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          Reactionary religious right Christians oft-times ask, "What Would Jesus Do?" In an earlier article, I mentioned some things that I believed that Jesus would not do. In part 2 of this series, I take up the question of what Jesus would do.

          He would do as he did in his own time. From childhood, Jesus studied the Jewish religious texts and attended the synagogue. For most of his adult life, he earned his living as a carpenter - what today would be considered an honorable, skilled working-class profession. In his old age (and in his time, most people did not live past 40, so at 33 he was an old man), he turned away from his preoccupation with life and living, turned toward the life hereafter, and tried to improve the world as he found it.

          He preached a message of love and charity and of the brotherhood of all humankind. He so relentlessly railed against the religious establishment of his day that the scribes and Pharisees plotted and planned a way to permanently get rid of him.

          Today he would denounce those who ignore the issues of social justice and those who are unwilling to fight for the rights of all human beings to life lives of dignity. He would especially denounce those who justified their uncharitable actions as the will of God. He would warn the religious establishment, again and again, that they imperil their immortal souls when they ignore issues of social justice, when they sit in their multi-million dollar "Crystal Cathedrals," singing praises to the Almighty, then ignore the starvation of 30,000 people across the world each and every day, and when they demand that, not millions, but BILLIONS, of dollars each year be spent to create a mighty military machine, designed to bring death and suffering into this world.

          Jesus would rail against those who profit from religion as he railed against the money changers in the temple. Perhaps he would visit Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, James Dobson, Ralph Reid, or many other of the religious right luminaries, rip their internet line out of the wall, make a whip out of an Internet cable, then proceed to whip the miscreants, to overturn tables, and to trash the place, all the while yelling, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who ere selling doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!" John 2:13-16

          Jesus never mentioned some of the religious rights' favorite topics: abortion, birth control, masturbation, and homosexuality; and Jesus rarely discussed sex between adults. However, he constantly preached against the religious establishment of his day.

          He sought mercy and clemency, not punishment and vengeance, for the sinner.

          2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.

          Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

          9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11

          She said, “No one, sir.”

          And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” John 8: 2-11

          He railed against religious leaders demanding one thing of their followers then failing to abide by their own rules. He would have rejected titles of honor such as Teacher, Master, and Father; he would be distinctly displeased that a church formed in his name used such titles as Your Excellency, Your Eminence, Your Holiness, Holy Father, Supreme Pontiff, and Vicar of Christ (ie, God's mouthpiece on earth). He would have no patience for a church that taught in his name and that was headed by a man who lived in a princely palace, wore a triple-decker crown, and sported an enormous gemstone on his finger.

          Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

          13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

          16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ 19 How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; 22 and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

          23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

          25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self- indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

          27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28 So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

          29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. 33 You snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35 so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation. Matthew 23:1 - 36

          Jesus would have fought for racial justice, as he did when he noted that the Samaritan was truly the good neighbor and the priest and Levite were not.

          29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10: 29 - 37)

          Jesus would be pleased that women were studying his message and preaching his Gospel.

          38 Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; 42 there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10: 38 - 42)

          Perhaps the reactionary right ignore so many scriptural references to the obligations of the faithful to bring social justice into the world because they do not believe in the God they so piously proclaim. If they truly believe in the message that Jesus of Nazareth preached, they would live in fear for their immortal souls.

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