When Jesus is Your Co-Pilot, Wear a Helmet

Ihave been a fan of Jesus most of my life. He was cool, with all that long hair, and he seemed so pious and generous and kind. I have seen these same traits in many Christians I’ve known. For the most part, they are also pious and generous and kind. So, when I see a car on the road with a fish sticker on the back bumper that encircles the word ‘JESUS’, I usually feel good about the intentions of the person behind the wheel. The problem is that drivers with a JESUS fish sticker on their back bumper do not have special authority when driving. In fact, I have encountered more than a few of these drivers who could rightfully be described as a menace on the road. The truth is that a fervent belief in Jesus Christ has nothing to do with a person’s ability to drive a car.

It would be non-sensical to put people in charge simply because they had a strong belief in Jesus. But here we are, in 2024, with a swell of JESUS-fish-sticker-drivers who do not follow the rules of the road, taking up governing positions in the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World. Instead of electing leaders who uphold freedom, equality, and democracy, voters have put the fate of their country in the hands of some very bad drivers.

Women should not be forced to have babies in the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World. Forcing women to dedicate their organs to this process under duress is the act of a society under despotic rule guided by religious law. Democracies do not force women to breed. Yet, this is exactly what we have seen in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling influenced by a leader controlled by powerful people with a fervent belief in Jesus Christ. Collectively, the Supreme Court, the leader, and these powerful people have dismantled legal precedent upholding a woman’s right to reproductive freedom. We are living in a time when the body of a woman is not recognized as her own.

The irony is, I don’t think Jesus would stand for it. In fact, I am quite sure he would see women suffering and take them to the nearest clinic for care. If care meant ending a pregnancy, I think Jesus would understand this is a decision a woman needs to make herself, and I think he would empathize. After all, Jesus knows what it means to lose sovereignty over one’s own body.

Right now, the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World is supporting acts of war that have been widely condemned, most notably by the UN, as genocidal. Here we have a powerful democracy, presumably in favor of justice and equality, supporting the leader of a self-identifying religious nation state in the killing of thousands of women and children in a region he does not rightfully control in what he is calling the defense of his people. Let’s consider, for a moment, the text that guides the decisions made by the leader of this religious nation state. This text, while pre-dating Jesus, is still presumably the work of the entity widely known as Jesus’s father. In it, people are identified and judged based on a devotion to one religion over another. My question is this: what is the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World doing supporting the leader of a religious nation state whose inspiring text and resulting legislation treats its own citizens in an unequal fashion, identifying, judging, and showing preferred treatment based on religion? This is a religious nation state whose leader has ordered the killing of thousands and thousands of women and children in what he calls the defense of his people. Can we safely say this leader is speaking of the people who are shown preferred treatment under legislation in his state? If so, how can the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World stand behind what has been widely recognized as the decimation of a region in support of this leader’s preferred people?

Equality has clearly been sidelined by religion – in fact, equality has been openly mocked. Ironically, the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World is supporting acts of war conducted by the leader of a religious nation state in support of inequality (and that leader does not even recognize Jesus as Christ. Heresy!)

Democracy is in dire straits when an all-powerful leader can destroy its very foundation. In recent history, an example of this all-powerful leader has been nowhere more apparent than in the January 6, 2021, attack on the capitol of the Most Powerful, Supposedly Free and Democratic Country in the World. In this case, the all-powerful leader called for an uprising that almost dismantled the framework for democracy.

A stand-out prototype for the all-powerful leader has controlled our collective mindset for centuries. This is the prototype of the all-good, all-knowing, all-powerful Our Father, who is feared and revered, and whose followers can be more than JESUS-fish-sticker-fanatical. In the case of January 6^th, a mob inspired by this mentality were fanatical to the point of almost taking down a legitimately elected government…as the all-powerful leader sat high above and watched.

We cannot let the roads in this life be overtaken by people whose inspiring guidebook is a religious text. We need to look at the state as an intelligent entity, able to be ruled based on freedom, equality, and the principles of democracy. Freedom means women are not banned from access to healthcare, and they are not forced to give up the rights to their own organs. Equality means all people are afforded the same rights and privileges by the state, regardless of religion. And democracy means an all-powerful leader cannot govern with a god-like finality and a god-like dismissal of basic democratic principles. A religious text is not a driver’s handbook, and if we let people guided by religious text rule the roads, the roads will soon be chaotic. That is to say, when we invite religion into the business of the state, it is not reasonable to expect a free and equal, democratic society. It is reasonable to expect chaos.