There's something I like a lot about the New Testament. Surprised? Don't be. There's actually a lot I like there, and I think my favorite part of the whole Jesus Thing is the unlikeliness of it all. His birth to a poor family, in a stable. (Note: I have no idea if there was a man named Jesus who actually lived and did anything that the NT says he did. It doesn't make any difference to me whether it's true because I don't believe in gods, so don't interpret my treating the historical Jesus as a true story as anything other than my response to what is written about him.) He wasn't a king or a priest. In fact, he didn't care much for the leadership of the Jewish community at the time. He ate with tax collectors, not pharisees. I love that.
Jesus challenged the idea of what was considered Holy at the time. He turned morality on its ear. He did the exact opposite of what a lot of religious leaders wanted or expected him to do. That's kind of awesome.
So here we are in 2012. We've got Presidential candidates flouting their faith and "traditional values." Somehow we've done it again. 'Morality' today means not drinking and not using the word 'fuck' in a blog title. It means marriage between a man and a woman. It means not using birth control.
What does any of that have to do with how we treat each other? The prevailing economic attitude of those who would define themselves as the harbingers of values and morality can be summed up with, "I've got mine. Fuck you." That's too harsh? Is it really? Why don't we hear these moral leaders worrying about how to help the poor?
We've allowed these folks to subltly redefine morality in terms that suit them. They would prefer that morality be more about sex than the really hard stuff like helping their neighbor.
I like to think about what Jesus would be like if he was born into today's world. Would he hang out with the televangelists in their limos? Would he fight gay marriage? Would he be excited about a Gingrich presidency?
It's funny that I don't believe in God, but I seem to take what Jesus stood for so much more seriously than so many of those who say they do.
It's fucked up.
No comments:
Post a Comment