President Biden told a Democratic lawmaker and members of his Cabinet after the State of the Union address that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will need to have a “come…

President Biden told a Democratic lawmaker and members of his Cabinet after the State of the Union address that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will need to have a “come-to-Jesus meeting.”

Biden’s comments, captured on a hot mic as he spoke with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) on the floor of the House chamber, came after Bennet congratulated the commander in chief on his speech and pressed him to keep pressure on Netanyahu over increasing humanitarian issues in Gaza.

  • cosmicrookie@lemmy.world
    61·
    10 months ago

    I understand the meaning. What i dont get is the idiom.

    As far as i know (and i am not religious) Jesus only got furious once, at people trying to make money off god and always talked about mans free will

    • I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world
      11·
      10 months ago

      It’s a moment of realization that makes you change your ways. It’s just really awkward phrasing since Netanyahu is a secular Jew.

      https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/come-to-jesus/

      Just as finding Jesus is said to save a person’s soul, a come-to-Jesus meeting or moment results in new, though difficult, understanding or behavior (i.e., changing one’s ways).

      By the the 1990s, the expression had become familiar enough to stand for such a meeting or moment all on its a own (e.g., Our son needs a come to Jesus about doing well in school or People need a come to Jesus about their smartphone addiction).

      Come to Jesus is often seen as a business or workplace cliché. Supervisors, for instance, may have a come to Jesus meeting with employees if performance needs serious correction. Come-to-Jesus moment won Forbes’ magazine’s cheeky 2013 Jargon Madness competition, which pitted overused corporate buzzwords against each other à la March Madness basketball brackets.

    • pheet
      9·
      10 months ago

      That’s how idioms ofter are: there’s nothing to get, only to know.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      2·
      10 months ago

      It goes back to tent revival events in the late 1800’s. People would literally come to Jesus and dedicate themselves to Christianity.

        • thisisnotgoingwell@programming.dev
          4·
          10 months ago

          It’s supposed to mean that enough outside pressure has mounted to force the kind of introspection where you reconsider everything you think you know or are. In a way, you are releasing your ‘self’ in exchange for becoming one with the larger picture.

          So you might have someone that let’s say has a drinking problem… They think they are managing and are not cognizant of how their behavior or actions are impacting others. You have an intervention so that the person can learn the weight of the burdens he’s made other people shoulder, forcing introspection and a “come to Jesus moment”

    • Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I never took it as a biblical thing, because Christianity especially in the United States has very little to do with the bible. A “Come To Jesus” meeting is about demanding conformity in no uncertain terms