“Jesus Christ was so little minded to give specific guidance as to politics that he didn’t even deal with the issue of slavery. And these twits think that it’s heresy to be in favour of the free market or against the UN.”
Funny how that same topic has kept coming up recently. Just the other day, I posted the words above on my own blog. Now Christopher Pellerito’s comments in the post just below this one, and the Howie Carr and Joe Bob Briggs articles he quotes, have got me thinking.
“What would Jesus do?” when first coined might have been a good phrase to prompt Christians to examine their own lives in the light of Christ’s example. There is nothing logically wrong with that principle, employed with due modesty. Christians Socialists, Conservatives and Libertarians all may sincerely believe that their political beliefs either flow from their religion or are at least compatible with it. (Not all of them can be right, but that’s one for another post.)
However the WWJD phrase has now become little more than a hook for anybody to make any claim they like about divine backing for their side in whatever temporary and local kerfuffle happens to be in the paper this week, secure in the knowledge that the authority they quote is scarcely going to gainsay them.
At least, not yet.
By definition every Christian believes that he or she will one day stand before Jesus. I can’t help wondering whether some Christians would be so presumptuous about putting words into Jesus’ mouth if the prospect of that final, consummate meeting were truly real to them.
Since Jesus is God Incarnate, He wouldn’t vote – He’d appoint.
I am still figuring out what kind of car Our Lord and Saviour would drive. How about the latest Aston Martin? Guaranteed to convert the worst heathen!
Don’t think he’d be voting New Labour, what with Blair being married to the Wicked Witch.
i won’t get all cheeky and put words in J’s mouth but i will speculate that J would neither vote nor drive.
for one thing Jesus would already know the outcome of the election.
J, following in the footsteps of his father, would probably leave the voting to us mortals, kind of like the forbidden fruit (2), everlasting life in the garden (0) vote held by the first snake-in-the-grass politico.
J was given the chance to vote himself dictator of the world and without so much as a hanging chad he said “get thee behind me, satan.” (Luke4:8 below)
he also had some choice words for Peter in
Matthew 16:23 —Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
i speculate that voting for any mortal politician would fall into the “things of men” department.
as for cars, putting myself in J’s shoes for a moment, i speculate he’d walk. i mean, what a statement! J had this nasty habit of identifying with the weak, the poor and the sick. he’d probably not set sandal in a car – one of the things that has most made lots and lots and lots of us weak, poor and sick. (over 40,000 americans die in car wrecks on a yearly basis, millions are injured, not counting air pollution.) also if jesus were driving it might get inconvenient having to always stop and find parking before healing blind or sick homeless folks at the roadside.
he probably wouldn’t eat at mCdonald’s either.
Luke 4:
5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
sorry i don’t have international stats on cars and death!
Very interesting