Both Feet and a Whip
Why do Christians have to be conservatives? Once I was talking to a preacher about his thoughts. He said, “But of course I’m a conservative.” I wondered at the time, why “of course”? I have learned since then how indoctrinated many Christian communities have become in the belief that conservative=godly and liberal=hedonism. Even though I consider myself a liberal, I still feel the value judgements of those words. But why? Was Jesus a conservative? Conservative means people who want to hold on to tradition and who are reluctant to change. The dictionary offers orthodox, cautious and safe as other synonyms. But was that Jesus? Jesus said repeatedly, “This is what you were taught, but now I’m telling you….” His harshest words were for the religious leaders. He stayed out of Roman politics, but jumped into Jewish politics with both feet and a whip. Jesus was not just liberal, he was radical. He was revolutionary. He was so unsettli...