Reply #79: I'll tell you why..

[rateyes]

and this is theological talk. Hope it's not boring. But, most fundamentalists hold to a view of the Bible called "dispensationalism." Time is divided into "dispensations." We are, according to them, living in the next to the last dispensation, the last being the world after Jesus returns. They believe that the Sermon on the Mount is a description of the final dispensation---and, therefore not relevant for our world today. In that sermon Jesus said things like, "love your enemy," "turn the other cheek," "if you hate your brother/sister, you've already committed murder," etc.

They can't live like that (nobody fully can) and, so it must be a passage referring to the final dispensation, when they will be able to. I'm overgeneralizing here, and there's a lot more to it, and not all dispensationalists would fully agree with this assessment. Although, most dispensationalists don't even know they are one. They simply believe what the preachers tell them is the truth.

BTW, in another version of the Beatitudes, Jesus adds some "Woes." Woe to the rich, etc. Think rich Republicans wish he hadn't said that?