Chris' Person of the Month: Jesus H. Christ

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians." - Gandhi
Many of you just went "What?! You're an Atheist..." Let me clarify: It's not necessary to be a believer in God to acknowledge that Jesus had the right idea when it came to how to live life, and how humans should interact with and treat other humans.

Trying to come up with what I wanted to say was hard, though. I broke out my Bible, skimming through the gospels that entail the life of Jesus. I was pretty daunted by the task and was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish it satisfactorily until I reached the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5... is there a more perfect a summary of Jesus' teachings than his "Beatitudes"?

Beginning in verse 4...

Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.

If you're blessed enough to have friends you care about enough to mourn for, then it's a given that you should have friends that feel the same way about you.

Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.

In other words, the gentle and kind are the ones who will always be left in the end.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.

If you do great, meaningful, just, moral things, then good things will come from it, and those things shall be all the reward you need to satisfy you.

Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.

Those that are willing to show mercy are the only people worthy of receiving it.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.

This one doesn't have any particular meaning to me as an Atheist, but being pure in heart is a quality that is never a bad thing.

Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.

It may make you truly "Godly" to be a peacemaker, but, in the secular sense, being a peacemaker and valuing human life is something that all people should strive to do.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

People who die doing, or die because they believe in doing, the right thing are more worthy of our admiration and praise than the apathetic.

Whether you believe in Jesus as the son of God or not, it's hard not see that he was a great man. He walked all over the known world, trying to convince everyone to be open-hearted, meek, righteous, merciful, pure in heart, and peaceful. And, like those he mentioned in Matthew 5:10, he was beaten and killed for it.

You want a true role model? Then you can't do much better than Jesus. Just don't idolize him TOO zealously... look where that got us in the first place.