The New Statesman’s Mehdi Hasan explains why Jesus was just a big lefty radical.
Never mind that they’re clearly drawing a comparison between Jesus and mass murderer Che Guavera. You’ve gotta’ admit this is the kind of image of Jesus that could circulate rather well in college dormitories.
The piece labels Jesus “a class warrior” and “a banker basher” and uses the fact that Jesus didn’t charge for His miracles as an endorsement of socialized healthcare.
Forget that liberals seem to forget that Jesus had a major run in with big government that didn’t go all that swimmingly and please show me the part where Jesus forcibly made people “share the wealth.” Jesus called us to a radical love. He didn’t force feed a secular utopia.
And are liberals really really comfortable with the idea of government playing the role of God? Oh wait. Sadly, yes. Yes they are.
December 16, 2010 at 5:04 pm
If we were like the muslims, we'd be rioting & blowing stuff up over this insulting, disgusting, blasphemous sacrilege.
December 16, 2010 at 6:07 pm
I'm confused as how you could characterise the Roman imperial administration as 'big government' – by which I presume you mean socialist. The state very rarely invested in infrastructure beyond that required for the benefit of it and its military. Most public infrastructure was constructed by wealthy private individuals, and then either charged for or gifted to the community, usually to further the political career of the donor. There were no public welfare services.
I agree that Jesus does not force anyone to do anything. However, it is interesting to note that the very first major societal manifestation of the radical love to which Christ urged his followers was distinctly socialist – a fact which Acts emphasises not once, but twice:
"And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as had any need." – Acts 2:44-5
"No one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. – Acts 4:32-5
December 16, 2010 at 7:02 pm
You're confusing giving with taking.
December 16, 2010 at 7:50 pm
In addition, the shared possessions were not shared with everyone in the Roman Empire, but only among those within the group of Christians. One corrupt manager (say, Judas) and…
I'd rather give to the Church, or a Catholic charity, than the government.
December 16, 2010 at 8:11 pm
And there's nothing voluntary about taxes. Ask poor Wesley Snipes.
December 16, 2010 at 9:17 pm
"mass murderer Che Guavera"
Any proof of this accusation?
December 16, 2010 at 9:26 pm
"I have yet to find a single credible source pointing to a case where Che executed 'an innocent'. Those persons executed by Guevara or on his orders were condemned for the usual crimes punishable by death at times of war or in its aftermath: desertion, treason or crimes such as rape, torture or murder. I should add that my research spanned five years, and included anti-Castro Cubans among the Cuban-American exile community in Miami and elsewhere."
— Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, PBS forum
December 16, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Deja Vu. Recycling Liberation Theology – this time to support the Democrats Socialist agenda. (And yes it is a bad thing brother.) Last time I saw it, back in Medellin, it was espousing a marriage of Catholicm and Marxism and dispelling objections over their incompatability. Oh yes. It brings back memories, "embracing the preferential option for the poor". Please go to the Vatican site for the refudiation of this mental excrement. This combox isn't enough. Those who don't learn the lessons of history are bound to repeat it's mistakes or get conned by the vile Democrats who would reuse the same lies.
December 16, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Dutchman,
Saint Che?
December 16, 2010 at 9:34 pm
A prolific diarist, Guevara nevertheless wrote vividly of his role as an executioner. In one passage he described the execution of Eutimio Guerra, a peasant and army guide.
“I fired a .32calibre bullet into the right hemisphere of his brain which came out through his left temple,” was Guevara’s clinical description of the killing. “He moaned for a few moments, then died.”
This was the first of many “traitors” to be subjected to what Guevara called “acts of justice”.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2461399.ece
Sometimes I wonder if you are just contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian.
December 16, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Post script. Liberation theology justifies the use of violence for a revolution that will destroy unjust social structures to bring about justice and peace (with the spreading of wealth). Some Church people thought that Communism will inevitably evolve as the socio-political system because of this dialectical view of history so they decided to ride the tiger and baptise it. I can't believe it is rearing is ugly head again. Then again, with the pinko-commie-Muslim-terrorist supporters in the government, I can understand how it does.
December 16, 2010 at 9:57 pm
The 1960s, like jump suits and polyester, are over.
Big yawn to The Wheezing Statesman.
— Mack
December 16, 2010 at 10:08 pm
Hey Paul!
A quick google search turned this up:
"In his diaries, Guevara described the execution of Eutimio Guerra, a peasant army guide who admitted treason when it was discovered he accepted the promise of ten thousand pesos for repeatedly giving away the rebel's position for attack by the Cuban air force.[1] Such information also allowed Batista's army to burn the homes of rebel-friendly peasants. Upon Guerra's request that they "end his life quickly", Che stepped forward and shot him in the head, writing "The situation was uncomfortable for the people and for Eutimio so I ended the problem giving him a shot with a .32 pistol in the right side of the brain, with exit orifice in the right temporal [lobe].""
So — Guerra WAS a traitor and was executed according to ordinary ideas of military justice. Stuff like that happens in war, right? I'll bet George Washington ordered a few such executions in his war of liberation.
Again, I ask: what proof is there that Che was a murderer (as opposed to executioner), much less a "mass murderer."
And, no, I'm not being a contrarian, it just irks me when reactionary politics are confounded with Catholic teaching. The Catholic Church, despite what Rick says, is a distinctly pro-working-class institution.
December 16, 2010 at 10:25 pm
The gentle face of Jesus catches and holds one's attention. The other garb looks out of place which it is.
December 16, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Here's the hook and reel:
At address bar, type: http://www.vatican.va/
Select English or German.
Go to search box and type: "Liberation theology"
and you'll get 14 results. Pick a few to peruse.
Go to search box again and type" "Social teaching" and you'll get 392 results. See how the Church supports the poor without compromising Her primary spiritual mission and turning the Incarnate Son of God into a Marxist homosexual.
December 17, 2010 at 12:13 am
Jesus was first and foremost a savior, not an economic liberator. That is heresy, and it is why liberation theologists are heretics.
December 17, 2010 at 12:18 am
The Lying Dutchman probably wants proof of a holocaust too,
"Crazy with fury I will stain my rifle red while slaughtering any enemy that falls in my hands! My nostrils dilate while savoring the acrid odor of gunpowder and blood. With the deaths of my enemies I prepare my being for the sacred fight and join the triumphant proletariat with a bestial howl!"
Che Guevara
"Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine. This is what our soldiers must become … "
Che Guevara
December 17, 2010 at 2:16 am
The Lying Dutchman probably wants proof of a holocaust too,
Heh. It's kind of sad when someone goes out of his way to defend a mass murderer, and then calls other people "reactionary." What a sad old man.
December 17, 2010 at 2:37 am
So now I'm a liar?
Just for the record, where did I lie?
(Remember — calumny is a sin!)
December 17, 2010 at 2:50 am
In 1997, Pierre San Martin, a Cuban who was jailed by Che, recalled an incident that happened in 1959. A 12-14 year old boy, beaten and bloody, had been thrown into the cell with him. The boy said he was there for simply defending his father. The boy was trying to keep his father from being executed. He failed.
Later, the guards came for the boy:
Near the wall where they conducted the executions, with his hands on his waist, paced from side to side the abominable Che Guevera.
He gave the order to bring the boy first and he ordered him to kneel in front of the wall. We all screamed for them not to commit this crime and we offered ourselves in his place. The boy disobeyed the order with a courage that words can’t express and responded to this infamous character: If you’re going to kill me you’re going to have to do it the way you kill a man, standing, not like a coward, kneeling.
Walking behind the boy, the Che said you are a brave lad. He unholstered his pistol and shot him in the nape of the neck so that he almost decapitated him.
Last I knew, even in war, Killing Children is murder. What kind of person would defend a man such as Che?