Dangerous
Liberals.
I keep
hearing comments, primarily from across the pond, but in the UK, too, how
dangerous the liberals are. They will ultimately destroy everything.
I also heard
a comment by two people in discussion. One answered some question by saying, “But
I am a Christian!” The other person answered, “What kind of Christian? A Republican
Christian? Or a Jesus Christian?”
That set me
thinking. I wonder if Jesus was anti-liberal, or maybe was he a “dangerous
liberal.”
So I
wondered, wasn't this Jesus the one that turned water into wine? My friend
Gerald Coates always said, “The Evangelical Christians had spent the last 2,000
years trying to change it back again.” Such a liberal thing to do, don't you
think?
Then I note
the story of the stoning of the lady caught in adultery. I have always wondered
how she committed adultery by herself. What happened to the man? Jesus said he
did not condemn her. Indeed, that is far too liberal. we should be in the
condemning business, shouldn't we?
Another
time, Jesus says, I must go via Samaria. Did He not know that good religious
people never went to Samaria? Yet Jesus said he MUST go there? Such a terrible
liberal thing to do.
If you know
anything about history, you will know that the Samaritans were the immigrants
in the land with a different religion. No wonder anti-liberals would have
nothing to do with them. Jesus, it seems was just too liberal.
I just saw a
list of things that Jesus never said on the internet. By Jame Martin, SJ. It
goes like this: Jesus never said, "Feed the hungry only if they have
papers." "Clothe the naked only if they're from your country.
"Welcome the stranger only if there's zero risk." "Help the poor
only if it's convenient." "Love your neighbour only if they look like
you".
So, in the
UK, there is a protest in a particular part of the country, as a supermarket
has just opened in that area on a Sunday. There are people outside parading
with posters on sticks saying, “Keep the Sabbath Holy,” i.e. “Don't work on
Sunday”. Jesus was just too liberal and was reprimanded on several occasions
for doing just that, working on the Sabbath.
I think I
will be a Liberal Jesus follower; it seems a much better way to go.
Jesus was
definitely a dangerous liberal; I want to follow that.
W. 411
Adrian Hawkes.
Bethan Drew
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely wonderful stuff! I am a fellow liberal Jesus follower!
Christopher Chessum
ReplyDeleteFirst of all Adrian, you have used the term “liberal” without defining what you mean by it. In 19th century Europe a liberal was someone who believed in the free market economy, limited government intervention and individual property rights. Great thinkers of the age such as John Locke and Adam Smith were considered to be liberals.
In 21st century USA, the term “liberal” seems to have a very different meaning. A liberal in the current US context seems to be someone who is on the political left and wants more social programs, state healthcare programmes, environmental legislation, support of LGBTQ plus rights (whatever that means), progressive taxation and the clear separation of Church and State. So just as the guy in your article was asking “What kind of Christian are you?” I would have to ask what kind of liberal do you think Jesus was?
Secondly, when it comes to the teachings of Jesus, I think you are confusing two different issues. Jesus’s teaching emphasised love for God and neighbour, forgiveness, humility and living a moral life. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping strangers, etc., was an individual to individual command: it wasn’t meant to be party political manifesto. It was individual to individual; not state to individual. Hence the idea that Jesus was somehow giving gratuitous license for individuals to ignore the law, travel without bothering to obtain a visa or have a valid passport, etc is more than a little wide off the mark.
Adrian Hawkes
ReplyDeleteIn the same way that the word 'Christian' means so many different things to whoever wants to use the word, so does the word 'liberal' it seems to me that from across the pond if we have health care free at the point of need we must be liberal, or transtlated to what I read we must be a communitst. I'm a bit puzzled by your response. Are you saying you disagreed with the quote I used, not my words, of course, but apposite I think. I just saw a list of things that Jesus never said on the internet. By James Martin, SJ. It goes like this: Jesus never said, "Feed the hungry only if they have papers." "Clothe the naked only if they're from your country. "Welcome the stranger only if there's zero risk." "Help the poor only if it's convenient." "Love your neighbour only if they look like you".