If Jesus Were Alive Today Published in ProgressiveChristianity.org It is interesting to contemplate whether Jesus, if he were alive today, would be a liberal or a conservative. Through comparative analysis and an examination of historical data, we can certainly make some plausible and persuasive points in that regard. But, while I believe some worthwhile ideas (on both sides of the argument) can be put forth in the course of what is certainly a stimulating thought experiment, I know in my heart if Jesus were bearing witness to the world as it is today, if he walked among us in sandals and robe he would want us to take care of each other, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. He would be in the street marching with his brothers and sisters for health care and a living wage. He would be raising his voice and his fist on behalf of those who claim the right to marry regardless of gender. He would be raising his voice and his fist on behalf of an earth already dealing with the ravages of climate change, with fires that consume entire states, continents that are melting, hurricanes that wash away cities and towns. I know in my heart that if Jesus were bearing witness to the world as it is today, he would march with those who protest against racial injustice, not with those who protest against the wearing of masks. He would seek a middle ground between respect for the life of the unborn and the life of those who actually give birth. He would be a “terrorist” pulling down the statue of a confederate general because people who fought their countrymen for the right to keep slaves should not for that reason be honored in the public square. Similarly, he would fight for the retitling of schools, boulevards and military bases because the ordinary settings in which we live our lives should not be named after the champions of servitude, should not be daily reminders of a past for which some still secretly yearn, should not be used to inspire fear in those for whom the past betokens the whip and the chain. Likewise, I think we can safely say he would NOT support kidnapping children from their parents and holding them in cages; or the barring of refugees who are fleeing conditions most of us can barely imagine. That he would not support using Gods’ name (or for that matter his), to validate conspiracy theories that demonize political opponents, that warrant or justify the various phobias and isms which continue to poison our discourse and culture. Indeed, if Jesus were alive today no doubt Steve Bannon would want to cut off his head, stick it on a pike and plant it on the White House lawn next to Dr Fauci. Something like that actually happened to him once, didn’t it? I know these things in my heart and I know them because like many, for me Jesus is alive today, alive in spirit, and alive in my dreams and it is in my dreams that he told me this: "There's a lot of minds to change, a lot of music to make, a lot of hearts to open with song."