Spiritual Reflections by Joe Mayer: We are a Christian Nation
Joe Mayer is a retired Rochester, Minnesota, high school teacher, former city councilman, and past member of the Olmsted County Social Services Board. He and his wife, Elaine, have been foster parents for countless children and teens.
“We are a Christian Nation,” we claim, but do we follow the teachings and methods of Jesus?
Jesus was a Leftist: The economic model of first century Christian communities was socialism.
Jesus was a Pacifist: Members of first century Christianity refused to fight for the Empire.
Jesus was a radical nonviolent political activist: Today Jesus would be among the ninety-nine percenters.
History has given us many nonviolent political dissenters to show the way – Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Sojourner Truth, Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Lucretia Mott, Jeannette Rankin, Martin Luther King Jr, Mark Twain, Dorothy Day.
If we count those who challenged their own religious leaders, we could continue for hours.
Today Jesus and his followers would be labeled occupiers and socialists.
The prophets of the Talmud and Hebrew Scriptures were leftists as was Yahweh who spread manna in the desert to feed all – a true socialist in action.
Mohammed was a leftist. The Buddha was a leftist. Chief Seattle was a leftist. The Dalai Lama is a leftist.
Many of these leftists have stood in solidarity with pacifists, socialists, anti-war activists, feminists, and anti-racists. Leftist power came not from the sword but from the love they had for humankind, from a recognizable compassion.
How did Christianity become a religion of war? In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine invited Christian leaders to become one percenters and share power with him. Since then, religious leaders from nearly all denominations have shared these powers. Historically, when religion marries power, the vast majority suffer.
Recall a short time ago that the Middle East was erupting with dissent against government power. Today that dissent has reached the shores of the United States for similar reasons. The ”Government of the People, by the people, and for the people” (the ninety-nine percenters) is disappearing from the earth. In the past century, religious fundamentalism—a belief in the absolute inerrancy of their sacred writings—has invaded Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Within these writings are passages that will condemn anyone who believes differently. Religion has become an exchange of condemnations. What happened to the law of love and compassion that came from all of our Great Teachers—Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Abraham? Has our hatred blinded us so much that we have made our gods into our own image rather than believing we are created in God’s image?
Despite their nonviolence, early Christians became one of the largest religious groups in the empire during the first three centuries of their history. After Christian leaders took up with Constantine and co-opted the pagan Empire, dressing as nobles and assuming special titles, they became separate—aloof and above—Christian communities which would be today’s ninety-nine percenters. Since then, it has been a continual struggle to blend Christians into a cohesive, nonviolent, all-inclusive loving embrace.
“We are a Christian Nation,” we claim, but do we follow the teachings and methods of Jesus?
Jesus was a Leftist: The economic model of first century Christian communities was socialism.
Jesus was a Pacifist: Members of first century Christianity refused to fight for the Empire.
Jesus was a radical nonviolent political activist: Today Jesus would be among the ninety-nine percenters.
History has given us many nonviolent political dissenters to show the way – Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Sojourner Truth, Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Lucretia Mott, Jeannette Rankin, Martin Luther King Jr, Mark Twain, Dorothy Day.
If we count those who challenged their own religious leaders, we could continue for hours.
Today Jesus and his followers would be labeled occupiers and socialists.
The prophets of the Talmud and Hebrew Scriptures were leftists as was Yahweh who spread manna in the desert to feed all – a true socialist in action.
Mohammed was a leftist. The Buddha was a leftist. Chief Seattle was a leftist. The Dalai Lama is a leftist.
Many of these leftists have stood in solidarity with pacifists, socialists, anti-war activists, feminists, and anti-racists. Leftist power came not from the sword but from the love they had for humankind, from a recognizable compassion.
How did Christianity become a religion of war? In the fourth century, the Roman Emperor Constantine invited Christian leaders to become one percenters and share power with him. Since then, religious leaders from nearly all denominations have shared these powers. Historically, when religion marries power, the vast majority suffer.
Recall a short time ago that the Middle East was erupting with dissent against government power. Today that dissent has reached the shores of the United States for similar reasons. The ”Government of the People, by the people, and for the people” (the ninety-nine percenters) is disappearing from the earth. In the past century, religious fundamentalism—a belief in the absolute inerrancy of their sacred writings—has invaded Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Within these writings are passages that will condemn anyone who believes differently. Religion has become an exchange of condemnations. What happened to the law of love and compassion that came from all of our Great Teachers—Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Abraham? Has our hatred blinded us so much that we have made our gods into our own image rather than believing we are created in God’s image?
Despite their nonviolence, early Christians became one of the largest religious groups in the empire during the first three centuries of their history. After Christian leaders took up with Constantine and co-opted the pagan Empire, dressing as nobles and assuming special titles, they became separate—aloof and above—Christian communities which would be today’s ninety-nine percenters. Since then, it has been a continual struggle to blend Christians into a cohesive, nonviolent, all-inclusive loving embrace.
Labels: Christianity, Jesus
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1 Comments:
I do not even pretend to know if Jesus would be a liberal or a conservative, I suspect some of each. As for me, I try to help people when I see people in need. I doubt if Jesus would approve of the envy displayed by the Occupy group and I wonder if Jesus would care about how liberals define ‘help’ as getting get others to pay more taxes.
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