Evangelical Movement Touts 'Jesus for president'- Musings On A Newspaper Article

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- They're spiritual misfits. Rabble-rousers. They packed the shell of the old Baptist church on Negley Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to hear author, Christian activist and fellow misfit Shane Claiborne stump on the campaign for a third party candidate, Jesus. The dreadlocked Christian activist from Philadelphia and his team parked a black school bus around the back. The hand-painted gold letters on the side read "Jesus for President." The bus runs on vegetable oil and, yes, it's a political statement."It'll be a long time before we fight a war over used veggie oil," says Claiborne with a sly smile.

Claiborne is touring the country, packing churches and community centers, in support of the book he and Chris Haw co-authored, "Jesus for President." "This whole project is about the political imagination of what it means to follow after Jesus," Claiborne said. "The language of Jesus as Lord and savior is just as radical as it would be to say 'Jesus as our commander in chief' today."

Young evangelicals represent an important swing-voting bloc. They're not a lock for Republicans as their parents were. Their feet are firmly planted on issues dear to both parties. Traditional family values are, as they have been in the past, an important issue. But these voters say views on abortion and homosexuality won't define them in November. The environment and social justice are moving to the forefront of their discussions. About 26 percent of the United States identifies itself as evangelical Christians in the Protestant tradition, according to the latest U.S. Religious Landscape study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. In 2004, more than 75 percent of evangelicals cast their vote for George W. Bush."They delivered for him in some key states, like Ohio, without which he could not have won," said CNN's Bill Schneider, senior political analyst. "It was the rallying of the evangelical base that Karl Rove developed as a strategy, maximizing turnout among your base voters, not worrying about independents or swing voters." But polls have shown that evangelicals as a whole, following national trends, are disaffected with Republican leadership and increasingly up for grabs.

Thursday was the fifth night of the tour and it has already seen hundreds show up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana.It was a hot, muggy June day in Pittsburgh. About 250 people came through the doors to find there was no air conditioning in the old church-turned-community center. They ran out of chairs so people took to the floors and leaned against the walls.There were voters from across the board: Republicans, Democrats and independents. Most were young, Christian by background, evangelical in theology, and they say they're hungry for something more than partisan politics. Steph Walker and Amanda Widing had to settle for seats in the back."I would say that social justice and issues like that have definitely arisen as an important part of my faith and, because of that, it affects how I vote and think of those things definitely," said 21-year-old Walker. She grew up in a Republican household but has switched parties and will vote for Sen. Barack Obama in November.Widing, 20, is a registered Republican but unsure who she'll vote for."There are certain issues where I identify more with Republicans and other issues where I identify more with Democrats, so I really am completely undecided at this point," she said.

Eric Sapp is a founding member of the Eleison group focused on getting people of faith out to the polls for Democrats. He sees younger evangelicals as prime targets to swing. "These voters are starting to become independent swing voters instead of a lock for either party," Sapp said. "For Democrats, also, it's a successful place because when a group had been voting four out of five Republican and they start becoming a swing constituency that also has significant electoral implications."

Back on stage Claiborne takes the crowd through a multimedia presentation."With the respectability and the power of the church comes the temptation to prostitute our identity for every political agenda." Controversially, he quotes Harry S. Truman and Adolph Hitler, saying each used Christianity to support their ideologies.The speech is fiery at times, pensive at others. It emphasizes caring for the poor and the downtrodden.He talks about war and the environment. He also talks about how Jesus stood up to the Roman Empire, a message he believes is relevant to the United States now."For many of us, Caesar has colonized our imagination, our landscape and our ideology," he says while a picture of Mount Rushmore flashes behind him. On the screen "Vandalism" pops up in black letters.Trading lines back and forth from a script with Haw, they save the most wrath for Christians who they say have missed the point of the cross."We've profaned the blood at the foot of the cross and turned it into Kool-Aid and marketed it all over the world. We'll make an Kool-Aid and a business out of taking the Lord's name in vain," Claiborne says as images of Christ on the cross and the American flag flash behind him.They endorse no candidate and make no effort to sway the voters for one party or another.

After the speech in an interview with CNN, Claiborne said, "This is not about going left or right, this is about going deeper and trying to understand together. Rather than endorse candidates, we ask them to endorse what is at the heart of Jesus and that is the poor or the peacemakers and when we see that then we'll get behind them." Claiborne says the movement of younger evangelicals is growing and looking at the Bible in more holistic terms. He is quick to say the call of Christ has more to do with how people live their lives on November 3 and 5 than how they vote on November 4."It's certainly easy to walk into a voting booth every four years and feel like you're going to change the world but that's not going to do it."

After the interview, Claiborne, Haw and the band pack up and head to a local restaurant in search of more grease to power the bus. They find it at a Chinese restaurant a few miles away. At 11 p.m. they're on the road again. They drive through the night to Washington, sleeping in the retrofitted bunks in the back of the school bus. The next night in the nation's capital they hit the stump again, calling for young evangelicals to vote "Jesus for President."
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My first reaction to this article was WT? But then I thought wait, let's think about this. If Jesus was alive today would he fit the requirements for president and would he possibly make a good president? I am not writing this to attack any person, persons or group, I am curious philosophically what people think. So my first step would be to see if he would fit the requirements.  The requirements in the constitution for a person to become president of the United States are these:

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

So Jesus was not born in the United States nor was he a citizen at the time of the constitution's adoption. His mother was neither of these either. I guess Christians (I am Jewish) could make an arguement that according to them, his father being G-D, could "grandfather" him in. So on this point we come to an impass.

On the second point, I just asked Hubby (he is a non-denominational Christian) how old Jesus was when he died. Hubby said he thinks he was thirty-three. So if Hubby is correct then Jesus would be to young to be president. Here again Christians could argue that Jesus is ever living and rose from the grave. But to look at this from a legal standing I think we should really go by his age when he was last "alive".

On the last point again arguements could be made in both directions, "been fourteen Years a resident within the United States", no he never actually physically lived in the United States. But, here again under Christian doctrine it could be argued that Jesus lives through the Church (whichever denomination that church is) and through Christians. And since there have been Churches and Christians in the United States longer than fourteen years they may argue he meets the residency requirements.

So, lets say he meets the requirements, would he make a good president? One thing I think a president should be is well educated. Jesus was well versed in the Torah (To you non-jewish folks out there Torah can mean many things, its one of those ask ten Jews a question and you get twelve answers things. It specifically refers to the Five Books of Moses or the Bible, AKA: to Christians as the "Old Testament", we don't call it that), the Talmud (commentaries on "the law", includes the Gemara and the Mishnah, written and the oral law which was given to Moses on Mount Sinai) and Halachah (law). Many historians believe he went to a Yeshiva (school) to learn these things. So as far as that culture goes I guess you could say he had the equivbelent of a college education.

How would he be with foreign policy? This is a really import issue in todays world. I think Jesus was cognizant of the fact that you have to deal with cultures other than your own. Plus he believed that whole "Render unto Caeser" thing so he understood the need to work things out with other groups of people. I also think the "Render unto Caesar" thing shows he would defend the constitution, because it is the law of the land. Additionally with his love of peace I think he would do everything in his power to avoid going to war with other countries. Which IMHO is a good thing. He was also a good mediator.

Would he be a good administrator? Well, he already had a "cabinet" which helped him to disseminate "information" concerning "events" at hand. He did manage meetings of varying sizes with people from different backgrounds attending. Maybe someone else could address this question better than I, but I think he would be a competant to good administrator.

I know there are probably tons of things I have missed. For example I have no idea  how he would be on the economy (WWJD?). Many might say no to Jesus being president because of the use of his name in the cause of war and injustice. But, even though I am Jewish (actually so was he) I think he was a good guy and has gotten a seriously bad P.R. (public relations) rap because of all the negative things done in his name. So would I vote for Jesus for president? Perhaps.

What do you think?

P.S. As I said before "I am not writing this to attack any person, persons or group, I am curious philosophically what people think." This article is not to mock Jesus or anyone who believes in him as a divine presence.