@BrianZahnd @vivs1man You are doing what Brian MacLaren once did in Generous Orthodoxy. You are taking terms, reloading them to fit your own beliefs and thus making them meaningless. Jesus doesn't mesh totally with either side but Jesus is with the poor, marginalized, and the downtrodden. Everytime.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man I say this as someone who is likewise a follower of Jesus and who also appreciates your voice. I get that Jesus isn't coterminus w/ our political bianaries. But honestly what are the issues on the political table right now? Health care, how we treat the poor & migrants . . .
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man And political conservatives have sided with an admitted serial adulterer, someone who lies routinely, and has shown himself to be petty and spiteful with those he disagrees with.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man Knowing who Jesus was on earth and the people who he surrounded himself with, where do you think Jesus would locate himself in the American political landscape? I'm fairly certain we would find him left of center.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man I could imagine that he may be conservative on somethings but I don't really see him buying into conservative capitalist economics in granting favor to the rich and powerful, over the poor and marginalized.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man He might have been socially conservative on somethings (i.e. Prolife? and traditional marriage?), though the gospel writers didn't really tell us his thoughts on the LGBTQ community and reproductive rights. But he did have a reputation for siding with the vulnerable.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man Certainly Jesus was about breaking down barriers. He made space for women and went out of the way to talk to the Samaritan woman at the well. There is that awkward interaction where he calls the Saraphonecian woman a bitch, but I still think he would be progressive on race issues
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man When conservatives doubledown on nationalism, Jesus came for the salvation of all people and the the redemption of all creation. Jesus is all about inclusion.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man And honestly, I think conservative indifference to climate change and creation care, pisses God off. Our creative mandate in Genesis 2 was to steward creation, Conservatives (in the US) have a lousy track record on such things.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man I am not anti-conservative in your terms. I recognize there are wisdom traditions and that teachers in the Kingdom of God bring out treasures old and new (Matt 13:52), and there are ways that Christians are in someways traditional and in otherways progessive.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man But I want to be clear, the platform of the GOP is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ. as is the secularism of the left.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man But to the extent that those on the right, or those on the left demonstrate their love of neighbor, Jesus is with them. I would suggest priortizing universal healthcare over taxbreaks for the wealthy are better ways to love your neighbors.
@BrianZahnd @vivs1man All this to say, I'm orthodox in my adherence to biblical tradition, but I've no interest in being l a conservative. I don't want to over identify myself w/ the Left either, but to the extent that the Left cares for the poor, I will happily throw my lot in with progressivism.
