Matthew Modine muses on the possibility that Jesus was a cool commie and what the Yuletide might really mean. Merry Xmas.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.” (Acts 4:32-35 NIV)

Jesus was a commie. A revolutionary with radical views and ideas. He created an unprecedented movement, with neither army nor weapons, and led a group of young people toward progressive and liberal thought in a time of oppressive empires. A guy who would lead his generation of followers away from the violent, intolerable religious and political teachings of the past, toward a philosophy of love and forgiveness. Now, before you start screaming and thinking this is an attack on any particular faith, ism, or a comparison to Joseph Stalin, Karl Marx or Chairman Mao, or even Fidel Castro, it’s not. When I suggest that Jesus was a communist, I mean that he may have been a supporter of a socioeconomic structure or a political ideology that promoted a new kind of establishment. An egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership of property. I don’t think he had any ambition or great notion of creating a new religion either. I do think he’d be horrified at the thought of someone killing in his name, our in the name of what he imagined God to be. I just know he’d like the idea of families gathering around a tree and enjoying each other’s company, perhaps even with a strong eggnog.

At the time (do you mind if I give him a hip-hop name?) JC was walking the earth, perhaps barefoot, his kind of thinking would have been unorthodox, subversive and radical to the community in which he grew up and lived – and among the Roman society at large. JC was a cool commie. Not one of the later forms of communist who corrupted the simplicity of the concept. Stalin, Mao and a few of the present-day communists expose one of the simple problems of the communist system: man is greedy and selfish. I guess we could look to Judas for a lesson about that.

Sharing and behaving the way Christ may have suggested and hoped mankind might is, sadly, counterintuitive to human nature. It seems we humans simply don’t like being equal or sharing our goods. Luke 14:13 NIV says, “…when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind”. Well, ask yourself, would you? The Brazilian Archbishop Dom Hélder Câmara lamented the situation with these words, “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.” JC asked the same question and faced the same dilemma, and they responded by killing him. I wonder how we’d react to someone like him today? How would popular news shows, especially right-wing news outlets, react to a young bearded man in robes praising mercy and rejecting violence with words like, “Love your enemies and do good to them” (Luke 6:35).

The ancient notion that for every wrong done there should be an equal compensation and measure of justice – that is just crazy. We know that violence begets violence. You throwing a rock – and me throwing one back – is one thing, but in a time of chemical and atomic warfare, that kind of thinking is crazy. It took 2,000 years for a Martin Luther King, Jr – probably inspired by Mahatma Gandhi – to amend the Old Testament’s “an eye for and eye…” adding, “…leaves everyone blind.” This was wisdom for a new age provided at a time of racial violence and nuclear proliferation. Many agreed that killing someone because of their skin colour and the idea of nuclear retaliation, was a sure-fire means of leaving everyone blind.

When I read the things Jesus is supposed to have said, it’s possible for me to believe that had he had a John and Paul – Lennon and McCartney, that is – together they could have written some great Beatle tunes. “All You Need Is Love” – JC must have said this a hundred different ways. In fact, “LOVE, LOVE, LOVE” is the overriding subject and simple message that JC gives over and over again – simple to say, but very hard to follow and live.

Another JC favourite of mine is, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Awesome. With this sentence JC reminds us that everybody makes mistakes and fucks up along life’s journey. JC recognises this and awakens discomfort and shame in those of us who punish others for mistakes we ourselves all too often make. Alexander Pope is credited for the saying, “To err is human, to forgive divine.” He was no doubt inspired by the aforementioned stone parable. I think it is prescient to note that Jesus also described “money changers”, those engaged in currency exchange, as “thieves”. There’s a great story in which JC is supposed to have flipped over money changers’ tables then chased them out of a temple in Jerusalem because they had turned it into a “den of thieves”. That’s my kind of guy, a real action hero who backs his words with deeds! Imagine if JC were around today to kick the arses of all the money changers, stockbrokers and bank executives who created bad loans and Ponzi schemes. The creeps who traded away thousands of people’s life savings and created a global economic dissaster!

If you read what JC is supposed to have said, it’s interesting to compare and contrast it with what the Church preaches as doctrine. By comparison, JC appears a logical and reasonable man. The Church almost always favours doctrine that completely subjugates the human mind and alienates and often annihilates reason. I cannot find any language where JC justifies butchering other humans in any God’s name. JC opposed force and attacks of rage. Using his name to justify violence in the name of some holy spirit is lunacy. JC appears to have lived with his eyes open, believing that there was a force or power or thing greater that exists outside human comprehension. That, whatever that thing is, it has not the slightest influence over human behaviour, human justice, human wars, human pleasure or whatever human ambitions we pursue. When we choose to throw stones, it is our pitiful selves that act alone.

I don’t believe that a God helps us to kick a soccer ball well. Or hit a home run. Or make a touchdown. I do believe that when a rare fellow like JC comes along and shows us a new path toward peace, love and understanding, they are punished, shot, murdered, and even crucified.

So this year, when you light your Yule log and gather around the Christmas tree (two ancient pagan rituals), take a moment to reflect on all those who live and work to make the world peaceful. Raise your mugs of rum-laced eggnog and say, “Thank you, all!”

- Matthew Modine is FQR’s Liberal-at-Large

3 Responses

1. Andrew Tkach Says:
   January 12th, 2010 at 10:26 pm

   I like Mr. Modine’s article because it is as selfless as the subject matter. I grew up in the Mormon faith and had the elders taught with such an unbiased approach I may have paid some attention. I’m reminded of a Morrissey lyric, “It’s so easy to laugh, it’s so easy to hate, it’s takes grit to be gentle and kind.” Nice work publishing this. I tip my hat to you sir.

2. Cecilia Larkin Webber Says:
   January 13th, 2010 at 2:49 am

   great article Matthew. I had the opportunity to spend some time in China last December. I fell in love with the people and the country. I left with many more questions than answers. As for JC we have a lot to learn from his example. I appreciate Your insight to the man.

3. Joan Liepman Says:
   January 13th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

   With humor and insight, Mr. Modine touches on topics that are critical for our times. Well, for all times. But let’s say for our times, since here we are. We can see the results of rampant selfishness all around us, and it is not a pretty picture. When we use aggression in the name of any God, we are being ignorant or hypocritical, or we have been manipulated. It is sinful, it is blasphemy, and we might think about checking our intentions more often. I’m a Buddhist who has great respect for JC. For the Real JC, the one described here. Thank you for publishing this.

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