Compassion of the Christ
This is a bit of a departure for me, but its something that really has been driving me crazy.
I hung out with two social science graduate students in Chicago, liberal intellectual types. At one point I brought up how well I think Kanye West raps.
“Yeah, but he’s a Jesus freak,” one of them remarked, referring to his song “Jesus Walks.”
I explained, although a gross oversimplification, that there are two types of “Jesus freaks.” One that for some reason is intollerant of others and often downright murderous, and another that practices compassion and righteousness.
But this is a much larger problem among liberals. Conservatives have cloaked their ideology with religion to their benefit, and have led many progressives to abandon religion altogether, believing that it entails dismissing science, alienating homosexuals and denying women’s right to choose. This is simply not true.
If Jesus is not a progressive figure, what of the appeals to compassion in the songs of Johnny Cash? Or the invigorated preaching of Martin Luther King, Jr.? Christ sought to feed the poor and bring peace to mankind, what better causes for liberals to champion?
The idea that Chirst could be used to justify military action and blatant intollerance is the biggest scam that conservatives have pulled on the American people. Progressives should be working hard to appeal to the basic morality provided by the ancient texts that have guided our society through nearly 2,000 years. Western civilization was founded upon those ideas and there is still a valuable message ingrained in those writings. This scam has been perpetrated throughout history, as powerful men have warped these ideas to justify their actions.
Please, do not abandon this powerful appeal to compassion. It is being perverted.