Debate:If Jesus were alive to day, where on the political spectrum would he fall?

If Jesus was alive today, what end of the political spectrum would he identify himself with? Conservative or Liberal? Please back up any assertions with references to the Gospels.

Conservative

Where else would He find a home? Liberals deny Him. They deny His creative role, and they deny the need for Him as Lord and personal Savior. They actually think that if they're good, they'll go to heaven--and that is simply wrong.

Moreover, Jesus would never countenance the behaviors in which liberals routinely engage, and encourage others to engage. Jesus never said that a man could divorce his wife with a word. He did mention a specific circumstance that applied only to the Jewish custom of engagement, which was less than a marriage but far more than the engagement we know today. Jesus now practically abolished divorce entirely. Liberals think divorce ought to be free and easy.^{[Citation Needed]}

The "rehabilitation" of the thief consisted of salvation, and not of returning him to human society. Jesus was demonstrating that anyone could gain salvation if he would but repent--as this thief did.

Lastly: the reference to stumblingblocks has nothing to do with "affirmative action." Rather it has to do with not putting temptation to sin in one another's way. But to a liberal, no one commits sin by engaging in the traditionally decried vices. Rather, one commits sin merely by having too much money (a thing Jesus never said) or by making the world less wild or by otherwise disagreeing with a liberal.--TerryH 22:07, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

It is dangerous to use Matthew 5:27-30 to condemn liberals - one need only look at the current set of conservatives running for election to see multiple marriages and the occasional affair.

You appear to have misread what I said about divorce - "In Jesus's time, it was possible for a man to divorce his wife with a word." Jesus was against divorce. Again, one need only look at the current conservatives running for election to show that divorce is quite common outside of the liberal circle.

Let us look at Conservative to see what the stance there is and how this relates to Jesus's ministry.

• National defense and high military spending -- Jesus did not side with the Jewish sect that was trying for military overthrow of Rome. All of his acts were non-violet.
• Economic allocative efficiency (as opposed to popular equity) -- I would suggest reading Mark 10:21-25 to see the stance on what the rich should do.
• Stronger law enforcement and anti-crime laws, including the death penalty -- Look at John 8:3-11 to see Jesus speaking out against the death penalty (and further rehabilitation of those who commit crimes).
• Abandonment of public schools in favor of private, particularly using tuition vouchers -- Jesus taught any who came to him without asking for payment. He much more closely resembles a public school teacher than someone advocating only private institutions to teach school.

Given these it is reasonable to say that he was a very progressive individual for his time and even today his teachings show himself to be much more in line with the liberal platform than the conservative one. --Mtur 18:53, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

Liberal

As stated in liberal he would clearly fall in the liberal end.

• equal rights for men and women, including participation by men and women in the military
  • Starting at Mark 5:25, you have Jesus administering a woman who was menstruating for twelve years. This woman was unclean in Judaic tradition and it was not proper for a man to be talking to a woman who was not family.
  • Beginning at John 4:7 Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman. It was not proper for a Jewish man to talk to a foreign woman - there were three strikes against her, unclean, foreign and a woman. In Matthew 15:22 Jesus again talks to a foreign woman, this time a Canaanite for whom he healed her daughter.
  • Jesus also accepted women as students. With Luke 10:38, Jesus instructed Mary, the sister of Martha.
  • In Luke 13:16, Jesus refers to a woman as a "daughter of Abraham". This phrase occurs no where else in the Bible and parallels the term "son of Abraham" that is often used to describe men.
  • With Luke 7:35, Jesus forgives the sins of a woman and refers to all people as children of wisdom.
  • Many of the stories that Jesus told and later was mentioned in Acts has a man and a woman (rather than just a man). Luke 2:25-38 Luke 4:25-38 Luke 4:31 Luke 7:36 Luke 17:34
  • In Jesus's time, it was possible for a man to divorce his wife with a word. In Mark 10:11-12 Jesus says that a man does not have this right and treats men and women as equal.
• distributing wealth from the rich to the poor
  • It should not be necessary to iterate the number of times Jesus's ministry is helping the poor. One need only read the Beatitudes in Luke 6:20 and 6:24 to see his take on this subject.
• government programs to rehabilitate criminals
  • The most famous rehabilitation of a thief on the cross to whom he says "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43.
  • There are other accounts of Jesus talking with criminals and outcasts from society.
• taxpayer-funded rather than private medical care
  • Again, it should not be necessary to iterate the number of times that Jesus healed people who were poor and could not afford proper care. If anyone is sick, they should be healed.
• support of government programs such as welfare
  • This closely relates to the distribution of wealth to the poor.
• support of affirmative action
  • Much like that mentioned in equal rights (above), Jesus spent much time with foreigners - people of other races. He makes no distinction in teaching them, and most famously in the story of the good Samaritan.
  • Moving from the Gospels to the writings of Paul, Romans 14:13 says "Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way." Affirmative action seeks to remove these stumbling blocks that have been placed by society in the past.

--Mtur 16:30, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

This page has a colossal joke on it, and you're it.--TerryH 22:07, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

I thought Mtur made some very clear well sourced argument and that this rebuttal is a little uncivil. Myk 17:10, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

Neither

Jesus was a religious figure, not a political figure. MountainDew 21:06, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

Just because he was a religious figure does not mean that he did not have a stance on various social issues that can be placed on a political spectrum. --Mtur 21:09, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

Considering what was said above, and also his own teachings (as according to the bible), I don't think Jesus would claim a political status. Although I could see him leaning more to a conservative side as far as abortion and gay marriage is concerned. (No one is quite sure what Jesus thought of gay marriage but with biblical allusions I would say he was against it)--Goose 22:56, 14 March 2007 (EDT)

I would have to say, he'd probably be more neutral, and be like your average American and have a little mix of both. He'd be for gun control, as he didn't promote violence and certainly wouldn't embrace the right for someone to take the life of someone else. Abortion, he'd be against of course. Gay marriage... well he didn't tell hookers to stop being hookers did he? I think that would be an interesting thing to think about. I really don't think he'd give a hard-lined no. He would certainly think though that both liberals and conservatives need to be much kinder to each other. And he honestly... probably wouldn't like our president. If anyone is wondering why, I'll gladly tell you why I think so.--Ronnyreg 06:04, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

Actually, He did tell hookers to stop being hookers. In the same breath He told men to stop picking them up, and He also told men to stop looking at women as if they (the men) wanted to pick them (the women) up.

And as regards weapons control, He once said that any man who didn't carry a sword ought to get one. That doesn't sound like being a proponent of gun control to me.

And why wouldn't He like our President? On the contrary, He'd say that George W. Bush was and is doing exactly what a man in governing authority should do.--TerryH 09:31, 15 March 2007 (EDT)

I think if Jesus was alive today he would be very disappointed in all of us for arguing and bickering so much about a religion with care, compassion, and love as its fundamental principles. Not sure what he would say about politics except that it must be the devil's work. -Gasmonkey

Totally agreed. He didn't really follow any set authority. He might identify with causes of both sides, but he would never become involved in something as corrupt as politics, on either side. -mikeyc252

It depends

Are we talking about Jesus, or Jeezus? --Scrap 21:39, 14 March 2007 (EDT)