For Christians like me, this weekend will end with the most important holiday of the year. With Easter approaching, I've decided to use my political column to write about the most significant political figure in history: Jesus Christ.
I'd like to begin by saying that this column was especially difficult to write. Addressing complicated political issues can be hard enough, but writing about religion is another ballgame; it can feel inappropriate. In fact, when I told a friend what I was planning to write about this week, her initial reaction was, Uh
are you sure you're ready for that?
I suppose it's not surprising that, even with Easter approaching, many people still don't feel comfortable talking about Jesus. Public mentions of him are often regarded as insensitive, exclusionary or a violation of the separation of church and state. In recent years, there have been countless efforts to censor Christian expression.
After the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, students were invited to express their grief by painting tiles throughout the school. They were given free artistic reign, with one exception: the tiles could not have any religious content. Tiles with messages such as 4/20/99: Jesus Wept were removed.
In 2002, The View's Joy Behar discussed her diet on the air: Goodbye to that damn scale G? and thank you Jesus is all I have to say! ABC let the word damn fly G
servant or free
male or female: you are all one in Jesus Christ.
Not exactly a judgmental Rev. Jerry Falwell or Rev. Pat Robertson type, Jesus was quite comfortable hanging out with tax collectors, lepers and ethnic minorities ' whom most people thought of as the dregs of humanity. In fact, one of his closest friends was the prostitute Mary Magdalene. Jesus famously called on his followers to resist judging others. As a mob was preparing to execute a woman convicted of adultery, he told them, He that is without sin among you may cast the first stone at her.
As the Romans were observing pagan holidays by having orgies and feasting until they vomited, Jesus encouraged his followers to give up material comfort for the good of the many. Some have even speculated that he was the original bleeding-heart liberal: He taught that the wealthy are responsible for caring for the poor among them.
Jesus' presence was so humbling that even Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, attempted to distance himself from his execution, despite having no social motivation to do so. Jesus preached a message of tolerance, compassion and justice until his death.
About 2,000 years later, Jesus has more than 2 billion followers worldwide. No individual has had a greater impact on world history, especially in the West. And yet, particularly in secular democracies like ours, a large segment of the population doesn't want him discussed at all. They worry that any public acknowledgement of Jesus may offend non-Christians.
But one doesn't have to be a Christian to respect his teachings. This is, after all, a man whose most lasting and powerful message was to always love thy neighbor.
Of course, not all Christians have obeyed that order. But it would greatly benefit all of us to try.
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Ashley Herzog
