It seems like Jesus has American politics all dialed in and figured out.
From the Reconstruction Era until just about yesterday, Jesus has been actively wading in American politics. Shaping policy. Articulating positions on salient issues. Supporting war on developing nations. Getting pissed off that we say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
And Jesus always seems to be on the winning side of every argument, except when he’s not.
But, above Jesus’ important role as a commentator in American politics, he also apparently does a fair amount of consulting and demanding that political candidates to run for president.
In this presidential race alone, Jesus or God has advised — and even demanded — at least six candidates to run.
For Scott Walker, it is “God’s plan” for him to run for president. For Ben Carson, “God grabbed him by the collar” and “asked him to run.” Rick Perry and John Kasich both received messages from God that they should run. And Mike Huckabee said God “blessed” his run.
Clearly, God has been busy endorsing and blessing candidacies.
And God seems to only want conservative Republicans to run for president. Because to my knowledge, God has not asked either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton to run.
God loves rugged individualism, wants everyone to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps or their trust funds, and believes strongly in capital punishment.
Over the years, I’ve been concerned and perplexed by the Good Shepard’s decidedly conservative slant.
He has hated gays, same-sex marriage, stem-cell research, abortion, and contraception. He has little use for entitlement programs and big government. He has even less time for the redistribution of wealth.
God loves rugged individualism, wants everyone to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps or their trust funds, and believes strongly in capital punishment.
There is no racism in God’s eyes. In fact, there are no races at all. There is just one race created by him, except the Negroes who sell drugs and shoot each other.
I am perplexed and concerned only because this isn’t the God I’ve been reading about for years and learning in seminary, or preaching on Sundays
That God, the God that I know, really is a whole lot different than the one I hear of in American politics.
He is really quite loving. He sent his son to this earth to remind mortals to love each other and resolve disputes quickly.
He believes in the redistribution of wealth and protecting the poor and marginalized — so much so that he has developed an economic system designed to feed and care for widows, orphans, and those unable to fend for themselves.
He has endless compassion and gives humans a little space to be human.
And he is not a He at all, but rather both a he and a she at the same time.
So, what’s a person who loves this God to do in American politics?
