Apr. 04, 2004 - 19:08 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Like He Does

I claim to be no expert on matters like this, but think this column by Bill Stout In The Denver Post Sunday May 4th edition of Colorado Voices is worth quoting in its entirety. Mr. Stout is a Fort Collins, Colorado husband, father, volunteer and a consultant to non-profit organizations.

QUOTE

"How Would Jesus Vote ?"

"Was Jesus a liberal ? Much about his teachings were certainly radical and liberal both then and NOW, and they outraged the conservative leaders of his day.

Consider a few of the radical things Jesus emphasized repeatedly: unmerited forgiveness based on belief rather than behavior, treating women and children with respect, forgiving enemies, helping the poor and welcoming criminals and other despised low-lifes into his inner circle.

Today there is a substantial number of moderate-to-liberal Christians who emphasize these values, but we usually get drowned out by our more "newsworthy" brothers and sisters, the Christians of the religious right. The news media contribute to this problem by amplifying conservative issues like gay rights, school prayer, and posting the Ten Commandments. The news media thrive on controversy, and the culture wars are too enticing to resist.

Some misguided nut from Kansas pickets the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a man murdered for being gay, with signs proclaiming that Shepard is roasting in hell since "God hates fags." This outrage gets lots of news coverage, while Christian hospice volunteers tending to men dying of HIV/AIDS get little notice, certainly not on the front page.

As a moderate-to-liberal Christian, I worry that non-Christians are getting a distorted view of my faith, and that some conservative Christians assume God is on their side. They should know better.

A new myth is arising since the 2000 election that says Republicans are religious while Democrats are not. Naturally GOP politicans are happy to support this distortion. While several polls in the 2000 and 2004 election cycle have been reported as supporting this theory, a closer look shows only small differences in worship behavior between both parties.

For one thing, these interpretations were based on arbitrary standards of religion. One key finding was that persons who attended worship more than twice a week were twice as likely to favor George W. Bush in 2000. Many committed Christians, including me, may be "at church" several times in a week even though we worship only once. In summer, my family's attendance rate falls even lower due to weekend camping. Digging deeper into poll statistics showed that people who attended worship "a few times a month" tended to prefer Democrat Gore over Republican Bush. This and several other mistakes in interpretation of the poll results show only that people with certain characteristics were more likely to support the conservative candidate.

How do I connect my faith with my political and cultural preferences ? Like many other Christians, I read the Bible and seek a relationship with God. This relationship demands a response. I note how Jesus of Nazareth emphasized unearned forgiveness, a bleeding-heart concern for the poor and marginalized, a knee-jerk fondness for economic and social justice, denial of greed and materialism, and a preference for peacemakers. I observe that this rabble-rousing Jesus rejected a militant top-down style of leadership and instead extended a refreshing invitation.

My response is to seek choices, political and otherwise, that support these Gospel values. I find these values compatible with a moderate-to-liberal philosophy, and attuned to the Democratic Party when it is at its best. I find plenty of faults with liberalism and the Democrats, but I see even more problems with conservative and Republican dogma.

My conservative Christian friends read the same Bible and reach different but equally sincere conclusions. How we do this is , I suppose, another mystery of the Faith. Go figure.

In truth, our disagreements are much less important than our agreement on the really important point: God loved humanity so much, He came in person to claim us, and save us from throwing our souls away.

Was Jesus a liberal ? Undoubtedly, but he was also a big-time conservative. None of us is able to make a label big enough to define the Creator of the universe.

Personally, I feel God has put me on this earth for purposes other than fighting Culture Wars. It's better to light a candle and invite people into the light than spend so much energy cursing the darkness. God came to save, not to condemn."

UNQUOTE

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I do tend to italicize and bold a few things, otherwise I pray my quote of the article is accurate. Not much more I can say about this. Nor do I wish to offend anyone or start a flame war. Nevertheless I do think Like He Does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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