By Ray Lenarcic
Recently, my friends and I were engaged in a discussion about religion. Their views run the gamut from extremely religious to not at all to in between. When it came my turn to pontificate, I responded simply-“I believe in Jesus the Man.” Most of my buds were aware of my early days when I weekly attended the First Baptist. They weren’t aware that during my college years, after taking a couple of “logic” (philosophy) classes, I did an about face. Subsequently, my religious views evolved into a sort of compromise. I eschewed the theology for the philosophy.
Personally, I placed the “Man from Galilee” near the top of a list of philosophers who included Socrates (the unexamined life is not worth living), Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, J.S. Mill, Kirkegaard, etc. More than the others, Jesus’ beliefs were simply taught. In a nutshell, he urged that our lives be governed by a handful of moral values including non-violence, charity, kindness, forgiveness, humility, being non-judgmental and truthfulness. He believed that if we lived our lives according to his teachings and passed them on to future generations, ours would be a heaven on earth. His philosophy could be easily understood by and intended for all, regardless of color, race or creed. The values mentioned earlier were bound together by one word-the essence of his philosophy-LOVE. Love thy neighbor. Love thine enemies. Love thine self. As difficult as it’s been at times (e.g. judgmental- humility), I’ve tried to live my life in accordance with his philosophy.
That said, I thought Donald Trump was my soul brother as far as Jesus the Man was concerned. After all, didn’t he sell millions of Bibles last year? Surely, he wouldn’t have sold what he hadn’t read. And those millions of evangelicals surely wouldn’t have voted for him if he wasn’t one of them. Many of their blasphemous, money-grubbing preacher men ( e.g. Locke, Barton, Olsen) would not have extolled his in-name-only virtues if he wasn’t the second coming. Would they? I hoped that after elected, the president would seize the opportunity to translate Jesus the philosopher’s teachings into a reality characterized by a truly united America, breaking down barriers of hate and restoring the word compromise to the national lexicon.
Looks like hope springs eternal. Trump’s first ten days have been the antithesis of everything Jesus the Man preached. His actions bely an intention to create a hell on earth; barriers of hate have been widened and compromise has been rendered archaic. Here are some examples of those actions. When you’re finished, ask yourself how “uniting” they are.
Undocumented immigrants. Few would argue that getting rid of the criminals among them isn’t a good thing. While he’s at it, he should also do something to get rid of urban gangs who in point of fact are a national scourge. I hardly think that Jesus the Man would have sanctioned rounding up said immigrants who provide valuable labor (e.g. on thousands of farms, for construction companies, in fast food joints and hotels), separating them from their children and shipping them off to detention (aka concentration) camps before they’re dumped off in a homeland where Lord knows what awaits them. Undocumented immigrants-men and women who chased and caught their American dream like my grandparents from Slovenia. They work, pay taxes, spend money and attend church regularly. Bulletin to evangelicals-Catholics and people of color are also Christians. Do you actually believe that Jesus the Man would choose sides? And by the way, didn’t he admonish us to “love thine enemies?”
Trump’s round-up will cost billions of dollars, to be paid by his MAGA folks and the rest of us. Meanwhile, oligarchic billionaire gumbas like the avaricious Musk and Zuckerberg will be laughing all the way to the bank. Not only will they not pay their fair share of taxes, as usual, but they’ll be profiting from a motherload resulting from the permanent tax cuts Trump promised them. I await mine with bated breath. Imagine what those prices he promised to lower (I’m waiting) will be after all those farm workers are deported. And milk? Idaho produces a third of the country’s moo juice. Ask a milk producer about the value of his immigrant laborer toiling 12 hours a day performing a dirty, dangerous job no one else wants to do. And tariffs -google up how they work and learn about the negative effect they’ll have on food and other prices. Real smart alienating Mexico and Canada, our number one and two trade partners. Jesus the Man wasn’t big on lying. Trump turned it into an art form. His most egregious was labeling ALL immigrants “mental cases, rapists, murderers, vermin.” In the final analysis, all he had to do to avoid a possible calamity of epic proportions was develop a simple policy devoid of bureaucratic red tape by which immigrants had a viable pathway to citizenship. Think of the money saved.
Finally, readers will recall Don’s and Musk’s Federal Spending Freeze, implemented then rescinded until a later date. The poorest and weakest among us, who Jesus the Man especially catered to, would have suffered the most. Among the programs impacted: Medicaid; school breakfast/lunch programs; Head Start; TANF (Temporary Assistance Needy Families). “Suffer the Little Children.” He would have cringed at the thought of millions of children victimized by polio, measles or COVID-like diseases because of an anti-vaccine Secretary of Health and Human Services. And speaking of cringeworthy, how about Mr. Trump getting revenge against his “enemies” by weaponizing the Department of Justice (purging the FBI as I write). Yesterday, when asked if he was going to visit the site of the plane crashes, Trump responded-“Why? It’s just water.” Jesus the Man would have gone to the airport to comfort the victims’ families because he had and taught another moral value that the president lacks-compassion.
Hopefully (please don’t spring eternal), these first 10 days are an anomaly. He’ll come to his senses, embrace the philosophy of Jesus the Man and take the steps necessary to unite this great country of ours. I can’t imagine what awaits if he chooses not to. P.S. Regarding that shank. Stop firing your clubs and take a few lessons from Mark Lane.