thinking, today I'd like to begin to explain why I think that Jesus,
if he were forced to choose a political party to side with,
would choose liberalism over conservatism.
This seems contrary to what most people would say about
Christians in general. About six months ago I read a
non-fiction book entitled UnChristian, which presented in detail the results of a survey designed to determine what young people (those
under 30) believed about Christianity and--as the subtitle
of the book stated--why that matters. When asked to describe
a typical Christian, this is what those people said, with
the most popular responses first:
- Anti-homosexual (91% of respondents)
- Judgmental (87%)
- Hypocritical (85%)
- The same as every other religion (82%)
- Good values and principles (76%)
- Politically conservative (75%)
It was an interesting book, and it got me to me thinking again about the idea that I had mentioned in my previous entry on this subject, the idea that Jesus was a liberal. This led me to create a
list of what I saw as the differences between conservatives
and liberals. Here's what I came up with:
Conservatism: Interested in preserving the status quo
Liberalism: Seeks to change the current status quo
Conservatism: Desires a free market system where individuals have the right and opportunity to accumulate wealth
Liberalism: Desires a more socialistic system where the government ensures that all citizens have their basic needs met
Conservatism: Favors traditional values over individual freedoms
Liberalism: Favors individual freedoms over traditional values
Conservatism: Abortion--Anti-choice / Pro-life
Liberalism: Abortion--Pro-choice/ Anti-life
Conservatism: Anti-homosexual
Liberalism: Accepting of homosexuals
(There are more differences than these, I know, and my list had them, but I can already sense that this is going to be a long entry, so I'll leave it at that.)
I then started asking myself, which of these ideologies sounds more like Jesus' teaching, and what evidence from the Bible to I have to demonstrate that. Here's what I discovered:
Conservatism: Interested in preserving the status quo
Liberalism: Seeks to change the current status quo
You could actually make an argument for both of these stances. After all, Jesus said in Mathew 5:17, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." That sounds like someone trying to preserve the status quo.
However, a closer reading of that chapter reveals that Jesus is actually criticizing the way the Law was being interpreted by the scribes of the day. Jesus states that the scribes say that one shouldn't murder, but Jesus carries it a step further, arguing that it's not enough to avoid murder--simply THINKING ill will toward another is a sin. Thus, Jesus was definitely challenging the status quo.
Judgement: In this case, Jesus was...a liberal!
Conservatism: Desires a free market system where individuals have the right and opportunity to accumulate wealth.
Liberalism: Desires a more socialistic system where the government ensures that all citizens have their basic needs met.
This one is a no brainer. Jesus was never interested in accumulating wealth. In three of the four gospels he encourages a rich young man to "Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Jesus models a kind of socialism when he feeds the multitudes. He collects the bread and fish and miraculously converts it into enough to feed the thousands who had come to listen to him. If he'd been a Republican he would have fought for the young boy's rights to hold onto the fish he'd worked so hard to catch and the bread he'd bought with his own earnings.
Also, a reading of the Acts of the Apostles reveals that the early apostles lived a life that was almost identical to a 1960's commune.
Judgement: In this case, Jesus was...a liberal!
Conservatism: Favors traditional values over individual freedoms
Liberalism: Favors individual freedoms over traditional values
Again, I would say this is a no brainer, but this time the decision falls to the opposite side. Jesus was very much in favor of traditional values. Heck, Jesus was the literal embodiment of the traditional values given to the Jews by his Father. And Jesus was never very much concerned about individual freedoms.
Judgement: In this case, Jesus was...a conservative!
Conservatism: Abortion--Anti-choice / Pro-life
Liberalism: Abortion--Pro-choice/ Anti-life
I don't think there's any doubt that Jesus would have been against abortion. He plainly stated that murder was wrong, and he was fond of children and chided people to be especially careful not to harm them. If Jesus had been a politician, it's impossible to imagine that he would have bought into the idea that a woman's right to choose superseded a child's right to live.
Judgement: In this case, Jesus was...a conservative!
Conservatism: Anti-homosexual
Liberalism: Accepting of homosexuals
This one's tough. The Bible itself condemns homosexuality in a number of places (Paul was especially adamant about it in his letters). Jesus himself, however, was silent on homosexuality. Sure, you could interpret the "pearls before swines" line as being about homosexuality, but that's a stretch.
Jesus DID speak out against sexual immorality, but his comments were directed at humans of both the hetero and homo-sexual inclinations. He says that divorce is wrong, that all lust is a sin. He is an equal opportunity condemner of sexual sin.
Despite that, though, one of the most famous scenes from the Gospel involves the only evidence of sexual sin in the Gospels. A woman is brought before Jesus for adultery. The priests want Jesus to condemn her and stone her to death, but Jesus says, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Jesus seems to clearly be stating that no one is in a position of righteousness that would allow that person to judge another's sin and that we should have compassion for one another.
Judgement: Split Decision
So if you tally that up, that's two for liberals, two for conservatives, and a no decision.
So what does that mean? I'll talk more about that NEXT time. This isn't really a great place to stop, but a) it's late and b) this is a VERY long blog entry. I'm actually surprised you're still reading it. Truth be told, I wouldn't still be reading if this were YOUR blog! But that's the difference between you and me. You're a better person.
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