Jesus didn’t care about being nice or tolerant – and neither should you

[christian]

I just stumbled across this article the other day, and while there's no need for me to agree with every last word of it, I think it's an absolutely fantastic article about what Christ consciousness actually is. It's from themattwalshblog.com.

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There is no shortage of heresies these days.

If you want to adopt some blasphemous, perverted, fun house mirror reflection of Christianity, you will find a veritable buffet of options. You can sift through all the variants and build your own little pet version of the Faith. It’s Ice Cream Social Christianity: make your own sundae! (Or Sunday, as it were.)

And, of all the heretical choices, probably the most common — and possibly the most damaging — is what I’ve come to call the Nice Doctrine.

The propagators of the Nice Doctrine can be seen and heard from anytime any Christian takes any bold stance on any cultural issue, or uses harsh language of any kind, or condemns any sinful act, or fights against evil with any force or conviction at all. As soon as he or she stands and says ‘This is wrong, and I will not compromise,’ the heretics swoop in with their trusty mantras.

They insist that Jesus was a nice man, and that He never would have done anything to upset people. They say that He came down from Heaven to preach tolerance and acceptance, and He wouldn’t have used words that might lead to hurt feelings. They confidently sermonize about a meek and mild Messiah who was born into this Earthly realm on a mission to spark a constructive dialogue.

The believers in Nice Jesus are usually ignorant of Scripture, but they do know that He was ‘friends with prostitutes,’ and once said something about how, like, we shouldn’t get too ticked off about stuff, or whatever. In their minds, he’s essentially a supernatural Cheech Marin.

Read the comments under my previous post about gay rights militants, and you’ll see this heresy illustrated.

That post prompted an especially noteworthy email from someone concerned that I’m not being ‘Christlike,’ because I ‘call people names.’ He said, in part:

“You aren’t spreading Christianity when you talk like that. The whole message of Jesus was that we should be nice to people because we want them to be nice to us. That’s how we can all be happy. Period. It’s that simple.”

Be nice to me, I’ll be nice to you, and we’ll all be happy. This is the ‘whole message’ of Christianity?

Really?

Jesus Christ preached a Truth no deeper or more complex than a slogan on a poster in a Kindergarten classroom?

Really?

A provocative claim, to say the least. I decided to investigate the matter, and sure enough, I found this excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount:

“We’re best friends like friends should be. With a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too?”

Actually, wait, sorry, that’s from the original Barney theme song.

God help us. We’ve turned the Son of God into a purple dinosaur puppet.

There’s no way to be certain, but most theologians believe that, despite popular perception, Christ looked nothing like this.

I don’t recognize this Jesus.

This moderate. This pacifist. This nice guy.

He’s not the Jesus I read about in the Bible. I read of a strong, manly, stern, and bold Savior. Compassionate, yes. Forgiving, of course. Loving, always loving. But not particularly nice.

He condemned. He denounced. He caused trouble. He disrupted the established order.

On one occasion — or at least one recorded occasion — He used violence. This Jesus saw the money changers in the temple and how did He respond? He wasn’t polite about it. I’d even say He was downright intolerant. He fashioned a whip (this is what the lawyers would call ‘premeditation’) and physically drove the merchants away. He turned over tables and shouted. He caused a scene. [John 2:15]

Assault with a deadly weapon. Vandalism. Disturbing the peace. Worse still, intolerance.

In two words: not nice.

Not nice at all.

Can you imagine how some moderate, pious, ‘nice’ Christians of today would react to that spectacle in the Temple? Can you envision the proponents of the Nice Doctrine, with their wagging fingers and their passive aggressive sighs? I’m sure they’d send Jesus a patronizing email, perhaps leave a disapproving comment under the news article about the incident, reminding Jesus that Jesus would never do what Jesus just did.

Personally, I’ve studied the New Testament and found not a single instance of Christ calling for a ‘dialogue’ with evil or seeking the middle ground on an issue. I see an absolutist, unafraid of confrontation. I see a man who did not waver or give credence to the other side. I see someone who never once avoided a dispute by saying that He’ll just ‘agree to disagree.’

I see a Christ who calls the Scribes and Pharisees snakes and vipers. He labels them murderers and blind guides, and ridicules them publicly [Matthew 23:33]. He undermines their authority. He insults them. He castigates them. He’s not very nice to them.

Jesus rebukes and condemns. In Matthew 18, He utilizes morbid and violent imagery, saying that it would be better to drown in the sea with a stone around your neck than to harm a child. Had our modern politicians been around two thousand years ago, I’m sure they’d go on the cable news shows and shake their heads and insist that there’s ‘no place for that kind of language.’

No place for the language of God.

Jesus deliberately did and said things that He knew would upset people. He stirred up division and controversy. He provoked. He didn’t have to break from established customs, but He did. He didn’t have to heal that man’s hand on the Sabbath, knowing how it would disturb others and cause them immense irritation, but He did, and He did so with ‘anger’ [Mark 3:5]. He could have gone with the flow a little bit. He could have chilled out and let bygones be bygones, but He didn’t. He could have been diplomatic, but He wasn’t.

He could have told everyone to relax, but instead He made them uncomfortable. He could have put them at ease, but He chose to put them on edge.

He convinced the mob not to stone the adulterer [John 8], and you’ll notice that He then turned to her and told her to stop sinning. Indeed, never once did He encounter sin and corruption and say: “Hey, do your thang, homies. Just have fun. YOLO!”

The followers of Nice Jesus love to quote the ‘throw the first stone’ verse — and for good reason, it’s a beautiful and compelling story — but you rarely hear mention of the exchange that occurs just a few sentences later, in that very same chapter. In John 8:44, Jesus rebukes unbelieving Jews and calls them ‘sons of the Devil.’

Wow.

That wasn’t nice, Jesus.

Didn’t anyone ever tell you that you can catch more flies with honey, Jesus?

Of course, you’d catch even more flies with a mound of garbage, so maybe ‘catching flies’ isn’t the point.

While we’re often reminded that Jesus said, ‘live by the sword, die by the sword,’ we seem to ignore his other sword references. Like when he told his disciples to sell their cloaks and buy a sword [Luke 22], or when He said that He ‘didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword’ [Matthew 10].

Now, It’s true that He is God and we are not. Jesus can say whatever He wants to say. But we are called to be like Christ, which begs the question: what is Christ like?

Well, He is, among other things, uncompromising. He is intolerant of evil. He is disruptive. He is sometimes harsh. He is sometimes impolite. He is sometimes angry.

He is always loving.

Christ was not and is not a cosmic guidance counselor, and He is not mankind’s best friend, nor did He call us to be. He made dogs for that role — our destiny is more substantial, and our path to it is far more challenging and dangerous.

And nice?

Where does nice factor into this?

Nice: affable, peachy, swell.

Nice has nothing to do with Christianity. I’ve got nothing against nice — nice is nice — but even serial killers can be nice to people. They generally are exceptionally affable, except when they’re murdering. That means they’re nice to, like, 97 or 98 percent of everyone they meet.

I guess they’re following Christ almost all of the time, right?

And tolerance?

Tolerance is easy. Any coward can learn to tolerate something. Tolerance is inaction; intolerance is action. We are called to refuse to tolerate evil. We are called to get angry at it and actively work to destroy it.

Who’d have guess it — anger is far more godly than tolerance ever could be.

Obviously I’m not suggesting that anger is automatically, or even usually, justified. Christ exhibited righteous anger; righteous anger is the sort of anger that naturally fills our soul when we confront the depths of depravity and sin. It is wrong to seethe with rage because someone cut us off in traffic or gossips about us behind our back, but it is also wrong to feel no anger when babies are murdered and the institution of the family is undermined and attacked.

Anger is good when it is directed at things that offend not us, but God. Just as Christ’s intolerance, like the intolerance we’re commanded to have, stems from a desire to save souls and defend Truth.

Even when we have righteous anger, we do not have carte blanche to act on it in anyway we please. But, according to the Bible, there are times to use strong language, there are times to cause a scene, there are times to hurt people’s feelings, and there are times when we might need to use physical force.

Jesus told us to turn the other cheek when we are personally attacked; He never told us to turn our backs entirely and let lies spread and evil grow.

So, enough with the niceties.

Christians in this country sound too similar to the the Golden Girls song, and not enough like the Battle Hymn of the Republic. There’s too much ‘thank you for being a friend,’ and not enough ‘lightening from His terrible swift sword.’

We’re all hugging and singing Kumbaya, when we should be marching and shouting Hallelujah.

We’re nice Christians with our nice Jesus, and we are trampled on without protest.

Enough, already.

I think it’s time that Christianity regain its fighting spirit; the spirit of Christ.

I think it’s time we ask that question: ‘What would Jesus do?’

And I think it’s time we answer it truthfully: Jesus would flip tables and yell.

Maybe we ought to follow suit.

[jake gittes]

"'We’re best friends like friends should be. With a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too?'

Actually, wait, sorry, that’s from the original Barney theme song."

LOL! Excellent article. Too bad too many people take their teachings from the likes of Pat Robertson.

[Atlas]

Posted by John 2:15, King James Bible
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables

Is it said that the scourge was for the local banksters or for the sheep/oxen or both ?

Posted by Matthew 10, King James Version
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Posted by Luke 22, King James Version
...he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

A sword is for fighting and most probably killing human beings, is there any account of Jesus using one ? or is it a metaphorical sword ?

[Lifebringer]

Posted by jake gittes (here)
"'We’re best friends like friends should be. With a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you, won’t you say you love me too?'

Actually, wait, sorry, that’s from the original Barney theme song."

LOL! Excellent article. Too bad too many people take their teachings from the likes of Pat Robertson.

Ewww, that religious exploitation of the poor corporate tv preacher. I just wonder why ALL the religions have failed by man's standards to correct the evil intent. Did they push so hard with the guns, that no one will claim their own religion, because they will be persecuted? Won't be the first time. Anyway this comment was about religious "patsy" Robertson who's the healthiest bench weight pressing sell out of the bunch. Next is TD Jakes and his mega church funding that calls out the sin, yet does nothing for the poor or people in the pews that need a loan for a business that the churches can plant a seed and invest in and watch grow. Why are there no affordable housing for the elderly poor here in this country? Pat would ignore these people under his nose. Old homeless people on a fixed income that may or may not have lost their minds, wandering the unsafe streets and being carted off to "fema camps" never to be seen again.

Just saying in the scriptures hidden in the hills to keep the deceit going by omission, it says in Isaiah and Enoch scrolls that, "He" also comes to release the prisoners, put in there under false juridictory/bias laws round-up. He's the judge, comforter, warrior for the meek. Surely if you believe in Christ, you know these qualities will be unleashed on those who are doing this. They've done everything to hide and deceive the populations, and now want to destroy the evidence of the evil rule, but removing, ignoring those they made poor. Families on bread lines and pantries again? Boy or boy, I wanna be around when HE comes through and sets the House/Temple/Heart/Mind right again, if just to witness and rejoice knowing it's finally over and the children and grandchildren and every living life form on the planet, stand a chance at a good, healthy life.

Isaiah Dead Sea Scrolls(hidden in clay jars in the hills, Book of Enoch only parts included in "certain books" not those in America, unless you buy outside the country, and I'm telling you, that's the reason these books were kept hidden from us/the texts we read. The translation was by Roman Gov/Roman CathChurch. Usury was a crime in those days and that's the reason for Christ's turning over the tables also.
For in Isaiah and Enoch, they both say that the judgment will come, because "they" will not stop hurting God's children, and were told the punishment was ONLY 400 years, and they still get such joy oppressing the people. This will be a hallelu-yah/praise God moment, that I will jump up and down at its coming on badly fractured ankle bones. LOL Where I'm at now, you can't do anything to harm me, that hasn't been done emotionally or physically already in this life. Not afraid to eat beans or poke salad, roots and berries or live off worms or beetles. Being poor all your life, does that to you. Been homeless, and it's not a choice, you just can't afford their version of life anymore, because your body no longer functions like a 20 or 30 year old. 4 degrees a caring service to others heart, and love for my fellow human beings, and you're gonna tell me, that this is a post racial nation because one coloured man got elected? Ha!! Dream on if you think you can pass that one off. People are too afraid of what their neighbors think, if they show who they really are, so we've a lot of work to meet that goal.
Death is but a ticket that says: "You no longer have to work for these evil people/world, they are "wasted harvest" some will never come on home to the LOVE train of Christ, your time is done here now. This is your boarding pass to Heavona the Universe of Universes planet paradise to rest, until we get it all together again/remove the parasites killing the earth we made for your kind.

The "word of prayer w/emotional hurt" permeates every mind in other dimensions. Ut oh, peeps, here it comes..in the beginning was the word, and the word was God/Creator/Thought bought to physicality by sound to make matter/atoms/protons/minerals/the claycellMedium/man/sun/brackish waters/sea salt manifest.
Phew. Sounds pretty right to me, but when it happens, that stuff trips me out, how powerful it takes over.
Wow.



Fear, I don't have no stinking fear, so they can't feed off me. I just have a tough time expressing/communicating without being so harsh. At least I did 2 years ago.

[christian]

Posted by buares (here)
Is it said that the scourge was for the local banksters or for the sheep/oxen or both ?

It says, "he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen," so I think that's it... All of the above.

Posted by buares (here)
A sword is for fighting and most probably killing human beings, is there any account of Jesus using one ? or is it a metaphorical sword ?

It's also for defending oneself, just like a gun today... Anyways, I think it's essentially a metaphorical sword, as I know of no instance where Jesus was in a sword fight. But then again, he may really have advised people to have an actual sword. After all, it's good to be able to defend oneself against aggressors.

[joeecho]

"Jesus didn’t care about being nice or tolerant – and neither should you"

And that is why he would say that this is a bunch of hogwash.

Righteous Indignation (in this case, Human Indignation) = History repeating itself/ Hubris

When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." John 8:7

False prophets and false messiahs abound in this here world.

Truth is not a popularity contest.

Angry? No surprise. That's because you did not appreciate the tables that were turned (over).

[LivioRazlo]

Thank you for the exceptionally enlightening article. This is the kind of truth that gets me fired up and invigorated to justify standing with my brothers and sisters against the evil being perpetrated in the United States. Definitely going to have to share this one on Facebook.

[Ahnung-quay]

Ah yes, let us not forget that the book of Revelations depicts the sword coming out of Jesus' mouth. The sword/word (notice the word similarity) of TRUTH. It cuts away the falsehoods.

[Shezbeth]

Posted by christian (here)
I just stumbled across this article the other day [...] I think it's an absolutely fantastic article about what Christ consciousness actually is. It's from themattwalshblog.com.

F**king A right!!!

I agree on not agreeing 100%, and I'm not a huge fan of the entire Jesus mythology, but if there is one thing I appreciate about 'him', its his unrepentant, unabashed, and unreserved assertiveness.

Posted by christian (here)

Posted by buares (here)
A sword is for fighting and most probably killing human beings, is there any account of Jesus using one ? or is it a metaphorical sword ?

It's also for defending oneself, just like a gun today... Anyways, I think it's essentially a metaphorical sword, as I know of no instance where Jesus was in a sword fight. But then again, he may really have advised people to have an actual sword. After all, it's good to be able to defend oneself against aggressors.

Yes a sword is a tool by which to kill and to defend one's self. It is also the metaphysical representation of divine or exhalted reason. The phrase "He who lives by the sword surely dies by the sword" is an allegorical reference to the fact that one cannot develop such a reason without becoming subject to it,... which is the point (no pun intended).

Jesus, or rather the indivdual(s) from whom the story is inspired Is(were) quite the accomplished metaphysician(s), and the story takes on a whole new meaning when cross referenced with symbological interpretation and meaning.

Long story short, the picture illustrated is consistent with the ideas presented by the author. Thanks for sharing this, its a good "Wake the f**k up!" type 'shareable' article for those particularly dogmatized by christianity.

[Ahnung-quay]

Also interesting that the word sword is "word" with an "s" tacked onto it. "S" is the fire letter shin in Hebrew. The sword burns with the TRUTH.

[sirdipswitch]

Hey christian!!! Great find my friend, and I agree fully with its' premis, as can readily be seen in the very mannor of my posting, across this forum, and in my thread. In a word, I don't even try for nice! chuckle chuckle.

I just say what needs sayin...

[william r sanford72]

Now i refuse to give chapter and vers..tho i recall simon/peter lobbing off a guards ear..with a sword he carried..this i believe was all going down just before they snatched christ up to bee put on trial..believe he had to tell peter to stop with the ear..
Truth always.

[christian]

Posted by sirdipswitch (here)
Great find my friend, and I agree fully with its' premis, as can readily be seen in the very mannor of my posting, across this forum, and in my thread. In a word, I don't even try for nice! chuckle chuckle.

I just say what needs sayin...

Yeah, that resoluteness resonates a lot with me as well.

To put it all in perspective, I think it's important to know when to be harsh. When someone tries to insult me, I usually just laugh at it. As is said in the article, that just offends little me, not the divine within me. When somebody who I know wants genuinely what I want too at the end of the day (like virtually everybody on the forum) disagrees with me, I usually do try to find an amicable way to further the communication.

However, when confronted with outright and deliberate malevolence, evil, and the like that I feel like I'm not willing to yield an inch and if such a consciousness, person, or group wants to push me around, they'll get a fight, whether verbal, energetical, or physical. And I think that outright malevolence is what we're confronted with in politics, finance, economics, and so on—it's the culture of the new world order.

And in all that, I try to have an eye on how to maximize my leverage, considering the basics of warfare as laid out in The Art of War...

[Frederick Jackson]

The difference between the Master and the Saint. For most of us (the message is) better to err on the side of tolerance and forgiveness, to be slow to anger, as the OT says. But the OT also says, open rebuke is better than hidden love. "Resist not evil" for me is not to engage it if you can avoid it as it will drag you down, will entangle you. So what are the TV evangelists doing fighting Satan all the time? It shows in their evil faces, they become one with the evil they pretend to fight. Again, the difference between the Master and the Saint. The Master knows when to strike and when to bend.

[778 neighbour of some guy]

Good article, I guess one had to be there at the right time / place to truly appreciate the validity/truth of whatever happened there, at any rate, there is only so much one can put up with ( having only two cheeks excluding the butt cheeks that is), and it makes sense to stand up for what one thinks is right, whether it comes from God, his son ( whatever????) or some bully doesn't matter, one also has to understand things can go real ugly real fast when the feces fling in the direction of the fan, how very nice from this Abrahamic dude to let us control the population on his planet all by ourselves, He obviously is a bit of a moron, couldn't even spread the natural resources out evenly, on his own creation, he must love watching a good fight, all those massive satellite dishes pointing to space can only mean one thing, we are on tv in the whole universe, I want my frikkin royalties, now. Or a better creation story.

[Jake]

Awesome find! I had to read it a couple of times,, this guy isn't real nice himself, but thats his point. I like him.

Mathew 10:35,, "For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;…

Luke 12:49,, "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?"

Luke 12:51,, "Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division;

Luke 24:25,, "YOU FOOLISH PEOPLE...."

Awesome article....
Jake.

[onawah]

The man being interviewed here, my first and foremost mentor, in perhaps the last interview before his passing in 1997, wrote books about Christ Consciousness as well as many other subjects.
I think his remarks demonstrate the depth of his wisdom rather well, however briefly.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kCn3ym3IsrQ

[Milneman]

There is another incorrect interpretation. It comes from wanting to fight against what most theologians refer to as "liberal theology", but unfortunately it is just the other end of the extreme and it misses the point. I can taste this in this article.

Take for example the scene of Christ driving the money changers from the temple. The point completely missed by the author of the article (and I think a lot of the subsequent replies to the OP here) is that Christ is defending the temple as his Father's house. Now think about that.

You come home one day from work and discover that Avon, the Girl Guides, Vince the sham-wow guy, and several other sales type persons have set up shop in your front room. They're selling products you can use in your home, other people can also use in their homes, but they are violating the sanctity of your personal space and by doing so demeaning your space.

You get the point now? Not only is he driving out the money changers, but the oxen and the sheep as well. Lumped them all into one category because they all take part in the process of demeaning what is Holy, capital H.

What about the passion. When Christ was brought before Pilot, did he behave in the aggressive way this article suggests? How is Christ's behaviour during the passion to be compared to what this guy is writing about? There's a greater dimension to what you call "christ-consciousness" than is being elaborated on here and it needs to be done.

For starters, I think christ-consciousness is being confused with what it means to be a fulfilled human being. There is a fundamental difference in that a fulfilled human being requires one to sacrifice the little gems we hold onto, the little games we play (if you want examples, there are lots right now on this forum), agreements we make without so much using words as we do understandings that occur without words. It used to be called, back in the day, the difference between being straight and not being straight. (Not to be confused with heterosexual).

How, pray do tell, can a human being learn to be straight if there exists virtually no one around them who is straight to show them how to be?

Jesus taught us, if we choose to understand the message, that being nice requires you first be honest. Anyone can be nice. Anyone can be nice and dishonest at the same time. We do it all the time. But being nice, and being honest? Sometimes if you just don't get it you have to emphasize. When people don't like that idea, they get together in larger groups and nail you to a piece of wood, or enforce their will on you in some other way. We are only free when we free ourselves from the attachment we have to our anger, our rage, our desire to have what we want even when it goes against the innate knowledge we all have of what is right and wrong. Fossil fuel, best example ever. We know it's killing our planet, but it's worth the trade off for our gadgets and cars (I am just as guilty here as the rest of us).

Also recall that when Simon did cut the ear off the ear, he was reprimanded. And in some translations, the ear was healed again. Think about that allegorically. The symbolism in that simple story is SO deeply profound provided you aren't clouded by your biases of christendom (lower case intentional).

So I would say that the article has some good points in as far as the author has progressed in his faith, but I would suggest his point of view seems to limit the full understanding of the teachings in the gospel. Course, your milage may vary.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

jesus was almost always gracious and helpful with the weak, injured, ill, children, women, elderly.
he would never have said a cutting word to someone who did not need a lesson.

he included people others would not. like women, tax collectors, poor fishermen -- the needy and the dirty and the sinner.
he was certainly kind to them or they would not have tolerated his frequent company.

Jesus took frequent breaks from noise to go to nature and talk to God.
he went fishing, hiking, walking, traveling on foot. he gathered disciples and scattered them at will.
he liked boats, water, friendship, and giving advice.

He liked hanging out in the houses and kitchens and patios of female friends.

he chose parables over admonitions when speaking to strangers.
he only chided fools, the greedy, the powerful, and the unjust -- all others he corrected gently, or with humor, or a good blunt point.

jesus didn't say "go out and establish your dominion and make it last etc.". he said to share the GOOD NEWS with every creature and look to the sky for his return.

He said nothing that i recall about willful rudeness or other forms of anger/shorttemperedness being ok.

the example of him driving people out of the temple has nothing to do with how he treated fellows in everyday life.
it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing or it would have been ineffective.


Jesus was not just some rabble rouser.
he did not sow discord for discord's sake, but rather shook down the false establishment and showed a better way to live.

and they killed him for it. end of story.
until he comes back.

p.s. and he came from the body of the most righteous woman ever to walk the planet. and his dead body was tended by women, his bloody clothing washed by a woman, and it was women who saw him at the tomb after resurrection.

He certainly is not confined by the petty ideals of male dominance and anger.
Very much like Odin in Norse mythology, Jesus loved the divine feminine aspect of himself as much as any other part of his experience.

[Ellisa]

Didn't Jesus also say that we should turn the other cheek to our enemies, and the meek shall inherit the earth? He was not a rabble rouser , though many have used his name to justify horrific violence and disgusting acts of cruelty.

The sword he talks about is not a petty individual armament but the sword of truth that cuts through the rubbish and lies that encircle us. It is a metaphor, as is much of the bible. Jesus liked to speak in parables. We like to interpret them to mean what we wish.

Whether you believe Jesus was the son of god or not, he was a man of peace, and spoke for the outcasts and oppressed in his society. That is a dangerous man! Tesla is right-- they killed him for it.