Sunday, February 20, 2022
Sunday Reflection: Jesus. Guns. Babies.
Pictured here is the campaign bus for Kandiss Taylor, a Republican candidate in Georgia. She's running for governor, just not very well-- she's polling at under 5%.
What's gotten attention is her promotion of JESUS/GUNS/BABIES. I get it, sure; it's kind of a quickie way to summarize the mindset of some people in our country (though you could probably add TRUMP as a fourth item).
I really appreciated two observations about this by Jane Coaston in the New York Times. The first is that it kind of makes it sound like Jesus is shooting babies out of guns, which would be super confusing.
The second, and deeper, observation was this: "This is what our politics has become: We’re often just fans of a party — or even a religion — not believers in actual tenets." I think it is a pretty good description of a lot of people (and maybe, sometimes, me). Many Catholics I know really are more fans of the Catholic church rather than actual believers in what differentiates it from other Christian sects; they like the sense of history but not the patriarchy, for example. And many Protestants seem to be fans of Christianity without really engaging with the Bible and Christ, much the way a lot of people get really excited about what they imagine the Constitution says.
I feel most Christian when I struggle with the lessons of the faith most deeply, and least attached to my faith when I'm not thinking about it much but describing myself as a Christian more than ever.
Anyways, back to Ms. Taylor-- is anyone besides me worried about the OTHER part of her bus, that says "I'm the ONE you've been waiting for!" Isn't that supposed to be Jesus? Failing that, it sounds like a terrifying come-on to a really depressing romantic relationship ("Honey, I don't think the baby should have a gun").
