Hijacking Jesus: Part II

Jesus

Carol Forsloff - Want a job, get out of jail free, become part of the “in” group, have a platform for politics, be able to say one thing and do another, and cover up corruption? All you need to do is use the name of Jesus and you can get away with almost anything.

Getting away with anything might be simply reprinting this article, written originally several years ago.  The lead, in the above paragraph, introduces the concept of Christian hypocrisy: using Jesus name to commit acts that violate Christian ethics and belief and therefore sully the name of Christ.

The article "Hijacking Jesus" was written by this author and has been used many times, often without permission, many times not using the name of this author.    Many folks who have posted the article now give permission to others to use the article themselves in some anonymous way.  In other words, "Hijacking Jesus" has spread.

The article "Hijacking Jesus" is about hyprocisy, especially among believers.  The publishing field has its rules; something the Internet users violate, consciously or not, in many ways, including Christian sites whose intent is to provide believers and non believers alike with a forum of discussion about all things Jesus.

Reprint permissions and additional use is ordinarily given by the author of an article,  unless the entire rights were sold, not the case with "Hijacking Jesus."

The consequences evolved from the article become illustrative of details within it, so let's look at the rest as it was written:

"If you hijack Jesus, you can acquire power, become important and admired and manipulate people, events and information. You can plant Jesus’ name on a billboard someplace or on a tee shirt like so much media advertising, so that no one will know you have him or not. You can excuse whatever you do, have done, or will do by just using his name enough. Hijacking Jesus in all of these ways, however, sullies his name and defames his teachings of love and simplicity. It has created deep divisions among individuals, religious groups, political parties, social organizations and nations. Those divisions are no more obvious than they are now. It comes down to this: is Jesus a loving influence or an influence for selfish, personal power? 

An example of how Jesus has become identified with power has been demonstrated in the past 20 years by those who sought to infuse a specific set of notions into the social and political system of the United States. Many people were innocently led to political, often inconsistent and hypocritical beliefs related to gun control, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, gambling, divorce, pornography, contraceptives, prayer in the schools, war and social welfare programs, without investigating whether or not there was consistency among these beliefs and whether they were coherent with Jesus’ message and the behavior of those espousing it. This has damaged relationships on every level and the reputation of Jesus as well. One group or another may also refer to itself as being more “Christian” than another, ignoring the core issues that truly bind believers. 

According to the Pew Research Institute and the Graduate School of the City of New York most people in the United States, or between 75 and 86%, say they believe in Jesus and identify themselves as Christian. Yet the conversations that take place among us often don’t include Jesus’ principles of love and compassion but instead contain personal judgments at decibels far beyond the peacemakers’ pitch Jesus spoke about. In fact it has become a game among people to out-Jesus each other in the corridors of powers, in neighborhoods and communities, with each side trying to maneuver the other from full possession of Jesus as one would with football.

The hijack has not only happened with Jesus but with other important symbols and honored ideals including the flag, patriotism, family values, and love of country. It has sometimes been planned and carried out with mischief by leaders of various stripes who use slogans and slander rather than reason and respect. At times it has involved contrived, fragmented or fallacious excerpts from legitimate sources to include honored religious texts and government references in such a way that good folks no longer know who or what to believe. 

Hijackers talk about love of God and country, as if they are of equal importance. Are folks to love country as much as they love God? Doesn’t loving all men as brothers mean loving everyone without exception since that is supposed to be how God loves? When thousands die in other parts of the world, shouldn’t we mourn their loss as we would our own family, friends and neighbors? Should we excuse aggressive war in a fashion that isn’t faithful to loving our brother as ourselves and condemn those who protest it as unpatriotic? 

Many folks who celebrate life with their advocacy in one area deny it in another. For example, those who favor life in relationship to abortion sometimes resist helping poor and disadvantaged mothers care for unwanted babies, condemn the “sins” and refuse to consider social programs designed to provide important care for those who can’t care for themselves. Those who protest war and capital punishment also reaffirm life. Yet there are those who advocate one issue that affirms life but not others. Should we continue to segment our beliefs so inconsistently that we inhibit conversation and understanding? 

Jesus spoke of “the least of these” as those we should care about most. Yet why are the poor, the disadvantaged, the dislocated and the disabled so lacking and treated so badly by those who are rich or aspire to be? Indeed hijackers fear, but don’t favor, the poor. They worry about giving too much when indeed they give too little as the gap between rich and poor in this country clearly shows. 

There are many people who believe that Jesus had a great name and reputation and want all of this to stop. He belongs to everyone, not just the Pharisee-like few he wouldn’t want to be around much anyway. He said so himself. So folks should quit dividing him up, taking him over and making him something he isn’t and wasn’t. Let’s set him free and put our priorities back to the principle He considered most important:  Love one another first."

"Hijacking Jesus" is a message of values of honesty and consistency and not using Jesus name in vain in any way at all, which also means those words about Him, as written here today. 

Controversial book looks at 'quit Christianity in the name of Christ'

Carol Forsloff - "Those
of us that have been paying attention the last 10 years have noticed
significant rumblings in the distance concerning Christianity, relevance
of the Christian church, and the overwhelming sense that change is
coming."


Bonar Crump raises serious issues on faith in his book Throwing Hammers: Separation of Church and Self,
maintaining a "crisis in confidence in the church"is reflected by
people leaving the church and wondering if it isn't time to "quit
Christianity in the name of Christ."



The book examines the crisis of
confidence in the church through asking key questions about why people
are leaving it, especially high profile folk like Anne Rice, wondering
if the principles of the church are leaving behind  a certain rank and
file who look at Christ as the teacher of love and not the harbinger of
anger and judgment.



In July Rice made her announcement
about leaving the Catholic church she had joined ten years ago.  Her
reasons were underlined on National Public Radio in her frustrations
between the love taught by Christ and the practice of "putting on a
face" without having the substance of love taught by Christ.



Rice said,"For those who care, and I
understand if you don't: Today I quit being a Christian.  I'm out.  I
remain committed to Christ as always but not to being a 'Christian' or
to being part of Christianity.  It's simply impossible for me to
'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious and deservedly
infamous group.  For ten years, I've tried.  I've failed.  I'm an
outsider.  My conscience will allow nothing else."

Crump
tells us "The recent denouncements of Christian religion in favor of a
direct relationship with Christ by authors like Anne Rice and Carol
Harper signal that the birth pains of this provocative message are at
hand,"  referring to the notion of "quit Christianity in the name of
Christ."

Attention
to Crump and his ideas is increasing as he is receiving support across
the country.   Joann Corley, a motivational speaker in Atlanta, posted a
quote from the book on her Twitter page, "We challenge the 'big dog' or
we accept the leash." Bonar Crump.

Crump
challenges his readers to ask themselves, "How have we reached a point
in which 30 million dollar churches are being built on the South side of
town while North-side churches are populated with families who aren't
able to feed their children three full meals a day?"

In
Natchitoches, Louisiana a local church leader looks at the trivial
things that seem to include the church, and its wranglings over them, as
standing in the way of Christ's light.    The minister has also
wondered about "quitting Christianity in the name of Christ" if it isn't
a reasonable notion given the sidebars that go on.

The
question is asked in Natchitoches, "who feeds the hungry" while people
argue about mosques in New York.  It goes further, "Who actually goes
there and does the hands-on work to help the helpless" but instead
stands outside the door and simply makes noise."

Recently
Green Heritage News engaged another local minister about addressing
certain spiritual values in articles concerning the needs of the
community.

"Wait
awhile," he said.  "I have so much to do with the construction of the
church."  The construction has been going on most of this year.

A
Natchitoches resident brags, "Did you see our new auditorium?" while
another stresses the beauty of "its new addition, right in line with the
Historic District of Natchitoches."

In
the meantime the animal shelter is closed for lack of funding.  The
major outlet and group for feeding folks and providing extra funds
distributions closed more than two years ago because the church that
sponsored it said, "We don't want to foster dependency."  No other
church has stepped in to fill the empty space.

These are the notions people question in their mantra of quitting Christianity in the name of Christ.

A
reviewer on Amazon.com claims that Crump's book is, "like a spiritual
AED (Automated External Defibrillator). An AED can diagnose a number of
potentially life-threatening cardiac problems and treat them with an
appropriate amount of electrical therapy. Like an AED, this book can
apply its own 'shock' to your spiritual heartbeat."

Crump
says in his book what he considers its valuable lesson, that the
churches that focus on outrageous membership growth, vast campuses and
ridiculously expensive sound systems are "making a mockery of
Christianity and all that Jesus stands for."