Jesus Christ
Whenever I stop to think about it, I’m amazed that the dominant religion in the U.S. is Christianity. It’s the default, expected religion for the rich and powerful, de rigeur for politicians to identify as. Bush, most of the Hawks, and most rich guys in suits would identify Jesus Christ as the most important spiritual teacher to have ever walked the planet.
Jesus Christ. A pacificist socialist anti-authoritarian most popularly depicted (in our culture) as a long-haired bearded hippie freak wearing a dress.
Maybe the only lesson they really got from him is that if you’re nice to people, you’ll get crucified.
Hee. But also I think a lot of people who claim Christianity in politics (and in American life in general) read "render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" and forget to a) read the second half of the passage or b) stop and think about what really does belong to Caesar.
Also, they'll attribute just about anything that sounds historical and/or philosophical to the Bible. You can quote Shakespeare or Karl Marx and attribute it to pretty much any book of the Bible you want, and half the self-proclaimed Christians will not recognize where you've gone wrong. It's a pretty dangerous thing to have more than half the country wandering around with no idea what they signed on for.
Posted by Mris on March 30 2003 06:14
The Christian religion in modern America has become everything that Jesus denounced the Jewish religion for being in his day.
Of course it's just my opinion, but if Jesus came back today, he'd blast both the Catholics and the evangelicals as hypocrites who twist the words of religion for their own power. And if he gained a large enough following, President Bush would have him executed and invoke Jesus while doing it.
Posted by Jimcat on March 31 2003 05:57
Don't forget he was arabic too!
Posted by Dav on April 1 2003 15:21