Tuesday, November 21, 2006
JUDAS POLITICS
No this is not a Sunday School lesson, nor is it a theological treatise. However, the Militant Moderate has been deeply disturbed by the warlike incursion of some fundamentalist Christian groups into politics. Apparently these folk are on a mission, led by what they believe to be the Spirit, or perhaps the teachings of their Bible. History has shown misguided zeal to be highly dangerous.
I am disturbed by the movement for two reasons. First, it is very bad politics and potentially harmful to the nation and the freedoms of the people. Second, it is a misuse of Christianity, an apostasy, and it is in conflict with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.
We could cite numerous examples of conflicts between the religious right movement's tactics, teachings, and principle with the lessons of the scriptures. We could also expound on the meanings of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, in this piece we will do neither. Instead, we would like to take a different tack.
We all remember Judas, the Betrayer. What did he do? He took money from the high priests to assist in locating and identifying Jesus. Most of our lives we have been taught that Judas was possessed by the Evil One and did his bidding. Theologically, it was always hard to rectify that a close follower committed to Jesus could be so possessed as to perform the heinous act of selling out his Master for a few coins.
Modern teachings shed a different light on Judas. Many in that day expected Jesus to become an earthly king and ruler. That temptation from Satan was very real. When Jesus began to predict his own arrest, death, and resurrection, many followers fell away. Judas was greatly disturbed. The thought now is that Judas sought to force Jesus'hand with the arrest, causing him to have to exercise his power and take over secular rule. That is, he would become the rebel king that Judas and others wanted.
Thus, Judas wanted to make Jesus into his own version of the Messiah, and not the version intended by God and prophesied as the Suffering Servant by Isaiah.
Just as Judas was misguided, and his actions precipitated tragic results, so are our devout fundamentalists now similarly busy. They seek to turn the Christian religion into a secular political power. They are trying to bring to fruition their vision of Jesus as an earthly ruler. They disregard numerous teachings of Jesus, including one of his last ones, "My kingdom is not of this world."
In spite of their belief otherwise, it seems clear to some of us that the Christian right political movement is in keeping with neither the text nor the principles of the teachings of Jesus.
Again, misguided zeal may bring great harm to the nation.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
I am disturbed by the movement for two reasons. First, it is very bad politics and potentially harmful to the nation and the freedoms of the people. Second, it is a misuse of Christianity, an apostasy, and it is in conflict with the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament.
We could cite numerous examples of conflicts between the religious right movement's tactics, teachings, and principle with the lessons of the scriptures. We could also expound on the meanings of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, in this piece we will do neither. Instead, we would like to take a different tack.
We all remember Judas, the Betrayer. What did he do? He took money from the high priests to assist in locating and identifying Jesus. Most of our lives we have been taught that Judas was possessed by the Evil One and did his bidding. Theologically, it was always hard to rectify that a close follower committed to Jesus could be so possessed as to perform the heinous act of selling out his Master for a few coins.
Modern teachings shed a different light on Judas. Many in that day expected Jesus to become an earthly king and ruler. That temptation from Satan was very real. When Jesus began to predict his own arrest, death, and resurrection, many followers fell away. Judas was greatly disturbed. The thought now is that Judas sought to force Jesus'hand with the arrest, causing him to have to exercise his power and take over secular rule. That is, he would become the rebel king that Judas and others wanted.
Thus, Judas wanted to make Jesus into his own version of the Messiah, and not the version intended by God and prophesied as the Suffering Servant by Isaiah.
Just as Judas was misguided, and his actions precipitated tragic results, so are our devout fundamentalists now similarly busy. They seek to turn the Christian religion into a secular political power. They are trying to bring to fruition their vision of Jesus as an earthly ruler. They disregard numerous teachings of Jesus, including one of his last ones, "My kingdom is not of this world."
In spite of their belief otherwise, it seems clear to some of us that the Christian right political movement is in keeping with neither the text nor the principles of the teachings of Jesus.
Again, misguided zeal may bring great harm to the nation.
Dr. Edwin E. Vineyard, AKA The Militant Moderate
