December 20, 2019
Once upon a midnight clear,
there was a child’s cry, a blazing star hung over a stable, and wise men came
with birthday gifts. We haven’t forgotten that night down the centuries. We
celebrate it with stars on Christmas trees, with the sound of bells, and with
gifts… We forget nobody, adult or child. All the stockings are filled, all that
is, except one. And we have even forgotten to hang it up. The stocking for the
child born in a manger. It’s his birthday we’re celebrating. Don’t let us ever
forget that. Let us ask ourselves what He would wish for most. And then, let
each put in his share, loving kindness, warm hearts, and a stretched out hand
of tolerance. All the shining gifts that make peace on earth. — The Bishop’s Wife (1947)
The Christmas story of a
baby born in a manger is a familiar one.
The Roman Empire, a police
state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his
pregnant wife Mary traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so that they could
be counted. There being no room for the couple at any of the inns, they stayed
in a stable (a barn), where Mary gave birth to a baby boy, Jesus. Warned that
the government planned to kill the baby, Jesus’ family fled with him to Egypt
until it was safe to return to their native land.
Yet what if Jesus had been
born 2,000 years later?
What if, instead of being
born into the Roman police state, Jesus had been born at this moment in time?
What kind of reception would Jesus and his family be given? Would we recognize
the Christ child’s humanity, let alone his divinity? Would we treat him any differently
than he was treated by the Roman Empire? If his family were forced to flee
violence in their native country and sought refuge and asylum within our
borders, what sanctuary would we offer them?
A singular number of
churches across the country are asking those very questions, and their
conclusions are being depicted with unnerving accuracy by nativity
scenes in which Jesus and his family are separated, segregated and caged in individual chain-link pens, topped by barbed
wire fencing.
These nativity scenes are a
pointed attempt to remind the modern world that the narrative about the birth
of Jesus is one that speaks on multiple fronts to a world that has allowed the
life, teachings and crucifixion of Jesus to be drowned out by partisan
politics, secularism, materialism and war.
The modern-day church has
largely shied away from applying Jesus’ teachings to modern problems such as war,
poverty, immigration, etc., but thankfully there have been individuals
throughout history who ask themselves and the world: what would Jesus do?
What would Jesus—the baby
born in Bethlehem who grew into an itinerant preacher and revolutionary
activist, who not only died challenging the police state of his day (namely,
the Roman Empire) but spent his adult life speaking truth to power, challenging
the status quo of his day, and pushing back against the abuses of the Roman
Empire—do?
Dietrich
Bonhoeffer asked
himself what Jesus would have done about the horrors perpetrated by Hitler and
his assassins. The answer: Bonhoeffer risked his life to undermine the tyranny
at the heart of Nazi Germany.
Aleksandr
Solzhenitsyn asked
himself what Jesus would have done about the soul-destroying gulags and labor
camps of the Soviet Union. The answer: Solzhenitsyn found his voice and used it
to speak out
about government oppression and brutality.
Martin Luther
King Jr. asked
himself what Jesus would have done about America’s warmongering. The answer:
declaring “my conscience leaves me no other choice,” King risked widespread
condemnation when he publicly opposed the Vietnam War on moral and economic grounds.
Even now, despite the
popularity of the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) in Christian circles,
there remains a disconnect in the modern church between the teachings of Christ
and the suffering of what Jesus in Matthew 25 refers to as the
“least of these.”
As the parable states:
Then the King will say to
those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your
inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes
and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you
came to visit me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see
you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did
we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ The King will
reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did
for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from
me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I
needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did
not look after me.’ They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help
you?’ He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the
least of these, you did not do for me.’
This is not a theological
gray area: Jesus was unequivocal about his views on many things, not the least
of which was charity, compassion, war, tyranny and love.
After all, Jesus—the revered
preacher, teacher, radical and prophet—was born into a police state not unlike
the growing menace of the American police state. When he grew up, he had
powerful, profound things to say, things that would change how we view people,
alter government policies and change the world. “Blessed are the merciful,”
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” and “Love your enemies” are just a few examples
of his most profound and revolutionary teachings.
When confronted by those in
authority, Jesus did not shy away from speaking truth to power. Indeed, his
teachings undermined the political and religious establishment of his day. It
cost him his life. He was eventually crucified as a warning to others not to
challenge the powers-that-be.
Can you imagine what Jesus’
life would have been like if, instead of being born into the Roman police
state, he had been born and raised in the American police state?
Consider the following if
you will.
Had Jesus been born in the
era of the America police state, rather than traveling to Bethlehem for a
census, Jesus’ parents would have been mailed a 28-page American Community
Survey, a mandatory
government questionnaire documenting their habits, household inhabitants, work schedule,
how many toilets are in your home, etc. The penalty for
not responding to
this invasive survey can go as high as $5,000.
Instead of being born in a
manger, Jesus might have been born at home. Rather than wise men and shepherds
bringing gifts, however, the baby’s parents might have been forced to ward off
visits from state social workers
intent on prosecuting them for the home birth. One couple in Washington had all three of their
children removed after social services objected to the two youngest being
birthed in an unassisted
home delivery.
Had Jesus been born in a
hospital, his blood and DNA
would have been taken without his parents’ knowledge or consent and entered into a government biobank. While
most states require newborn screening, a growing number are holding onto
that genetic material long-term for research, analysis and purposes yet to be
disclosed.
Then again, had Jesus’
parents been undocumented immigrants, they and the newborn baby might have been
shuffled to a profit-driven,
private prison for illegals where they first would have been separated from each other, the
children detained in make-shift
cages, and the
parents eventually turned into cheap, forced laborers for corporations such as
Starbucks, Microsoft, Walmart, and Victoria’s Secret. There’s quite a lot
of money to be
made from imprisoning immigrants, especially when taxpayers are footing the bill.
From the time he was old
enough to attend school, Jesus would have been drilled in lessons of compliance
and obedience to government authorities, while learning little about his own
rights. Had he been daring enough to speak out against injustice while still in
school, he might have found himself tasered or beaten by a school resource
officer, or at the very least suspended under a school zero
tolerance policy that
punishes minor infractions as harshly as more serious offenses.
Had Jesus disappeared for a
few hours let alone days as a 12-year-old, his parents would have been handcuffed,
arrested and jailed for parental negligence. Parents across the country have been arrested for
far less “offenses” such as allowing their children to walk to the park
unaccompanied and play in their front yard alone.
Rather than disappearing
from the history books from his early teenaged years to adulthood, Jesus’
movements and personal data—including his biometrics—would have been
documented, tracked, monitored and filed by governmental agencies and
corporations such as Google and Microsoft. Incredibly, 95 percent of
school districts share their student records with outside companies that are contracted to manage data, which they
then use to market products to us.
From the moment Jesus made
contact with an “extremist” such as John the Baptist, he would have been
flagged for surveillance because of his association with a prominent activist,
peaceful or otherwise. Since 9/11, the FBI has
actively carried out surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations on a
broad range of activist groups, from animal rights groups to poverty relief,
anti-war groups and other such “extremist” organizations.
Jesus’ anti-government views
would certainly have resulted in him being labeled a domestic extremist. Law
enforcement agencies are being trained to recognize signs of anti-government
extremism during interactions with potential extremists who share a “belief in the
approaching collapse of government and the economy.”
While traveling from
community to community, Jesus might have been reported to government officials
as “suspicious” under the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say
Something” programs. Many states, including New York, are providing individuals
with phone apps
that allow them to take photos of suspicious activity and report them to their state Intelligence Center, where they
are reviewed and forwarded to law-enforcement agencies.
Rather than being permitted to
live as an itinerant preacher, Jesus might have found himself threatened with
arrest for daring to live off the grid or sleeping outside. In fact, the number
of cities that have resorted to criminalizing
homelessness by enacting bans on camping, sleeping in vehicles, loitering and
begging in public has
doubled.
Viewed by the government as
a dissident and a potential threat to its power, Jesus might have had
government spies planted among his followers to monitor his activities, report
on his movements, and entrap him into breaking the law. Such Judases today—called informants—often receive
hefty paychecks from the government for their treachery.
Had Jesus used the internet
to spread his radical message of peace and love, he might have found his blog
posts infiltrated by government spies attempting to undermine his integrity, discredit
him or plant incriminating information online about him. At the very least, he
would have had his website hacked and his email monitored.
Had Jesus attempted to feed
large crowds of people, he would have been threatened with arrest for violating
various ordinances prohibiting the distribution of food without a permit. Florida
officials arrested a
90-year-old man for feeding the homeless on a public beach.
Had Jesus spoken publicly
about his 40 days in the desert and his conversations with the devil, he might
have been labeled mentally ill and detained in a psych ward against his will
for a mandatory involuntary psychiatric hold with no access to family or
friends. One Virginia man was arrested, strip searched, handcuffed to a table,
diagnosed as having “mental health issues,” and locked up for
five days in a mental health facility against his will apparently because of his slurred speech and
unsteady gait.
Without a doubt, had Jesus
attempted to overturn tables in a Jewish temple and rage against the
materialism of religious institutions, he would have been charged with a hate
crime. Currently, 45 states and
the federal government have hate crime laws on the books.
Had anyone reported Jesus to
the police as being potentially dangerous, he might have found himself
confronted—and killed—by police officers for whom any perceived act of
non-compliance (a twitch, a question, a frown) can result in them shooting
first and asking questions later.
Rather than having armed
guards capture Jesus in a public place, government officials would have ordered
that a SWAT team carry out a raid on Jesus and his followers, complete with
flash-bang grenades and military equipment. There are upwards of
80,000 such SWAT team raids carried out every year, many on unsuspecting Americans who have no defense
against such government invaders, even when such raids are done in error.
Instead of being detained by
Roman guards, Jesus might have been made to “disappear” into a secret
government detention center where he would have been interrogated, tortured and
subjected to all manner of abuses. Chicago police
have “disappeared” more than 7,000 people into a secret, off-the-books interrogation
warehouse at Homan Square.
Charged with treason and
labeled a domestic terrorist, Jesus might have been sentenced to a life-term in
a private prison where he would have been forced to
provide slave labor for corporations or put to death by way of the electric chair
or a lethal mixture of drugs.
Indeed, as I show in my
book Battlefield
America: The War on the American People, given the nature of government then and now, it is
painfully evident that whether Jesus had been born in our modern age or his
own, he still would have died at the hands of a police state.
Thus, as we draw near to
Christmas with its celebrations and gift-giving, we would do well to remember
that what happened on that starry night in Bethlehem is only part of the story.
That baby in the manger grew up to be a man who did not turn away from evil but
instead spoke out against it, and we must do no less.
This article was originally
published at The Rutherford Institute.
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