For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.
“Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
Kurt Vonnegut
5 thoughts on “Best line of the day, so far”
Comments are closed.
Except for being an agnostic, I could totally get behind posting the Beatitudes in public places.
vonnegut was the topic of last sunday’s sermon at the UU church. the preacher said vonnegut was a unitarian, seemed to be a socialist, and was most likely an atheist. the line i remember most was something vonnegut’s son said. the writer turned the tables and asked his offspring the Big Question– what is the meaning of life– and the younger vonnegut, by that time middle-aged, said ‘i think we’re here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is’
Sounds as if the person who had that quote might have read Cold Turkey, an essay by Vonnegut which is the source of the quotation I posted.
In These Times, in fact, has a whole selection of Vonnegut writing.
that’s it exactly. thanx for the linkage.