Jesus and the birds

[Fake Messiah]

So another of Jesus' rants on the mound is telling people not to bother to seek food, or to plant crops, but to be like birds who don't do any of that because God feeds them.

And here the stupid Jesus thinks that God feeds birds—he thinks that birds put no effort into hunting for berries, seeds, insects, fish. Needless to say, that is very wrong. Birds frequently must abandon some of their chicks because they don't have enough food for all, and sometimes they even eat their young and feed them to each other.

This must be another of Jesus' cannibalistic teachings.

[Rev. Rye]

I can only assume that the agency of wild birds just didn’t occur to people 2000 years ago. I haven’t needed to look into the state of ornithology at the time, but from what I can tell, I get the feeling that they didn’t study avian starvation. The concept of birds starving doesn’t even seem to appear in Pliny’s Natural History, which would serve as a repository of the collected knowledge of history as of a few decades after the death of Christ, and I suspect that the rabble listening wouldn’t have even thought of it.

[Fireball]

The general populace of that age wasn't any less intelligent than that of today. They were, however, vastly underinformed. It's no surprise to see reports like this from that era. Of course, Magic Book ™.

[brewer]

[no one]

What's jesus' favorite bird?









The swallow.

[The Grand Nudger]

Is that really so different from modern day luddites who suggest that we let people die until we live like birds? The notion being expressed there, was one-ness with nature.

[HappySkeptic]

So another of Jesus' rants on the mound is telling people not to bother to seek food, or to plant crops, but to be like birds who don't do any of that because God feeds them.

And here the stupid Jesus thinks that God feeds birds—he thinks that birds put no effort into hunting for berries, seeds, insects, fish. Needless to say, that is very wrong. Birds frequently must abandon some of their chicks because they don't have enough food for all, and sometimes they even eat their young and feed them to each other.

As a Christian I originally liked the sermon on the mount.  It turned power structures on their head and showed a kindness for the poor.  However, when analyzed closer, it is a whole lot of really bad advice. 

It assumes that the afterlife is the only thing that is important, and that getting there requires throwing off the things of value in the world.  Worry only about heavenly things, and God will somehow provide for your needs (not that living really matters anyway). 

Except it doesn't work that way.  A community may help you out, but that isn't God.  Few humans can survive alone in nature -- we need our communities.  I don't think a lot of communities will enjoy helping out someone who just preaches about God all day, and doesn't bother to do any work.

Plus, if heaven is so important, who even bother with life?  Life seems to be a mistake or a test (one that you aren't allowed to cut short, a rule that was probably added because some early Christians did just that).

[arewethereyet]

I filled the bird feeders yesterday since the weather was turning to shit. Can I now claim to be a god?

[Ranjr]

The idea worked for Moses, and to fulfill prophesy, they needed the story to come full circle.  As we learn from contemporary writings, leaving cities for the wilderness and living off figs and twigs was their bell bottoms and weed.

[The Reality Salesman01]

So another of Jesus' rants on the mound is telling people not to bother to seek food, or to plant crops, but to be like birds who don't do any of that because God feeds them.

Needless to say, that is very wrong.

That last line sums it up.

Jesus was a character in a 2,000 year old book book who didn’t know shit about birds. That’s why this doesn’t make sense.

The burden of giving these words new meaning lies on the shoulders of those who are not satisfied with the reality they’ve been given. But attempting to square nonsense with reality only gives rise to more nonsense.