What Would Jesus Do?
The Easter 2024 edition 2.0 of the Status Quo: An Electronic Newsletter is dedicated to the memory of a childhood friend who took his own life four decades ago. Raised in a home where a drunk pretended to be a father and schooled in a place where men of the cloth pretended to be a servants of Christ, he never had a chance in life. How does a boy have a chance in life when he is beaten at home and raped in the basement of St. Jude? The answer is he never had a chance because those who knew what was happening did not care enough about him to give him a chance. If they had, maybe his short life would not have been so painful that his only option was suicide.
What Would Jesus Do?
The American people appear to hate child sex abusers but appearing to hate them does nothing to stop them. The American people also appear to hate serial rapists especially those whose mother, daughter, sister or wife was raped by one of them but appearing to hate them will not stop someone else’s mother, daughter, sister or wife from being raped by them. To those who disagree with the above assertions, this son, husband and father poses a single question. If Americans really wanted to stop these monsters, why do they trust their hapless governments to stop them when they know they won’t?
This article poses and answers another question and one that just might help the American people understand what it is they must do to save their nation. What would Jesus do if confronted by a man who raped an 11-year-old boy? Would He advise the boy to turn the other cheek? To this Christian, the answer is obvious. Jesus would not advise us to turn the other cheek when the issue is the rape of His little ones. Jesus would demand that we, as a society, ensure serial rapists do not rape again and pedophiles are never given a second chance to practice their perverted desires.
An equally compelling question to contemplate is how Jesus would react if confronted with the cruel and vile men who walk our streets and troll the internet today. The pervasive nature of evil or at least the level of cruelty we are witnessing today in society is unlike any in human history. The money available for perverted pleasures is incalculable as is the money to be made from providing these pleasures. Likewise, the ability of those with money to silence victims and allow evil to continue its wicked ways continues to grow exponentially. When combined with an impotent criminal justice system and a political process indifferent to the suffering of its citizens, the end result is a society where victims are left with no recourse but suffer alone while the criminal element continues to tear our society apart at the seams.
As for those Christian ministers who preach that we must be like Jesus and “turn the other cheek” in the face of every assault upon the person, this Christian rejects this as disinformation. Teaching that Jesus would promote inaction in the face of evil is nothing more than centuries of Church dogma intended to keep the masses passive before Church authority and silent under Church abuses. Catholic or Protestant, it does not matter. Anyone who preaches that Christ’s message is to turn away from violence against His little ones is spreading disinformation intended to keep us passive and subservient before the injustices that permeate our society.
It is time we end this “new dark age made more sinister and perhaps more protracted by the lights of perverted science” and replace it with an age of responsibility where men and women are held to account for their crimes, their cruelty and their lies. It is time we understood that the truth matters, and wealth is measured by the good it can do for the least of our brothers and not for what it can buy for the wealthiest of our brothers. It is also time we take responsibility for keeping our children safe even of that means addressing the problem one pedophile and one career politician at a time because it is what Jesus would do.
The Light of the World
According to scripture, Jesus proclaimed that no greater love exists than that which finds a friend sacrificing his life for a friend. Sacrifice was the essence of His teachings. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me.” These two lessons not only summarize His life but also make it clear, at least to this Christian, that people who take advantage of the weak and defenseless, steal from the poor and downtrodden, defraud government and the people it serves, and embrace cruelty as a form of free speech are not just rejecting His teachings but are in fact the enemies of Jesus Christ.
Another equally important message and one that for years caused this Christian some confusion relates to Jesus urging us to love God above all else. How could one love anything more than they love their children? Only after years of reflection did it become clear that Jesus’ message was not intended to keep us on our knees in worship placing adoration over responsibility. Jesus wanted us to understand that if we place love of money, power, or influence over God and each other, we are destined to live a life void of the two emotions forever intertwined: love and empathy. In short, placing God first in our lives acts as a reminder of our mortality as well as our place in the world.
Jesus’ teachings are not only intended to improve the lives of those who hear and embrace His message but society overall. His teachings represent a code of conduct that enriches society and promotes civility among citizens. In short, Jesus’ message is a blueprint for how men and women can live together in peace and harmony. His teachings are also a guide that enables societies to prosper. One need look no further to find the answer to why America has descended into mediocrity. America has placed the accumulation of wealth as the measure of success and a profound indifference to the sufferings of others as a way of life and our society is suffering for it.
We are witnessing how the rejection of Jesus’ message impacts a life. The life in question is that of the former fake President of the United States. His life of greed, bullying, lying and stealing has been taking its toll for years. His rejection of compassion, honesty and goodwill towards others has left him spiritually broken and morally bankrupt. His ability to retain ideas and grasp even basic concepts has left him. He wallows in the misery of his own creation and soon he will pay for it.
Yet despite his countless lies, manipulation of others, and his endless appetite for cruelty, evangelicals still cling to him like groupies to an aging rock star. They too wonder in the darkness that comes from betraying the Light of the World. Unfortunately, evangelicals will not have to pay the price for their betrayal. Countless aborted fetuses will pay the price for them.
Many evangelicals believe the former fake President of the United States made possible the reversal of Roe v Wade by his appointments to the once respected but now disgraced United States Supreme Court. Yes, his appointees gutted a half-century of established precedent that protected a woman’s right to privacy. Yet what is left in the wake of that reversal is not the utopia many sought, but a nightmare evangelicals will have to live with the rest of their lives. Evangelicals with their money, influence and misplaced ideas of His message provided the spark that made possible OnDemand abortions. No matter how they spin their motives, the fact is there are more abortions occurring today than ever in American society.
As Christians, evangelicals included, seek to find their way in an ever more complicated world, they can take comfort in the fact that the Light of the World was not like Confucius, Muhammad or any Hindu God. Jesus Christ’s message does not require men to explain His message. Nor did Jesus teach in riddles or place women in servitude to men. Jesus’ message was clear and unambiguous, and it was meant for all humanity. Embrace love and empathy or else you will live a life without love and empathy. A life just like the one the former fake President of the United States has lived.