What Would Jesus Do?

I try not to get too political on this blog for quite a few reasons, all of which seem obvious to me.  Nothing can start a fight quite like politics or religion, and since I already have a blog that could be associated with religion, talking about politics could turn away the few readers who may pass by from time to time.

However, since I am constantly struggling with the contrast of Jesus' life in the Bible with some of his self proclaimed followers' actions in the political arena, I feel like it's time to spice up the old blog a bit.  How can I not speak about how I feel that Jesus would respond in the wake of several political battlegrounds including immigration, homosexual rights, and culminating in Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally in DC last Saturday.  All of these are loaded issues and we all tend to know how we feel, but hopefully no matter how you feel about these issues I can at least grind the gears in your head a little bit.

1) Black and White

One of the biggest failings and shames in our society, and one that directly emerges from a bipartisan government (in my opinion), is that the most intimate, personal, and complex issues get ground down into black and white, one or the other, right or wrong, etc.  The beginning of the end of civil discussion on any topic was when news organizations that were non-profit devolved into giant cable news corporations.  Before we know it how you like your eggs will become a politicized topic.

It is sad to see people lose their rights because their lives became the center of a public debate and the issue at hand is determined by people who are disconnected from the situation, and also people who are just exploiting the situation to earn votes/support/popularity.  This is most tragic when an issue becomes an extreme choice one way or the other, instead of a flexible decision with people on opposing sides of the issue compromising to move forward.

While there are certainly issues to be passionate about, I have yet to see an issue where compromise would not be possible if people would stop fighting for the extreme position.  Why can't we watch news anymore with the option to make our own minds up (we can, but NPR/PBS is unpopular and is considered liberal by people who think everything except Fox News is liberal)?  The last thing I'll say in this section is that there are few, if any, decisions with only two sides, and yet everyday we seem to only hear about a liberal or conservative position on anything.

2) Immigration Reform

Speaking of a polarizing issue, it seems that when it comes to how people feel about immigration they either feel that illegal immigrants should either stay or go.  Everyone wants reform, it's just the how that gets people worked up.  There are many ways that immigration can be reformed, and I hope it would be a more complex process than having an open or closed border.  To form my opinion on this topic I simply ask myself the question:  What would Jesus do?  It's obviously not that simple as people "surprisingly" feel differently about what Jesus would do, but I can at least start there.

I am amazed at the amount of Christians I have interacted with or witnessed that think that the Old Testament is a "Christian" document.  While the Old Testament is absolutely important and absolutely key to the story fulfilled in Jesus Christ, it is important to realize that the Old Testament tells the story of Judaism as much as it does Christianity.  What do I mean by that?  We learn in the Old Testament that while non-Jews could be converted to the faith, it was mostly the faith of a specific people.  While it may be tempting to think that if I, or any other person of non-Jewish descent, would have been a believer in line with Jewish practices, it is not likely (at best) that it would be true.

In fact, I believe it is core to the Christian story that Jesus made it possible for everyone to worship God intimately by serving as the substitute for our sins and the consequence they bring.  The Christian faith is not exclusive to anyone (although some would like to think it is), regardless of ethnic background, and that just wasn't the case in Old Testament times.  So if you consider yourself a follower of Christ, what message does it send when you support keeping people out?  At the risk of sounding hypocritical by summarizing complex viewpoints, I know that it's not that simple for most people, and yet in my daily life I encounter people who are frustrated by "those people" who are "taking jobs," "can't speak English," and are "threatening our way of life."
There is too much scripture condemning that behavior to cite it all (love for enemies, not judging, going above and beyond in response to those in need, etc.).  I'm not saying that an open border is a solution at all.  As Americans, we forget that we are immigrants ourselves inherently, both in our land and in our faith.  As a country we have created the situation we are in.  Perhaps we wouldn't have as big of a problem if we invested in building up other countries rather than constantly throwing money, and more importantly, lives away in never ending wars.

Feel free to comment, and I'll tackle the other "hot button" issues later.  We don't all have to agree, but let's at least try to genuinely ask ourselves:  "What would Jesus do?"  (And as an aside, I'm glad that bracelet fad is over.  When a legitimate question becomes a "fad," chaos ensues.)