At a first glance, the Sermon on the Mount seems like a beautiful and inspired speech. Certainly, it has provided Christians the world over with comfort in their times of trouble, and hope that after all of their suffering, they will be given sanctuary in heaven. But really, it is just a fluffy, feel-good message without much substance at all in it.
Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
I guess by "poor in spirit," Jesus meant those who are depressed, unhappy, miserable, etc., because life sucks. But don't worry, you'll get that big bowl of candy someday! Trouble is, you have to die first. What guarantee do you have that there IS a heaven, other than the promises of long-dead writers who never had evidence to back up their assertions? If you are among the fortunate, you can find ways of making life better and more satisfying--for yourself and others. Forgoing those opportunities because you would rather wait for the afterlife is, in my opinion, a complete waste of a life.
vs. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted."
Well, yes, usually when we mourn the death of a loved one, there are friends and family around to comfort us. Might as well say "Blessed are those who look at the sky, for it shall be blue."
vs.5 "Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth."
The meek generally get trampled on and treated like crap. They do not, and will not, "inherit" anything so grand as the entire planet. This is the pipe dream of a poor man who longed to be rich, and could only console himself with the thought that someday, all those rich bastards would get what was coming to them while HE got to be the one with the gold and the jewels and a herd of camels.
vs. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled."
Righteousness is simply the quality of being morally right. Doesn't everyone already think they are morally right? Why would you need to search for this quality when, chances are, you already have it? If you are looking for it in others, and hoping they will treat you decently because of it...well, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
vs. 7 "Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy."
Show mercy and kindness to others, and God will be merciful to you when you get to heaven. Since heaven does not exist, this is an empty promise. And if you believe it does exist, then being nice to people only so you can get a pat on the head from God is kind of selfish. It also makes God look like a dick.
vs. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God."
What does "pure in heart" even mean? That you never do anything bad? That's impossible. That you always have good intentions, even when you mess up? Then your good intentions amount to nothing. That you belong to the right religion and worship the right deity? This is mostly dependent on where and when you were born. The Bible tells us that nobody can see God and live, so what does it mean to "see God"?
vs. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God."
Everyone agrees that striving for peace is a good thing because it enables all of us to get along better as a society. Things run much more smoothly when everyone is at peace with one another. But these are all EARTHLY benefits. What do they have to do with God? What is so important about a meaningless title like "son of God"?
vs. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
More religious babble that means nothing. People persecute others all the time, for a million reasons. I cannot see how it is much consolation being offered the promise of an invisible kingdom in the sky when some rotten asshole has his boot heel on your neck right now. Why doesn't God do something about the assholes NOW, instead of waiting till everyone is in heaven?
vs. 11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
People wonder why I don't believe in God, and this is one of the reasons: the promises made about heaven are all empty and meaningless, dreamed up by poor, downtrodden folks who knew that they had no chance in hell of ever rising above the station into which they were born. Their only hope was that the afterlife would be better. This sermon is not about being nice to each other right here and now, because everyone will benefit in the long run; no, it is all about that reward in heaven. It is not about how you can be of service to others because you want them to be happy; it is about scoring points with God so you can get a prettier mansion than the guy sitting next to you in church. It is just another long, dull, claim that there is a life after this one--a better, happier, much cooler one--and if you play your cards right, you will get to go there while everyone else gets to suffer. Is this really the best that Jesus could do? Is it the best that GOD can do?
Genesis says that God made the Earth and it was "very good." Now, he says Earth sucks and you should all want to be in heaven with him. Well, why didn't he just create humans in heaven in the first place, if he knew that Earthly life would be so horrible? This pretty-sounding sermon does not address that, it just makes people feel good with its empty, childish platitudes.
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