On the one hand, it’s a comical question. And perhaps one to be disregarded as clickbait in an increasingly monetized internet of thoughts and feelings. On the other hand, just like the much-ridiculed campaign of What Would Jesus Do from the glamorous 1990s, the question peers into the Pauline message of 1 Corinthians 11:1, how do we make ourselves in the imitation of Christ?
In the circumstances of this Shark Week X at Daily Theology, amid the numerous articles and think-pieces regarding this year’s election, we ask, simply: how do we imitate Christ during a contentious election season? At the voting booth, sure, but also at home, online, in your workplace, in your classroom, in your local congregation. So “how would Jesus vote?” could perhaps be rephrased “what would Jesus do, right now, in the United States, if no one, or maybe just a few people, knew who he truly was?”
So, if you would, please forgive us for the childish title, and engage with the ideas and proposals members of the blog will present this week. What does it mean to engage politically in a time of so much fear, hatred, unrest, and frustration?
Or, put another way, which Christ does one imitate? The one who died? The one who flipped tables and called his disciples “hard of understanding”? The one who preached the gospel of the weak and sick? The one who turned the other cheek? Or the one who so angered the political authority that he was executed alongside common criminals?
Let’s find out!
Shark Week X
September 26-30, 2016
Monday – Christine McCarthy
Tuesday – Stephen Okey
Wednesday – Jessica Wrobleski
Thursday – Kevin Avern
Friday – Benjamin Durheim
Considering that during his life Jesus’ attitude towards politicians was either indifference or contempt, I doubt he would vote at all.
Unfortunately for this comparison, Jesus did not live in a democracy but a dictatorship, so it’s impossible to say what he would have done today.
Politicians in a democracy are immune from being treated with indifference and / or contempt?
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