Jesus Was Not A Liberal, Socialist, or Communist. Why Should We Be Any Of Those?

Living The Worthy Life: Jesus Was Not A Liberal, Socialist, or Communist- Then Why Should We Be Any Of Those?

The question posed today is a good one. Was Jesus really a liberal or was Jesus not a liberal, socialist, or communist? We should all know this and the best place to look for this in no other than the Holy Bible.

Many may question why should Jesus be any one of those. This is another question in itself. Yet, in our troubled times of today, many people out there are making some claims and try to show that Jesus was indeed a liberal and that he endorses their liberal agenda of today.

Recently, there has been a great deal written about people who are Liberal Catholics. These people appear to be able to pick and choose what they want to believe when they want to believe it and not receive any flack from the Church or the State over these beliefs. Is this right? Is this what Jesus had intended?

If you listen to the main stream media, these darlings can do no wrong and are held up to the rest of society as role models of their faith. Is this the new face of our Church? What happens to the Catholics who do not want this facelift? What happens to the millions of Catholics who refuse to pick and choose and believe that Jesus established these rules to help us, not to have us choose which ones to obey or not.

In essence, the question then becomes why? Why are they doing this? Why is it that these people are the new face of the Church? Are they the new face? What happens if we do not want a new face? What are we supposed to do?

These and other questions have come more to the forefront as liberals have obtained power in the Church and the Country. Note: Many of the arguments that have gotten into the lexicon of Catholic Thought recently have appeared in liberal Protestantism for years. In fact, liberal Protestant is having a difficult time in the modern society. As you change your religion to meet the needs of what you think the modern world wants- you have basically shown why people stop going to your church. People worship God because he is God. If you make a man out to be God- do we really need a Church? The answer is an outstanding- no. As the pressure becomes more and more to radically change the religion to meet the perceived needs of humans- you have eliminated God out of the equation. The elimination of God will translate into the elimination of the Church.

Ten Arguments For Jesus as a Liberal

Let us look at the premise Jesus was a liberal. (Notice- I used the King James Version of the Bible here and compared it to the Catholic Online version as well.

First, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” [Matthew 5:9 KJV] Blessed are the peacemakers: they shall be recognised as children of God. (Catholic Bible Online)

Here the liberals will say that Jesus Christ preached peace, love, and kindness to his followers. But these conservative Christians are always the first to blast the trumpets of war. If they had their way, we’d still be in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus we’d be sending U.S. armed forces into Palestine, Ukraine, and our local homeless encampments. Here this argument that the liberals present have two major problems. First, it makes a hasty generalization that all conservative Christians think alike and all are Neo-Cons who want war. This is not the case. In fact, the former President, Donald Trump, was probably the most pro-life President the United States has ever had and during his four years in office, he did not start any wars. In fact, he withdrew most the troops in Syria (that were placed by Liberal President) and Afghanistan (that was placed by a Neo-Con President). Second, if we look at peacemakers, then President Reagan's Peace Through Strength and Pope John Paul II leadership that ended the USSR and the their stranglehold over Eastern Europe show exactly why peacemakers should be blessed. The USSR fell without shot. Neither St. John Paul II nor President Reagan could be considered liberal.

Advantage: Conservatives

Second, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” [Matthew 6:26] Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? (Catholic Bible Online)

If the previous quotes make Jesus Christ sound mildly liberal, this one makes Our Savior sound like a hippie Communist. Right-wing Christians love heaping scorn on people who get help from the U.S. government, with no thought to whether their troubles are temporary or they’ve paid into the system. Here, the liberal again make a huge error. Jesus never said that Government should feed the people. By saying this the liberals are making Government equal to God. This is their main problem. This is exactly what they are trying to do. by replacing God with the Government they are trying to great heaven on earth. Ask anyone who lived in Eastern Europe (1945-1991) or Russia (1917-1991) what is was like there?

Advantage: Conservatives

Third, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” [John 8:7 KJV] As they persisted with their question, he straightened up and said, 'Let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.' (Catholic Bible Online)

Unlike today’s conservative Christians, who eagerly serve in the vanguard of the GOP’s war on women, Jesus Christ has no regard for double standards that hold men and women to different rules. At least four women — his mother, Mary Magdalene, and the sisters' Mary and Martha — were beloved members of his inner circle. When a crowd gathered to stone a woman to death for the “crime” of adultery, Jesus stopped them dead in their tracks by demanding that the person without sin cast the first stone. Here, the liberals have created a strawman argument. The conservatives have not created a war on women. This was created in the 1970s. One of the cruelest decisions in the history of the U.S Supreme Court was the Roe v Wade decision. They based the decision on the "Right to Privacy" that was in the Constitution. Now, this is interesting there is no right to privacy in the Constitution. Just the mere argument is troublesome to create a right out of thin air that never existed before and has no real basis to exist now. They created a situation to kill the life that was protected by the Declaration of Independence and should be protected under the Constitution to be negated by a woman that has a right to her own body. This argument lacks some credible information. At the time of pregnancy, there are two people there. Both the woman and her baby. This is not one. Now you have one person exercising rights over the other. Instead of exercising your rights- you are effectively eliminating another person's rights. This is not a war on women, this is a war on society as a whole.

Advantage: Conservatives

Fourth, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” [1 John 3:17 KJV] If anyone is well-off in worldly possessions and sees his brother in need but closes his heart to him, how can the love of God be remaining in him? (Catholic Bible Online)

How can a conservative so-called “Christian” read this passage and keep voting for people who give tax cuts to the rich, while slashing programs that feed families, care for the elderly and disabled, house the homeless, provide healthcare, protect consumers, and keep our air and water clean? Again this liberal argument is based on their view of government. Government is not God. The government did not create us we created the Government. The Government doesn't tell us what to do, we actually tell it what to do. When you make the government the center of your life- you have actually elevated man to higher place than God. You will be very unhappy in both this world and the next. The bottom line is this- the Conservatives do not hate poor people, the conservatives to want to give their possessions to the government to have something come back to help the poor. We need to take care of the poor, we need to help the poor, and we need to make sure that all people are treated equally- but to my liberal friends- who can do this better the government or the Church? Governments started the War on Poverty and now we have more people in poverty than ever before. The government started welfare programs only to have multiple generations of people living off the government. This is not what God wanted, is it? This is not good correct?

Advantage: Conservatives

Fifth, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” [Matthew 9:35]Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. (Catholic Bible Online)

Jesus Christ famously roamed the Holy Land giving free healthcare to everyone in need. Even many non-Bible readers are familiar with Our Savior’s healing exploits. Yet, His conservative “Christian” followers in Congress are adamantly opposed to giving Americans access to healthcare. Instead, they waste U.S. taxpayers’ time and money over and over again trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) even though their GOP lawmakers helped design the program, and their 2012 presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, had great success with a similar program during his tenure as Mass. state governor. Again the liberal idea is that they have taken God out of the equation and replaced him with the government. The big G here is God not the government. When President Lincoln stated that we were of the government of the people, for the people, and by the people he did not mention that that government was considered God by the people did he?

Advantage: Conservatives

Sixth, “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” [Matthew 23:28 KJV] In just the same way, from the outside you look upright, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Catholic Bible Online)
This biblical passage comes straight from the Savior’s mouth and describes our country’s conservative Christians to a tee(minus some of the other things they’re “full of”). Wow, how things have changed my good liberal friends. As I am writing this article, former President Trump is heading to his second Impeachment trial. This time he is out of office. How many times will the liberals bring this up? Three, four, five, or maybe six? Politicians are too full of themselves. Jesus solved problems, politicians create problems. If Jesus had been a politician he would have been a great man but he would have only led for about forty or fifty years- now he has led for 2,000 plus years. People are not perfect but God is. Governments are not perfect but God is.

Advantage: Conservatives

Seventh, “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” [Matthew 19:24 KJV] Yes, I tell you again, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven.' (Catholic Bible Online)

If you’ve got any doubt about how Jesus Christ would feel about income inequality, the Supreme Court’s Citizen's United ruling, or rich CEOs raking in huge profits while crusading against a long-overdue minimum wage hike, this passage makes it pretty clear that making profits at other people’s expense gives you bad karma in the Great Beyond. Here, the liberals completely miss the point. Jesus does not ask people to give up their money. He is talking about being humble not being about being rich. Poverty is not a blessing. Being humble is a blessing. Many times money can make a person feel that they are more important or entitled than another person. This is what Jesus was talking about. It is a very far jump to advocate for redistribution to the government for them to take over your life from this passage.

Advantage: Conservatives

Eighth, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” [Matthew 22:37-40 KJV] 7 Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.' (Catholic Bible Online)

When Jesus Christ’s adoring crowds asked which of the Ten Commandments are the most important ones for them to follow, Jesus turned around and changed the rules. He said that if we first love God, and then love our neighbor, the rest would follow naturally. It’s hard to see how denying people the right to marry and cutting anti-poverty programs follow Jesus’ teachings. Yet, our conservative “Christian” lawmakers insist this is what we should do. Here, the liberals change the thought of what Jesus was telling his followers completely. For a person to love others he must first love himself or herself. The right to marry is really interesting. Marriage is not a right. It is a blessing and comes from God not the state. When a person gets married, they have the privilege to get married not a right. Rights are listed in the US Constitution such as your First, Second, Fourth, Fourteenth Amendment rights. Marriage is not mentioned in the US Constitution or the Declaration of Independence.

Advantage: Conservatives

Ninth, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” [Matthew 6:5 KJV] And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. (Catholic Bible Online)

Conservative Christians claim to love Jesus and seem to adore shouting their faith from atop their soap boxes any chance they get. But the real Jesus Christ scorned these showy – and often phony – displays of piety, and went out of his way to preach against them. Here the liberals are once again showing themselves to be exactly what they claim the Christians to be like.

Advantage: Conservatives

Tenth, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” [Matthew 12:7 KJV] And if you had understood the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the blameless. (Catholic Bible Online)

Jesus Christ always preached mercy for women, children, sinners, criminals, the poor, and even his own enemies. Yet, today’s conservative Christians demand retroactive abortions the death penalty and insist that children who commit crimes should be charged as adults. The liberals are again mixing their arguments up. They are mixing up difficult situations and claiming a single solution.

Advantage: Conservatives

Therefore, in conclusion, I have shown that there are ten points that liberals have pointed out to prove their point that Jesus was liberal. I have drawn a stark contrast between these two positions, and humbly petition the reader to be prepared to embrace the fact that the only conclusion you could possibly come up with was the Jesus was not a Liberal, he was not a socialist, nor anything like a communist.  He was and is our Savior.  Making him into our image may help some people, but it does not change the fact that we were created in his image, not the other way around.  We are here to worship God not the government.