No, it’s not Barack Obama or John McCain. The American Savior is a new book by Roland Merullo that paints the unlikely scenario of Jesus Christ coming back to earth to run for president of the United States.

USA Today says this about the book:”Merullo gently satizes the media and politics in this thoughtful commentary on the role religion plays in America. The book showcases Merullo’s convictions that Christ’s real message about treating others with kindness is being warped by those who believe they alone understand the messiah..”

No doubt, the author develops an interesting premise of Jesus running for a political office. Nevertheless, if the truth be told—Jesus – if you examine the positions he took on various issues from the Bible-- would never be elected president. Let me give you four reasons:

1) Jesus would not be gender exclusive or misogynist. Jesus was radical in his day as it relates to the treatment of woman . In Jesus’ day it was considered politically incorrect for a Jewish man to speak to a woman alone. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus is shown in dialogue with a five time divorcee, who was not only gave up on marriage and was “shacking-up,” but belonged to the despised ethnic group of his day: The Samaritans. Women were apart of his evangelistic entourage(Luke 8:1-3). Jesus’ position would not be a politically correct one in the face of a country that still struggles with sexism.

2)Jesus would take a stronger stand against racism that most Americans would be comfortable with. Jesus attacked the racism in this day like a pit bull. He often associated with Samaritans, the hated mixed race people of his day(John 4:39-40).He assailed the unconscious racism in the hearts of his hearers, by answering the question:” Who is my Neighbor?” in Luke 10:29-36, making the loathed Samaritans the hero of the story. Jesus himself was called a Samaritan (John 8:48), the equivalent of being called “the n-word,” or some other racial epithet. When 3 out of 10 Americans say they struggle with racism , Jesus would make us shamed of our racial problems.

3) Jesus would not be popular with the Religious Right of his day. Presidential politicians are often concerned with the appasesement of Evangelicals for the purpose of gaining a tactical edge. Jesus didn’t care about votes- he was concerned about character- especially those who claimed to be God’s representatives. The scathing bombast he gave the religious leaders in Matthew 23, lets me know that Jesus did not care about political correctness. Jesus saw the religious establishment in his day as Tartuffe and power hungry.

4) Jesus would be passionately against modern day hedonism. Jesus was careful to warn those who would misinterpret his message by gaining the world at the expense of losing their soul(Matthew 16:26). He rebuked sexual immorality( Matthew 5:27-30), serial divorce(Matthew 5:31-32), and defined marriage in a culture of rampant homosexuality as between a male and female (Matthew 19:1-6).

5) Jesus would not be a good model of bi-partisan leadership. He called Herod, the most powerful politician in Galilee “a fox”(Luke 13:31-32) and ignored Pilate, the governor of Judea (Matthew 27:13-14).

It is quite reasonable to believe from the study of Biblical evidence, that Jesus by his behavior would be deemed a political liability. Jesus would have never been popular in a nation that wants their politicians to be Sisyphean and milque- toast.

A matter of fact, Jesus did not resort to politics, because it was his stern belief that social change is not a matter of legislation but inner transformation ( John 3:3-7).

Well, so much for an American Savior.
In the House,
KJ

An Anti-Racism Curriculum

History doesn’t just teach us, it clears a path.-Stephen A. Smith

So America finally apologized for slavery. The media reported the House of Representatives issued an apology for an act that in my thinking has been the “Achilles Heel” of American social history. (You can find the apology at:www.tracesofthetrade.org).

The news report of what surely should have been an important milestone in our history, barely registered a blip on the radar screen of the electronic media. This is because America has found it difficult to deal with a painful, embarrassing era in this country. As professor Joe Feagin wrote:

“The American slave past is that ghost which we have
not entirely faced, the memory of that institution is a
haunted house we fear to inhabit.”

Perhaps, that is why the news media did not make a big deal out of the apology. America is afraid of that haunted house called slavery. Slavery exposes our nation’s hypocrisy. It demythologizes that democratic cornerstone: “all men are created equal.”

Even so, an apology for slavery is not enough to confront and overthrow the demons unleashed by this horrendous “business arrangement,” constructed by our forefathers to develop American capitalism.

The reason Black America gets so upset over this subject, is because slavery is often trivialized—it’s often treated as a side order on the menu of our nation’s history by mainstream America.

I believe in order to move toward racial reconciliation in this area, we need to educate ourselves to face the unpleasant past of slavery in order to move America from guilt to grief to glory.

For America to do this, Americans must take the initiative to educate themselves about the history of racism and slavery. Most people in our nation know as much about slavery as Paris Hilton knows about being president of the United States.
Due to widespread ignorance about this subject, I have developed what I call: Anti-Racism Curriculum.

This curriculum includes DVD's and books—giving those who want to learn – a starting point to deal with history -- most people in our nation want to forget and forgive too easily.

Here are just a few recommendations:
Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North (DVD). Featured this year on the PBS program, POV, Traces of the Trade is the riveting and disturbing story of a New England family's discovery of their patriarch James Dewolf as head the largest slave trading family in U.S. history. One great line spoken by a family member during a dinner table discussion was this: “white people (when dealing with the issue of the slave trade) must move from guilt to grief.” This documentary will help African-Americans understand why white Americans find slavery a subject difficult to deal with.

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet A. Washington. Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for the best in non-fiction, this is a book that chronicles the awful use of Black slaves as medical guinea pigs. Often operated upon without anesthesia, The New York Times calls Washington’s book: “A book of outrage.” Medical Apartheid helps us come to the sobering reality that slavery was evil beyond our wildest imagination.

In The Matter of Color: Race and The American Legal Process1: The Colonial Period, A. Leon Higginbotham. The late Judge Higginbotham was a federal appeals court judge and receipt ant of the presidential Medal of freedom. Do you wonder why many minorities often complain about the unfairness of the U.S. justice system? It is because the foundation of juridical bigotry was laid during the era of slavery .A must read for anyone connected with the American justice system.

Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression, Joe Feagin. This is one white guy you won’t see on Fox news or CNN when race is discussed. Dr. Feagin is the leading anti-racism activist in this nation. Author of over fifty books on this subject, Dr. Feagin demythologizes the so called heroism of “Founding Father’s.” Dr. Feagin has a website that addresses race in the media called:Racismreview.com

Oxford African American Studies Center (www.oxfordaasc.com). For a small annual fee, you have access to in my opinion-- to the most comprehensive contemporary and historical study of the black experience from Africa to America and beyond. Developed by Dr. Henry Louis Gates and other scholars, the Oxford AASC is like having a research library at home. The database on the Transatlantic slave trade is powerful.

From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, John Hope Franklin.
This is the classic book on the history of black people in America. Before there was Dr. Henry Louis Gates, there was John Hope Franklin. No one Has done a greater job in telling the tragic, yet rich history of African Americans, then Dr.Franklin.

Other Recommendations: Roots (DVD), the 25th anniversary edition; Unforgiveable Blackness- The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, by Ken Burns; and White Like Me, Tim Wise.

This is just a few items for your consideration. Slavery is a subject that can no longer be trivialized. Americans must be able to speak intelligently about this subject.

The only way to do so is to gain knowledge by research and study.
I believe Francis Beacon said it best, when he said:” knowledge is power.”

Love Them or Hate Them

I was reading the August 1, 2008 edition of USA Today and found something that triggered this blog. It was a review in the what’s New on DVD section. It was a report on the DVD: Joe Louis: American’s Hero... Betrayed.

Here’s the interesting sentence that it hit me like a knockout punch from the “Brown Bomber" himself --"The first black sports hero beloved by whites…"

After reading that line, I said to myself hmm, let me compile a list of black sports heroes historically beloved and loathed by whites. I chose seven:

Black sports heroes loved by whites:
Tiger Woods
Michael Jordan
Joe Louis
Jackie Robinson
Willie Mays
Joe Frazier
OJ Simpson (that was before the murder)

Black sports heroes hated by whites:
OJ Simpson (that was after the murder)
Barry Bonds
Jack Johnson
Muhammad Ali (He could be in either category. Those who love him now have short memories)
Jackie Robinson (April 15, 1947)
John Carlos and Tommie Smith
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Do you notice the character traits of those loved and loathed by whites?
Those in the” love list” tend to be non-confrontational, easy going, non- threating.

On the other hand, those in the “loath list” have what Ken Burns said in his documentary on the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson: Unforgiveable Blackness.
These sports heroes tend to be confrontational, protest about racial inequality, or seem to have an intimidating persona.

I’m sure you can name many others. However, the point is that many in mainstream America don’t just judge a black athlete by his or her gifts alone. They bring the same racial bias in the sport arena as they do in society. They would like black athletes to adhere to the philosophy: Just shut-up and play.