Supply Side Jesus

Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, March 12th, 2008 - 11 comments
Categories: youtube - Tags:

Now to be perfectly honest I’ve never really thought that seven sins was enough. I was delighted to see that the Vatican has added some extras.

They are: environmental pollution, genetic manipulation, accumulating excessive wealth, inflicting poverty, drug trafficking and consumption, morally debatable experiments and violation of fundamental rights of human nature.

I’m not for all of these. What I do find interesting though is that more liberal churches, particularly in the US, appear to be getting increasingly politically active – possibly in reaction to the increasing dominance that the extreme right wing conservative religious groups were exerting politically.

And rather than focusing exclusively on the more traditional moral voting issues like abortion, stem cell research and homosexuality, these churches are asking their congregations to base their political support on wider issues encompassing social justice and environmental factors – issues that have tended to be associated with the political left rather than the right.

Similarly, the video below suggests that Jesus’ teachings might not sit well with a lassez faire economic world view.

Thomas: Shouldn’t you feed the lepers, Supply Side Jesus?

Supply Side Jesus: No, Thomas, that would just make them lazy.

James: Then shouldn’t you at least heal them, Supply Side Jesus?

Supply Side Jesus: No, James. Leprosy is a matter of personal responsibility. If people knew I was healing lepers, there would be no incentive to avoid leprosy.

11 comments on “Supply Side Jesus ”

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  1. the sprout 1
    12 March 2008 at 12:22 pm

    great vid.
    reminds me of Brian Tamaki. and John Banks.

  2. Steve Pierson 2
    12 March 2008 at 12:42 pm

    When I saw a post titled “supply side jesus” I thought ‘it can’t possibly be as good as i imagine’ but it was.

  3. r0b 3
    12 March 2008 at 12:52 pm

    I dunno Steve, there’s a scene I would have liked to see – SSJ stopping in for a cup of tea with his mates, the money changers at the temple.

  4. the sprout 4
    12 March 2008 at 1:18 pm

    did Merrill Lynch have branches back then?

  5. Ruth 5
    12 March 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Funny. A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post “Why do conservatives hate the poor?” and it was met with nostril-flaring outrage…

    Not all conservatives hold the poor in contempt of course, but a fair amount quite obviously do.

    They could be a lot more like Jesus ‘Whatever you do for the least of us, you do for me” or something like that.

  6. r0b 6
    12 March 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Interestingly, sprout, their official company timeline starts in “THE EARLY YEARS”:

    http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_8134_8296_14044

    Make of that what you will!

  7. r0b 7
    12 March 2008 at 1:35 pm

    On reflection, a quick note. I hope no one takes this thread as denigrating Christianity or their personal relationship with their saviour (or whatever they conceive of God to be). I interpret this thread as being about the politics of Christianity, not the essence of it.

  8. the sprout 8
    12 March 2008 at 1:56 pm

    understood r0b, but it’s a good denigration of those pseudo-christians who think pursuing personal wealth is a Sign that Jesus loves them.
    never did figure how they’d managed to forget the “Camel through the eye of a needle” parable, when they’re generally so keen on quoting scripture at people.

  9. r0b 9
    12 March 2008 at 2:12 pm

    Yes sprout, the range and diversity of thought and practice that goes by the label of “christianity” is just mindboggling. There is certainly a lot of what I think you are correct to call “pseudo-christianity” out there…

  10. steveo 10
    12 March 2008 at 5:51 pm

    Even more remarkable was that the most Christian person of the last century was a Hindu – off topic but a point worth making I thought.

  11. randal 11
    14 March 2008 at 10:26 pm

    steveo…dont fall for that one..just another polly with a good line in making christians feel guilty

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