstances; and that we must be observant to discern those circumstances lest our whole world be self-serving, vile, cruel, and evil.