Professor Vents - and I Agree!

I read in this morningʼs paper that 2 out of 5 adults are not on Facebook. As of last week I became one of them. Donʼt like Facebook, never have, never will. Besides, my account is with my church email address so Iʼd have to change it soon anyway. Reluctantly though, I admit occasionally something good comes out of that social network just as something very good came out of Nazareth once upon a time. Cindy got a quote sent to her by one of our MHCC members and I think it bears sharing. I wish I had written it even though I recognize it is a little harshly worded. The truth within, however, surpasses my concern about its roughness.

“Many on the Christian Right are fond of posing the question WWJD? - What would Jesus do? I’d like to remind them what Jesus DID do: he cared for the poor. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery. He prayed alone. He commanded us to love our enemies. He preached peace. He ate, drank, and lived with tax collectors and sinners the lowlifes and outcasts of his day while reserving his condemnation for the religious leaders who from a place of privilege imposed their legalism and literalism on the people they were responsible for leading. He told his disciples not to oppose the healing work of those outside the ranks of his followers. And again and again he reminded us to care for the poor. (That moral issue gets more air time than any other in the gospels: 1 verse in 9.) If Christians concerned about how to respond to the grave global issues facing us all were to reread the Gospels for guidance, I think we’d find some pretty clear indications there about what Jesus would do. And what he wouldn’t. (One of the few bumper stickers I’ve been tempted to affix to my still undecorated car in recent months reads. Who would Jesus bomb?) Whatever Jesus would do, given what he did do, and has promised he will do, I don’t hink it looks much like what the insulated, self-congratulatory Fox News fans on the Christian Right are doing.”

Marilyn McEntyre is a Professor of English at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California.

I appreciate it when questions on one side of an issue get flipped over and redirected to the original questioner! Thatʼs how some of the best thinking gets stirred up! Iʼve long held the position that the questions are often more important than the answers.

You know what I think, what about you?

Shalom,
Terry