Easter always gets me to thinking. If Jesus were back on earth, lending his spiritual guidance to our political leaders, Stephen Harper would be his problem client.True, there would be work with the others. A word or two to Justin on hedonism, a quick reminder to Tom on the sin of pride (intellectual), an eternal parking permit in paradise for Liz when the time comes. And for Steve — long, long sessions on a couch with quiet music and no interruptions.
When you think about it, that’s a little strange. The Conservatives are bolstered by a strong contingent of born-again Christians. The PM himself is born-again. He created the Office of Religious Freedom — which is fine, unless you wear a niqab. His is the party of family values. So if any party in Canada should be showcasing Christian values, surely it’s the CPC. Instead, next to the money-changers, the Cons would give Jesus his biggest headache.
Now I’m the first to admit that there are really two versions of Jesus — the historical Jewish figure who actually walked the earth 2,000 years ago and the later Christ of the Romans, the basis of the modern “churchianity”. When asked why India didn’t convert, TV evangelist Benny Hinn quipped it was because Indians met Christian missionaries — not Jesus.
(In the interests of full disclosure about Benny’s thought processes, Hinn is also the guy who said he wished he had a “Holy Ghost machine” to kill his enemies.)
Religion-wise, from the mid-fourth century AD forward, the Christ dynasty has pretty much ruled large swaths of the planet. The astonishing transformation of Jesus the Jew into Christ The Lord as facilitated by St. Paul is laid out in Barrie Wilson’s book How Jesus Became Christian. It’s a marvellous read for anyone who appreciates good detective work and high scholarship from actual historical records. Tom Harpur, James D. Tabor and Patrick Gray — Jesus experts all — gave the book extravagant praise.
So just what problems would our Sunday School Jesus (the one most of us know best) have with Steve? Let’s start with the List of Big No Nos. (I call them that because if you Google The Ten Commandments it tells you it was a 1956 Hollywood movie that was big at the box office.)
One of the Big No Nos is stealing. Assuming that includes elections, the PM would need a stern talking-to on this one, since his party broke the rules in the last three elections. Jesus must be firm. Christians shouldn’t steal elections.
There’s also the Big No No, stated slightly differently in Exodus and Deuteronomy, against killing. Steve has given the green light to killing on almost every occasion he’s had the chance. We used to be peacekeepers; now we’re warmakers. Canada just sold $15 billion worth of armaments to a country where women aren’t allowed to drive. On Steve’s watch, Canada has been deeply involved in three missions that killed thousands of people in Afghanistan, Libya and now Iraq and Syria. Many of them were civilians. Jesus knows Christians shouldn’t kill people.
Jesus might very likely add that although the Moses Rules were silent on torture, Christians shouldn’t really be in on that, either. Jesus gave the thirsty a cup of water, not water-boarding. The end should never justify the means for Christians.
Then there’s the prohibition against what is variously called ‘lying’ or ‘bearing false witness’. Jesus would have to set aside a whole afternoon with Steve on this one. He would have to explain that there is a difference between being a ‘creationist’ in the counter-Darwinian sense and making stuff up to suit yourself that isn’t true.
And when this government lies — as it did on the true costs of the F-35, the real impact of closing Veterans Centres and its empty call for lasting ceasefires in the Middle East — Jesus would have to explain that remorse is part of the process of expiation and forgiveness. Steve would have to do an Imitation of Rob, so to speak, and choke out the words, “I’m sorry,” at a press conference or ten.
A good place for Jesus to demonstrate the kind of stretchers Steve shouldn’t tell anymore would be the impact of his corporate tax cuts. The PM said with a straight face that by cutting corporate taxes government actually got more revenues. (Same lopsided logic he gave veterans: fewer offices and personnel, better service.)
The fact is, on the corporate tax stuff, federal revenues fell by $10 billion after the Harper cuts compared to the Martin years. It’s actually worse than that. As the corporations tax loads lightened, the burden fell on individuals to make up the difference as a percentage of all taxes collected. Steve should be a little more transparent on this. Christians don’t make the rich richer and palm off the bill to the little people.
On the policy side, it might as well be said, Steve could be a lot more Christian towards his fellow Canadians. Jesus helped the downtrodden, poor, and sick. Now Canadians have no Health Accord and Steve thinks the best place for recovering drug addicts is prison. He also thinks that some people should never get out of prison. That’s not quite hating the sin and loving the sinner, as Jesus would be the first to point out.
Jesus could spend a profitable moment or two with Steve on the notion of sharing. For example, it’s not necessarily a good thing for the country’s gross domestic product to go up if all the growth goes to the same small number of people. It must be clearly explained to Steve that income-splitting for the wealthiest 15 per cent of the population is not the way to feed the multitudes with five loaves of bread and two small fishes. Christians share; they don’t hoard.
Jesus might remind Steve that Christians are supposed to love their neighbours, not make them get visas to visit our backyard. And even if Tom Flanagan was right when he said that you wouldn’t want Steve for a neighbour, Jesus should point out that there is still time for a conversion on the road to Damascus — even if you’re in a fighter jet. Christians can always ask forgiveness and change their ways.
Finally, when a sizeable portion of your base believes the world was created in six days by the Spirit in the Sky, how can Steve show so little respect for God’s handiwork? Jesus walked on water. Someone should tell Steve that walking on bitumen while the planet is running a temperature is not the same thing. California has just cut its personal water consumption by 25 per cent because the sort of growth Steve champions is unsustainable.
Jesus knows there is no Planet B.
It’s time Steve figured it out too.
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Michael Harris
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