Christ, Christians, and Krsna
“A Vaisnava [a pure devotee of the Lord] is unhappy to see the suffering of
others. Therefore, Lord Jesus Christ agreed to be crucified—to free others
from their suffering. But his followers are so unfaithful that they have decided,
‘Let Christ suffer for us, and we'll go on committing sin.’ They love Christ so
much that they think, ‘My dear Christ, we are very weak. We cannot give up
our sinful activities. So you please suffer for us....”

. The Srimad-Bhagavatam states that any bona fide preacher of God con-
sciousness must have the qualities of titiksd (tolerance) and karuna
(compassion). In the character of Lord Jesus Christ we find both these
qualities. He was so tolerant that even while he was being crucified, he

didn’t condemn anyone. And he was so compassionate that he prayed to
God to forgive the very persons who were trying to kill him. (Of course,
: they could not actually kill him. But they were thinking that he could be
killed, so they were committing a great offense.) As Christ was being cru-
cified he prayed, ‘‘Father, forgive them. They know not what they are
doing.”’
A preacher of God consciousness is a friend to all living beings. Lord
Jesus Christ exemplified this by teaching, ‘“Thou shalt not kill.’’ But the
Christians like to misinterpret this instruction. They think the animals
have no soul, and therefore they think they can freely kill billions of in-
nocent animals in the slaughterhouses. So although there are many per-
sons who profess to be Christians, it would be very difficult to find one
who strictly follows the instructions of Lord Jesus Christ.
A Vaisnava is unhappy to see the suffering of others. Therefore, Lord
Jesus Christ agreed to be crucified—to free others from their suffering.
But his followers are so unfaithful that they have decided, ‘‘Let Christ
suffer for us, and we’ll go on committing sin.’’ They love Christ so much
that they think, ‘‘My dear Christ, we are very weak. We cannot give up
our sinful activities. So you please suffer for us.”’
Jesus Christ taught, ‘‘Thou shalt not kill.’’ But his followers have now
decided, ‘‘Let us kill anyway,’’ and they open big, modern, scientific
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