The immoral Jesus

Yes, the world from the perspective of comfortable middle class Australian society in the 1960’s was divided into the moral “haves” and “have-nots”; a useful distinction to justify one’s own privileged position.

This moral dichotomy was, in the usual parochial and tribal way, broadened to comprise stiff, unemotional - and yet reassuringly familiar - British modes of behaviour under the category of “moral”, and thus a lot of immigrant behaviour became highly suspect. I remember in my ignorance going around to a Yugoslav friend’s place and being disturbed that his father, mother and friends sat around singing, clapping hands and wildly playing the piano-accordion; so much sheer fun - and without the restraint of the upright (piano, that is) - had more than a whiff of immorality about it.

And yet there is no question that Jesus of Nazareth was the most immoral Man to grace the steps of the Temple in Jerusalem.

What do we know of His behaviour?

You can judge a person by his suburb or home-town, can’t you? To be a “Nazarene” was already to be tainted with the suspicion of insurgency. “Could anything good come out of Nazareth?” was the common slur of the day. Nazareth was Macquarie Fields, Everleigh Street and Mt Druitt rolled into one, and we all know what people who come from those places are like.

We judge a person by what school he went to, don’t we? Jesus’ teacher seems to have been John the Baptist, the arch-radical who contradicted every decent principle of right living and who then dared to criticise the government, to boot. He took on Herod and for that was properly incarcerated, traitor that he was; and beheaded. And who would miss him?

You can tell a person by his friends, of course. Jesus was “the friend of drunkards and sinners”. If Mary Magdalene was not the prostitute which popular mythology likes to make her, Jesus nonetheless had encounters with several women of ill repute, and seemed to accept them among his entourage, even holding some of them up as examples to their “betters”.

Even worse, Jesus could be found in the company of financial powerbrokers when he wasn’t hanging around with the dregs. Here is where we who are most empathetic with the poor and the outcast must take righteous umbrage, if we are true to our principles, mustn’t we? It’s alright for Him to be seen with Mum Shirl, Roberta Perkins and Renae Lawrence, but how could He bring Himself to grace the tables of Jamie Packer, Rupert Murdoch and - gagg!!! - Christopher Skase? Aren’t they the “tax-collectors” of our time, and isn’t Jesus an embarrassment?

He talks theology with women. He touches the unclean. He breaks the food rules. He attacks the “battlers” just trying to make a living at the Temple.

These breaches are like: talking seriously with Tom Cruise, on any issue; having afternoon tea in the home of Jihad Jack; streaking across the paddock at the Rugby League Grand Final, with the score even-stevens and one minute to go; and holding a protest outside the offices of the Halliburton corporation, in the manner of the honourable Dick Cheney’s arch-nemesis Scott Parkin (the man who was subsequently thrown out of Australia as a threat to national security, even though the threat he posed was never explained).

People like Jesus just don’t belong in Australia, or in any society that calls itself civilized. After all, He comes into this world and then starts complaining. Nobody asked Him to come here, and if He doesn’t like it, He should go back where He came from. And what are the authorities doing about it?

Jesus Christ is indecent, outspoken, and known to be violent. He preaches the break-up of the family and shows irreverence to the lawmakers, keeps bad company, is no role model for ordinary decent folk who just want to get on with their lives, and has absolutely whacko opinions on just about everything. He is, quite simply, immoral.
They ought to bring back the death penalty for people like Him.

(Italics reflect the comments of talk-back radio callers.)