10 Dissidents Who Changed the World: #1

Jesus was not a good little boy. By all accounts, the mystic drifter was critical of the government, critical of organized religion, and critical of apathetic souls who complacently sustained the status quo.

Forever the malcontent freethinker, Jesus habitually ignored taboos, unceasingly empowered disrespected riffraff, and wandered from town to town with a hippy gang of penniless communal punks, bringing disorder and chaos wherever he dusted his sandals.

And two thousand years later? The man’s real identity has all but disappeared.

Faux Dead Celebrity Religion

Even as millions worship a faux image in his name, Jesus’ most important messages have been buried beneath a centuries-long torrent of disinformation and superficial distractions.

Only a few years after his execution, channeled scripture and fabricated words were already being stuffed in his mouth. Since then, authentic quotes have been twisted by misguided bourgeois interpretations and institutional creeds — dogma spawned by the same variety of euphonious hypocrites that Jesus spurned with so much turbulent passion in his own lifetime.

And yet, for those who bother to dig deep, at the heart of the bizarre steeped-in-human-sacrifice-and-cannibalism rituals, the intolerant cultish conversion crusades, and the billion-dollar industry built upon macabre first-century dead-celebrity worship, they find the origin: our world’s most famous blasphemer and seditionist, and a mettlesome, hard-boiled, number-one dissident.

The Birth of Jesus

Jesus’ non-Germanized name was probably Yeshua and most historians agree that he was a very real person. Most historians also agree that much of the scriptural Jesus legend is fiction.

For starters, the whole Christmas story is historically flawed. (For those unfamiliar with the Nativity, some scriptures tell how Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Judea, after his parents traveled from their home in Nazareth, Galilee, to take part in a Roman census. This happened while Herod the Great ruled Judea and Quirinius governed Syria.)

First, there was never a Roman census ordered for residents of Nazareth, Galilee. Period.

Second, Quirinius didn’t come to power until a decade after Herod died.

Third, heavily pregnant women don’t set off on four-day, 100-mile jaunts on a donkey.

It’s also worth mentioning that, even though scriptures don’t give a date of birth, Jesus was not born a Capricorn while shepherds tended their flocks in the field. Judean shepherds simply didn’t put their sheep out to pasture during the harsh month of December.

In fact, the first Christians didn’t teach the story of Jesus’ birth from a virgin. The earliest Christian writings — the letters of Paul of Tarsus — make no mention of Jesus having an extraordinary birth at all, and Paul hung out with Jesus’ brother James, so he was in a position to get the real lowdown. Paul just says Jesus was “born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)

These, and other indications, suggest that the beautiful, haunting, and wondrous birth fable was an addition of later Christians to make their cult more palatable to pagans.

In part, the Nativity fable borrows from Old Testament stories, and in part it borrows from the narratives of popular Roman gods, like Mithras, who was born of a virgin on December 25, then visited by shepherds and Magi. And shouldn’t we expect mixed allegories from coalescing Jewish and Roman cultures?

So, regarding Jesus’ historical birth, that leaves us with little to nothing, which amounts to only this: about two thousand years ago, a baby boy was born in the backwaters of Palestine. When this kid grew up, he profoundly rocked the course of human history…

The Historical Jesus

Many Biblical scholars have used historical methods to construct the truest biography of Jesus. In addition to books that were included in the New Testament, there are hundreds of early Christian writings providing them clues.

As with most historical detective work, the earliest writings are presumed to paint a more accurate picture than later writings, which undoubtedly include added propaganda that favored particular religious sects emerging by the end of the first century AD.

These scholars have found that the earliest Christians — the Jews who followed Jesus’ brother James immediately after Jesus’ execution — might not even be considered Christian by today’s standards.

President of the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars, Oregon State University professor Marcus Borg, describes the real Jesus that these early Christians talked and wrote about:

He was a peasant, which tells us about his social class.

Clearly, he was brilliant. His use of language was remarkable and poetic, filled with images and stories. He had a metaphoric mind. He was not an ascetic, but world-affirming, with a zest for life.

There was a social-political passion to him. Like a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King, he challenged the domination system of his day.

He was a religious ecstatic, a Jewish mystic, if you will, for whom God was an experiential reality. As such, he was also a healer. And there seems to have been a spiritual presence around him, like that reported of St. Francis or the Dalai Lama.

And I suggest that, as a figure of history, he was an ambiguous figure. You could experience him and conclude that he was insane, as his family did, or that he was simply eccentric, or that he was a dangerous threat, or you could conclude that he was filled with the Spirit of God.

The Teachings of Jesus

At a time when the Roman Empire and Jewish elite taught Galileans to look out for number one and avoid unclean outcasts, Jesus preached exactly the opposite. He said that everybody was welcome in the Kingdom of God, and that number one would be last. What’s more, he said the Kingdom of God wasn’t a future reward, but was present in the now if people would only open their eyes and see.

Not only did Jesus teach with words; he lead by example, too.

In a time and place where talking with women in public was taboo, Jesus not only spoke with, but openly defended women. And he touched sick outcasts in a purity-focused society where it was against the law to come into contact with the unclean.

Perhaps his biggest taboo breach of all was insulting the religious elite. After logically proving the absurdity of many of their dogmatic rules, Jesus criticized the wealthy religious authorities for selling deliverance to impoverished peasants.

As is often the case today, the elite largely left the talented dissident alone…until the dissident showcased their unethical, corrupt source of wealth and power. It was ultimately Jesus’ violent explosion at the Jerusalem temple’s moneychanging tables that got him swiftly arrested, tortured, and killed.

The Aftermath of Jesus

Some Christians say that Jesus resurrected himself from the grave. Others say he was tossed on a burning garbage heap, as was the practice with most criminals executed by the Roman state. Muslims believe Jesus wasn’t crucified, and the Qur’an says God took him directly up to heaven. Still others believe he survived and had children with Mary Magdalene.

But, whatever happened to Jesus after his crucifixion, it’s his human life that I admire the most.

I most admire those of his actions that I’m capable of practicing myself, not the tales of walking on water or healing the blind. I admire how he loaned his voice and sweat to the weak and oppressed. I admire his unpopular but persistent inclusion of societal rejects. And I admire his courage to tell authorities with distinct and uncompromising language that they are full of bull excrement when they are, in fact, filled to their ears with their own duplicitous waste.

And that’s why, in addition to being an outstanding role model, Jesus is one of my favorite 10 dissidents who changed the world.

“Jesus was a dissident on the fringes of the Empire of his day. He stood with everybody who was nobody. He made a beeline to stand with those on the margins, those whose dignity had been denied, the poor and excluded, the easily despised, the demonized, and those whose burdens were more than they could bear. And they killed him for it.” ~Father Gregory J. Boyle

Go to the previous article in this series:
Stanislav Petrov - Dissident Comrade.

Go to the series index:
10 Dissidents Who Changed the World.

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Way back in October 2005 the United Methodist Church (UMC) passed a resolution calling on George W. Bush to withdraw American troops from Iraq.

The United Methodist Church — you know, the Christian church that George W. Bush took an oath to serve and support when he became a member after meeting his future wife, Laura Welch.

The 2005 UMC resolution states in part:

As people of faith, we raise our voice in protest against the tragedy of the unjust war in Iraq. We urge the United States government to develop and implement a plan for the withdrawal of its troops. The U.S. invasion has set in motion a sequence of events which may plunge Iraq into civil war.

Almost a month after the resolution, in November 2005, ninety-five bishops from President Bush’s church publicly repented their “complicity” in the “unjust and immoral” invasion and occupation of Iraq. That statement said:

In the face of the United States administration’s rush toward military action based on misleading information, too many of us were silent.

Holy Bush, Infernal Bush

George W. Bush is America’s third Methodist President. And despite his frequent parading of holier-than-thou Christian values, he has turned his back on his own church (and God?) for the past two years.

During that time, over 1,200 more U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq.

“I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can’t explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen… I know it won’t be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.” ~Governor George W. Bush.

“God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam.” ~President George W. Bush.

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Meet Gary Demar, Atlanta-based host of two nationally syndicated radio shows, and editor of The Biblical Worldview monthly magazine.

Gary Demar is a leading Christian Reconstructionist.

What’s Christian Reconstructionism?

Christian Reconstructionism is a Fundamental Christian movement that wants to remake the U.S. government with Christian-only elected officials.

Reconstructionists don’t believe in welfare or social security. They want to replace public schools with homeschooling programs. And they’d like to use the U.S. Military to conquer the world for Jesus, because — unlike the neocons trying to instigate Armageddon to help bring about the Rapture — the Reconstructionists believe the entire world must bow down to Jesus BEFORE he will return to rule the world.

You might think I’m being a little unfair, a bit paranoid, perhaps exaggerating…maybe misrepresenting the Reconstructionist agenda. But an article at Mother Jones makes clear where Demar and the Reconstructionist movement is coming from:

The Old Testament — with its 600 or so Mosaic laws — is the inflexible guide for the society DeMar and other Reconstructionists envision. Government posts would be reserved for the righteous, as long as they are male. There would be thousands of executions a year, with stoning a preferred method because it would turn the deaths into “community projects,” as movement theologian North has noted. Sinners in line for the death penalty would include women who commit adultery or lie about their virginity, blasphemers, witches, children who strike their parents, and gay men (lesbians, however, would be spared because no specific reference to them can be found in the Books of Moses). DeMar told me that among Reconstructionists he is considered something of a liberal, because he’d execute gays only if they were caught indulging in sodomy. “I’m happy to just drive them back into the closet,” he said.

If that didn’t make you almost holy crap your pants, go back and read it again. I’ll wait…

Think the mindset of the Taliban can’t setup shop in the USA? Think again. The ideology has already taken root; the fruit is just masquerading behind the mask of a more familiar religion.

Same Oppression, Different Religion

Make no mistake: Reconstructionism is not mainstream Christianity. But its proponents have used common enemies (abortion, homosexuality, atheism) to befriend mainstream Christians…Christians who might be surprised to discover the true Reconstructionist agenda: a United States Theocracy.

If the Reconstructionists state that they want to keep church and state separate, they also state that there is no such thing as a non-theocratic government. The USA, they say, is already a secular-humanist theocracy. As long as we HAVE to have a theocracy of some sort, they want it to be a Bible-based, Fundamentalist Christian theocracy. They want United States law to be derived from the Bible, not the U.S. Constitution.

Christian Reconstructionists in Their Own Words

Reconstructionist Gary North wrote in 1982:

We must use the doctrine of religious liberty…until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy constructing a Bible-based social, political, and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.

The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly…must be denied citizenship.

If it walks like a theocracy and talks like a theocracy…

As for us tolerant Christians who don’t appreciate our religious identities being engulfed by radical fundamentalism, in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 the Apostle Paul offers this:

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

God’s word for God’s people. Amen.

Read more Blogs Against Theocracy.

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“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” ~Thomas Jefferson.

“That’s the phoniest argument there is. (Referring to separation of church and state) This whole nation was founded as one nation under God.” ~Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)

Different Americans, Different Traditions

Variety is the spice of life, and different Americans have different traditions. Consider one hypothetical American family’s much-loved Uncle Mert…

Sister Emily

When Uncle Mert visits his sister Emily’s home, Mert and his sister’s family all sit around the dining room table, eat roast and vegetables, followed by dessert. Then they retire to the living room couch and chat over several cups of coffee.

Brother Ralph

But when Uncle Mert visits his brother Ralph’s home, he arrives at 4 AM. Uncle Mert and Ralph don their cold-weather gear, load up the truck, and go spend the daybreak hours in the woods hunting.

Cousin Dave

Uncle Mert has never visited his cousin Dave’s house. And Dave has never even called Mert, even though they live in the same state. As far as Dave’s concerned, Uncle Mert doesn’t even exist.

Sister Martha

However, when Uncle Mert visits his sister Martha’s home, Martha makes him wear a suit and tie. Martha leads him straight to the dinner table, and serves a plate full of Brussels sprouts. Martha’s family and Uncle Mert really love to get together and eat Brussels sprouts.

Martha loves eating Brussels sprouts with Uncle Mert so much, that she wants everybody else to spend their time with Uncle Mert the same way she does — she thinks everybody should spend their time with Uncle Mert eating Brussels sprouts, and ONLY eating Brussels sprouts.

Freedom to Choose

Fortunately, Martha’s relatives live in the United States. Martha’s relatives are not required to spend their time with Uncle Mert eating Brussels sprouts; they’re free to share their time with Uncle Mert in any way they choose.

Likewise, the U.S. Constitution guarantees that every American can spend (or not spend) time with their best friend — even if that friend is a deity — whenever and however they desire. What’s more, Americans aren’t forced to spend time with friends or deities they’d rather not get to know.

And if Martha doesn’t want to live according to the U.S. Constitution, she is free to pursue citizenship in another country of her choice.

Thanks to Blue Gal for getting this rolling.

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Please visit First Freedom First.

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What is the most serious threat facing our civilization?

According to an interview at The Daily Ablution, author Michael Crichton says: “Loss of classical liberal values in those western societies that embraced them.”

Right Wing News agrees. Sort of. See if you can spot which word is deftly omitted in Right Wing’s echo of Crichton: “I’m with Crichton. The loss of classical Western values is the most serious threat to our country.”

Whitewashing American History

Right Wing News continues:

We didn’t become the greatest nation the world had ever seen by accident, it happened because of our culture and because of the things previous generations of Americans did to make this into a great nation.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Part of our culture, and the handiwork of those previous generations, included cheap slave labor, the Trail of Tears, and a war with Spain over the misdiagnosed sinking of the USS Maine. The Spanish-American war alone netted the U.S. control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Whitewashing Traditional Colonial Family Structure

Right Wing News also mentions family structure:

The more kids, percentage wise, who grow up outside of the traditional family structure, the more this country will decline. …[the] more kids who live in two parent families…the stronger this country will become.

Again, let’s not kid ourselves about the past. What were “traditional” families like when this country was founded? We have this from Digital History:

As early as the age of six or seven, many children were fostered outside their parental home, to work as servants or apprentices or to attend school. Short life expectancies meant that stepmothers and stepfathers and orphans were common. Language underscores the prevalence of multiple mothering figures. A midwife was sometimes referred to as a “good mother,” while older sisters were sometimes called “little mothers,” and the slave women who nursed white children were called mammies. Many men and women who bore no children participated in rearing young people. Social customs encouraged various forms of child-sharing, from indenture and apprenticeship to fosterage and informal adoption.

Lots of dead mothers due to childbirth, lots of stepparents, orphans, adopted kids…not exactly the Donna Reed show, is it?

Whitewashing the Founding Religion

The Right Wing News article ends with this:

This country was built — for the most part — by ambitious, Christian individualists who loved their country and — for the most part — those are still the people making this country work. As long as they’re still around in great numbers, we’ll continue to find a way to make it work no matter what the world throws at us.

Wait, wait, wait…hold on a second. Saying the Founding Fathers were all Christians is too generic and misleading. Asking what type of Christianity the Founding Fathers followed is more relevant, because the Christianity of the Founding Fathers wasn’t what most think of as Christianity today.

John Adams was a Unitarian and flatly denied the doctrine of eternal punishment. He believed all would eventually enter heaven. Most Unitarians reject the Trinity and accept all religions as valid faiths.

Benjamin Franklin described himself as a thorough Deist. Deists do believe in a good eternal God, but reject any sort of personal relationship with him. In Franklin’s own words:

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think his system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw, or is like to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present Dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it.

Thomas Jefferson was also a Deist. He studied the teachings of Jesus, thought them wise, but rejected that Jesus was any more divine than the next person. Jefferson even wrote his own version of the New Testament with all the miracles removed. In a January 14, 1814 letter to John Adams, Jefferson writes:

The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute enquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills.

So, yes, the Founding Fathers (most of them) did believe in a supreme being, and many regarded Jesus as a wise man whose advice was worth following. BUT, the Founding Fathers weren’t Amway Christians — Christians who’ve forgotten that the original message of Jesus was to give away all your possessions and help the less fortunate. And the Founding Fathers didn’t celebrate how rich Jesus had made them, or combine Christianity with capitalism without seeing the contradiction.

In the end, I wonder…what did the Founding Fathers consider the most serious threat facing our civilization? At least one cited public ignorance:

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” ~Thomas Jefferson.

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