If only the Bible were so simple and consistent that everything said in the Old Testament jived with what is said in the New Testament.  If you wanted that kind of consistency you'd have to do a lot of editorial cutting; that would be a mercifully slim and readable volume.  

Does Jesus ever spout the Ten Commandments in the Gospel?  Near as I could ever tell he wants you to give up all your property -- so if you've got any house that you call "yours," even that might be a problem.  With all his talk about the greater virtue of giving one's last penny as opposed to a rich man giving a million and not worrying about the future and letting God take care of your food and clothes like he does the birds and lillies, I don't think he would have had much of a stake in preserving the mortgage-paying, insurance-buying, car-driving, Bi-Lo shopping, video-renting, lawn-mowing life that most of us middle-class Americans (myself included) live these days.  

 I think it was already pretty clear, however, that neither Dr. Garrison nor anyone else so far has suggested that Jesus would have been a Stalinist, although it does give one the opportunity to express some easy moral outrage.  And, hey, if only we had an evil-o-meter that would light up when applied to the worst governments -- I bet it would light up and go ding, ding, ding if applied to the Hussein regime we supported in the 80's as well as to the one we dismantled in 2003.  America is and always has been more interested in its own national interests than in the loving kindness of the gospel.  The framers of the consitution may have had Jesus in mind (although that's pretty debatable), but I don't think there's anything to suggest that Jesus ever had the US in mind when working up his philosophy.  That's all I got out of Dr. Garrison's message.   

Chris Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Billy Harris <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:25:34 -0400
Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] Jesus

I object strongly to the the claim that Jesus supports in any way
the most evil governments of the 20th century.

Communism has killed tens of millions of people through government-enforced
economic policies that directly caused massive famine. Stalin and Mao
have executed millions of people for exercising their God-given rights, and
have variously persecuted, outlawed, or restricted religious worship. This is
in addition to the hundreds of thousands who suffer under in prison work camps,
where the death rate is 10-30% per year. Personally, I think we should also
include the sins of the National Socialist German Workers Party as well.

Yes, Jesus said in many ways that we should be kind to the poor. Yes, Acts
holds as a positive example disciples who "from time to time" voluntarily sold
their property and donated it to the church. However, the very existence of
the tenth commandment("Thou shalt not covet your neighbors house...) seems to
show that it is not sinful for one person to own a nicer house than another.

Likewise, "A worker is worthy of his wages" can be interpreted in many ways,
but "Therefore, take his wages and distrubte them 'fairly'" is not one of them.

Billy Harris


Christopher Stuart
UC Foundation Assistant Professor
English Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga