Where did Jesus get His morality from?

[DeistPaladin]

Where did Jesus get His morality and ethics from? Even athesits can not mock Jesus's morality, there is even a group of atheists called, 'Atheists for Jesus.' So the question begs, where did His thinking come from?

I have no trouble criticizing the morality of Jesus (assuming that his teachings were faithfully preserved in the Gospels). At best, he's terribly over-rated as a moral thinker. At worst, his teachings on salvation were ultimately responsible for one of the most dangerous and destructive religions on earth.

We live in a culture that lionizes Jesus. We are conditioned to think of him as the yardstick by which morality is measured and a fountain of indisputable wisdom. Even though I was raised in an agnostic and anti-religious house, I had a hard time overcoming that programming. It took a lot of effort to rip off the rose-colored glasses and read the Gospels with a critical eye.

When you do read the Gospels critically, you find a set of moral teachings that fall far short of his reputation. What is good isn't original and what is original isn't good. My favorite quotes, and there are a few good ones, admonish doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is a good rule to follow but hardly original.

On the other side, his vaunted sermon on the mount speaks of self-mutilation to avoid sin and he even at one point speaks highly of self-castration to gain admission into Heaven. Some of Jesus' admonishments on the mount are ridiculous. Give away all you have to those who steal from you? Do good to those who harm you? Turn the other cheek? Who are we kidding? If Christians had followed such advice, the religion would no longer exist.

Jesus never condemns slavery, a no-brainer moral issue that would have set him way ahead of his time. Instead he uses slaves in his parables, offering tacit approval, and even says that the slave who knows his master's wishes and does them not will be beaten with many stripes. Jesus never condemns inequality, calling one Caananite woman a "dog" and forcing her to admit that she is. He tells a rich man to give up all his wealth and later says (paraphrased) "screw the poor, live it up while I'm here". Worst of all, Jesus taught that hell was real, terrifying people for thousands of years. Efforts to "save" souls from Hell have led to atrocities and persecution.

If I ever stand before Jesus and he tries to judge me, I'll ask him "What about you? You have a lot of explaining to do! Your institution has created massive misery, stagnation and bigotry. You watched your followers kill and torture in your name and did nothing to stop them. The blood on your hands would match that of Hitler, Staliin, Genghis Kahn, Atilla and other terrors of history. You are the least fit to sit in judgment over humanity. It is YOU who should beg OUR forgiveness, not the other way around."