THE NEW JESUS

     I was speaking with a minister last Monday night. We were discussing the election when she pointed out that the President-elect is the antithesis of Jesus Christ and everything he represents. I had to agree but it seemed odd.
    Our country is called a "Christian nation" as it was created by men whose religion is reflected in its institutions. While the Constitution gave us freedom to worship anything- or nothing at all-  the Bible has been a guiding force in our country.
     
    Much of the Bible is about the life of Jesus, a man who preached love, peace, and compassion for his fellow man. Speaking truth to power got him killed.


   We're getting a President with none of those traits. He lies to his constituents and they love it. His followers equate truth with bad news which they don't want to hear.  
   Trump charms his audiences by ridiculing others, by being hateful and mean. The guy brings out the worst in us, the pre-human instinct to find an enemy and beat him down.
    It got me thinking, "Maybe it's time for a new religion led by a new Jesus, someone that fits the new mood of the electorate".  
    If so, who should that person be be?

     The obvious choice would be the President elect himself...or maybe his good friend Kanye West (or even South Florida nut-case, Alan West). All of them fit the same self-absorbed, power-hungry, loud-mouth bill that forty-eight million people voted for last month. Of course only one of them is a white male and those 48 mil don't want anything but.

    Trump would be a tremendous Jesus. For the last year he's sold himself as being our country's savior. The guy also loves to be worshiped, the center of attention, and having people chant his name. He certainly pulled off a miracle when won despite getting 3 million fewer votes than his opponent.

     
   Filled with religious fervor, 86% of the evangelicals voted for the guy. They're more-than-ready for a new Jesus. His ecstatic followers are already having rallies where they hail his name with stiff-arm salutes. They've found their new savior.


    The first new churches are already in place, huge crystal cathedrals. New Jesus' name is already emblazoned on them in huge, golden letters. 

 Most other churches have a cross out front. By cutting off the top, they could could easily be converted into "T's", the symbol for The New Jesus.

    Should our future savior adopt a holy name?  He's already got a great, kick ass surname. The  middle one starts with a "J".  Just change Joe (or whatever it is) to "Jesus". Of course the new guy will need a gang, tough hombres to back him up.  
    A guy at my church scolded me two months ago for supporting Hillary. "What we need", he said emphatically, "is a warrior with balls".  I chalked him off for being crazy but two weeks later Crazy won the election.  While the president-elect is no guerrero con cojones, he's filled half of his cabinet with former Marine generals with names like "Mad Dog". The other half are corporate billionaires. Together they represent a love of guns and money that has no equal on the planet. 
   These will be The New Disciples. Soon "Mathew, Mark, and John" will be replaced by "Reince, Ric, and Mad Dog". We're getting a new Bible too.
Here are a few samples comparing the old with the new,

   Things are different now. We are scared and want to be protected from the truth. We chose a candidate who cares less for objective facts and more for emotional appeals, even if ignoring those facts hurt our nation. As our country's ideals have shifted so have its religious values. The South has risen again and with it, a New Jesus. He will lead a religion that reflects the mood of the electorate.  
    It's going to be quite a ride. The post-truth voters have spoken and their New Jesus transition team is ready to take over. They won't even have to burn crosses this time. They'll just cut off the tops.
                       
                  ________________________ 


     THE WORD OF THE DAY

"DEMAGOGUE" 

Websters New World Dictionary:

  "A person who stirs up feelings and prejudices of people to win them over quickly and use them to get power".

They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, nothing stops the people from giving that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population.

 Demagogues have been around since ancient Greece. In 1838 writer James Fenimore Cooper wrote a definition that still holds today. He identified four fundamental characteristics of a demagogue,

1. They fashion themselves as a member of the common people, opposed to the elites.
2. Their politics depends on a visceral connection with the people which greatly exceeds ordinary political popularity.
3. They manipulate this connection, and the raging popularity it affords, for their own benefit and ambition.
4. They threaten to break established rules of conduct, institutions, and even the law, to reach their own ends.

Wikipedia examples: Hitler, Mussolini, Huey Long,  and Joseph McCarthy (none of whom ever rose to become a US President-elect).