Oh the OTHER Bible! I see!

That Scouse with the megaphone from Oxford St. Was on the TV last night, rattling of his cheesy lines and unashamedly ignoring the idea that anyone else might have a religion or belief system that is worth anything at all. Having to wait for a bus within earshot of him so very very very often, having seen him look directly at Muslims, Sikhs and Orthodox Jews and shout out "Are you going to be a sinner or a winner? If you ignore the boss, it's your loss." without thinking for one minute that they are as committed to serving the benign divine (see, I can rattle off catchy lines too) as he is, and that they have a right to walk down the street without someone effectively telling them they deserve to go hell for following their religion instead of his, I have come to the conclusion that there must be two Bibles. The one I studied in Religious Studies A-Level, and another one missing all the following quotes:

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.

Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven

For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.

Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Now, if anyone thinks I'm taking these quotes out of context, I would say to them that I understood Jesus to be speaking to all mankind, with no exceptions, and that that was the point of his point. So when I am offended and hurt by the things this man is saying, that's 'evil' against me in Jesus' name. Call me presumptuous, but I doubt Jesus would have liked that.

But don't worry, you loudmouthed scouse hypocrite. I'm sure Jesus will forgive you. If you understand you need to be forgiven and ask genuinely for that forgiveness. Yes, Jesus loves you, but I don't.