London faces many major problems and issues at the moment. Families struggle to make ends meet, commuters struggle to get to work through traffic chaos, Boris Johnson struggles to balance his budget. Today was the day when the members of the GLA had an opportunity to grill our Mayor and get him to answer the important questions which matter to London. You may wonder what the best question Richard Barnbrook, the GLA's only BNP member could come up with would be - well here it is.
Just how stupid is Richard Barnbrook. Does he really think eating Christmas pudding would help people to understand Christianity? Does he think that one mouthful of figgy pudding leads to enlightenment, if accompanied by a bit of Silent night?
Generally I don't do religious lectures on the Barnet Eye, but as Richard Barnbrook seeks to lecture Muslims about Christmas (Jesus is recognised in Islam as a major prophet so they probably don't need a lecture), I thought I'd remind Mr Barnbrook of a few facts about Jesus, as stated in the Holy Bible.
Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi. Had he decided to have staged his second coming in Germany in 1944, Mr Barnbrook's political allies, The Nazi's would have gassed him under the racial purity laws.
Jesus was an asylum seeker (as were his parents, Mary and Joseph). They emigrated to Nazareth to escape persecution. We all know what the BNP thinks of Asylum seekers.
Jesus liked foreigners. He even had three wise men turn up from the Orient baring gifts at his birth. The BNP are not so welcoming.
Jesus was a pacifist. He advised his followers to "turn the other cheek" when confronted with violence. Sadly we've seen quite the opposite from the BNP and their bedfellows "The English Defence League".
Jesus was welcoming of foreigners. He told the parable of "The Good Samaratan" to expose the attitudes of his fellow countrymen to Samaritans (who were disliked). The point of the story was that "foreigners can be as good as anyone else" its how they behave, not where they are from. Let's just remind ourselves of the BNP's attitude to Johnson Beharry, a VC winner in the British Army, who the BNP say cannot be British because he was black.
Which brings us nicely on to what colour was the skin of Jesus. Given where he was living and that he was of pure Jewish ancestry (his birthline to Adam and Eve is listed in the new testament), he was quite clearly not blond hair and blue eye'd. He was probably olive skinned or black. He most certainly looked and dressed more like a Mullah than Richard Barnbrook or anyone else in the BNP. Most representations are of a swarthy looking man with a beard and long hair. Now for all any of us know, he may have looked like Arnie Shwarzennegar, but it seems to be pretty unlikely.
Finally lets remind us what Jesus used to tell his followers "Love Your Neighbour". He didn't qualify that with "Unless they are ******* (complete as appropriate)".
When I see people like Richard Barnbrook, I fail miserably to love my neighbour. That's why generally I don't go around giving religious lectures. The good Lord loves to see a sinner repenteth. I hope Barnbrook reads this, realises he's a twat and repents. I hope he dedicates the rest of his life to making up for the mistakes he's made and the misery he's caused.
"They emigrated to Nazareth to escape persecution."
ReplyDeleteI think you mean Egypt to escape Herod.
Duncan,
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that Nazareth was in egypt at the time and that Herod wanted to persecute them. Mind you, I'm not a biblical scholar.
Duncan,
ReplyDeleteHaving checked the facts, I now realise my mistake, you are quite right he went to Egypt, not Nazareth & Nazareth is not in Egypt. The point is the same, he was a refugee from persecution.
As I've always said, although I'm a Catholic, I'm not a very good one !
Yes, the point is well made. I was being pedantic
ReplyDelete