Link: http://www.jesus21.com/htdocs/weblog.php?id=P411
"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…I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere."
- Kurt Vonnegut
Have you ever read the Sermon on the Mount?
Roughly 100 years ago people who read that part of the bible literally usually became socialists. It has many ideas in it that some would label anti-American: like telling you it's your duty to take care of the poor and the weak; that you should do what is right even if it goes against the popular dominant culture and gets you persecuted; that there is no excuse for killing, advocation of pacifism; that you should love even those who are not your brothers; that you should give without thought to personal gain; *that you should not pray as a public spectacle (as in school prayer)*; that you should not amass great amounts of money and possessions; *that you should not judge others*; that you should not toil needlessly for survival.
Most Christians have great difficulty with these points. If you should run into one, ask them why.