Years ago there was a movie called the Taking of Pellum One, Two, Three which was about a hijacked train and those who took it and what difficulties occurred after they did. Jesus has been treated like that, hijacked by people who claim they know what’s best for everyone else. Their notions are so specific that many of the brethren Christians are left out of the fold. That’s because people claim Jesus is only with them, along with the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance and important national symbols. Some people put on the fake cloak of righteousness to hide their motives, to the extent that some are ministers, or those who associate closely with them in order to acquire power so that they will have someone who can anoint the ambitious believer as being chosen for a special leadership role in the community. Politicians often seek certain types of religious sanction for activities that indeed might be deceptive.

It isn’t just the politicians who want to claim Jesus and keep him all to themselves. Some are ordinary people who want to be able to say one thing and do another and cover up corruption. It seems these days all one needs to do is utter Jesus' name and that seems to allow the speaker or alleged believer to get away with almost anything. This behavior is used to acquire control over the lives of others and to manipulate people and events. Jesus wouldn’t like his good name used like this because it doesn’t unify his believers and instead allows people to excuse their bad behavior in a way that has created deep divisions among families and the culture as a whole. Do we want to continue this behavior ourselves or allow others to do that? Isn’t that the antithesis of Christ’s teachings? The issue really has come down to a fundamental question, and that’s whether or not Jesus is a model for love or a symbol for selfish, self-directed power and the need to control the lives of others in order to disguise one’s own failings..

The taking of Jesus in that one, two, three process has occurred during the past 20 years. Innocent people, without the preventative information they need to defend themselves, have been innocently led to a set of political, often inconsistent and hypocritical beliefs by those who want to acquire power through putting Jesus name on everything including gun control, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action, gambling, divorce, pornography, contraceptives, prayer in the schools, war and social welfare programs, without figuring out that much of this is hypocrisy and indeed has damaged relationships rather than building bridges of love, compassion and understanding. While one group may consider and advertise itself as being more “Christian” than another, this ignores the core beliefs that truly bind believers. Indeed social and religious divisions have become heightened as people sign up to be Christians in order to have a place to belong, to acquire power for themselves or to emotionally slay others with a Jesus sword that the Christ would never yield.

Most people in the United States claim to be Christians, according to the Pew Research Institute and the Graduate School of the City of New York have demonstrated through their polls that between 75 and 86% of people in the United States say they are Christians. Yet the conversations among us don’t indicate that to be true. Instead the shouting among Christians and person judgments that Jesus would admonish contain spiritual noise not the gentle tones of love and far beyond the peacemakers that Christ asked us to be. The game for Jesus has become intense as people try to out-Jesus each other in power cliques and in communities, as one side or the other tries to make a touchdown for points as if Jesus could help win in his place as the football.

Jesus was taken, one, two, three, but He wasn't alone. Other symbols like the flag, patriotism, family values, and love of country were taken as well by leaders of various stripes who use slogans and slander rather than reason, compassion and concern. The election of 2008 clearly demonstrated that as Sarah Palin’s voice brought people to their feet jabbing ugly words into the air about treason and all sorts of bad things. Religion became so much a part of the campaign that associations of years, with people whose fundamental beliefs had in fact over time been reasonable and helping, were destroyed and created more divisions rather than bringing Christian harmony. The candidacy of Sarah Palin for Vice President and similar issues brought a display of emotions during the time the financial crisis occurred that honored religious texts were no longer relevant to believers who shouted through irrational beliefs and emotions stirred by controversy.

The political groups and business communities have become so disintegrated into suspicion and fear that the public no longer trusts its leaders and beliefs. That’s critical not just for saving our physical lives but for our souls. Can any devoted Christian who believes in the simple life of love and charity imagine Christ standing on a platform making fun of others in a public square--for any reason. Yet that has become the standard for doing business and relating with others while the voice of derision and anger calls for aggressive, not loving response to those who may disagree.

We need to get back to the fundamental teachings of Jesus that talked about loving one another, taking care of the needs of the poor, respecting one another, not coveting what one another has or does and bringing people together in the spirit of charity that Christ’s life demonstrated and taught. Only that way can peace really come among us, because the other ways are alien to Christ and resemble the wolves in sheep’s clothing he warned us about. We are now in such peril in so many ways that we need those simple teachings more than ever but must demonstrate them in loving behavior now. Moral superiority as a technique won’t help nor will judgments of others or condemnations.

Jesus belongs to everyone, even those who have never known or will never know Him, which was the essence of his truth. So folks should get on board, remove Jesus name and reputation from political issues, and go about solving the difficult problems of the day with the love and understanding that is part of traditional Christian thought. Jesus needs to be free from the chains of that status of prisoner in the chains of uncertainty, judgment, fear and control to continue to be the excellent example of why He gave his life, as the ultimate message of love.