Thursday, May 26, 2011

#146 / Jesus Was A Liberal



The Reverend Scotty McLennan, pictured above, is the Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University, and is the author of a book called Jesus Was A Liberal. The bumper sticker slogan included has nothing, really, to do with his book, though I personally like its attitude, and it is true that the McLennan book does discuss current political controversies, more or less in the context of a Biblical exploration of WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?). Having been to theological seminary myself, once, the theologically more appropriate statement, for a believing Christian, might be "Jesus IS a liberal." In fact, there are websites with that very message.

On the "political" side, I'm with the Founding Fathers and the First Amendment. There should be no connection whatsoever between "church" and "state," no importation of religious doctrine or beliefs into our debates and discussions about what we want to do in the world we create.

On the "religious" side, my Quaker experiences take control. I am definitely in the "Jesus IS a liberal" camp, and I continue to believe, with the Quakers, that we can have immediate access to the living spirit that has created the world in which we ourselves are creatures, and upon which we are ultimately dependent.

1 comment:

  1. The stuff on that sticker about what Jesus was is true, although the idea that conservatives hate those things is absurd. Conservatives are not for large enterprises that seem to put other people down. The thing about conservatives is that we don't like when the government forces is to be like Jesus. As a catholic, I am more than happy to help a person in need, but I do not think I should be forced to by the government.

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