Your Jesus and mine

Nobody owns the Son of God, and He has important words for both the right and the left | Janie B. Cheaney


I'm a compulsive reader of bumper stickers, as well as an admirer of the brief punchy statement that "makes you think." If it sticks in your head after making you think, so much the better. On those merits, I would rate this one fairly high: JESUS CALLED. HE WANTS HIS RELIGION BACK.
If you're thinking, your first thought is probably, Huh? If the bumper in question is decked with other stickers, such as Coexist spelled out in the symbols of various religions, or HATE IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE, you've got a clue. The driver of the vehicle ahead of you is a left-wing, tree-hugging, pacifist hippie wannabe. Not to indulge in stereotypes or anything, but as the light changes you press the accelerator, longing to nudge that offensive bumper, just a little. That'll teach her (isn't it almost always a her?) to imply that you are a smug, self-righteous Pharisee.
Or you might see this on a friend's Facebook page: a cartoon of a pensive Christ under a heading that reads, "What would Jesus Not do?" He definitely would not Harass Single Moms, Beat Homosexuals or Picket Their Funerals, Join a Militia, Run a Network, Own A Weapon, Run for President, Hate His Enemies, Attack the Poor, Side With the Rich ... OK, you get the idea.
The cartoon was linked from the Facebook page of Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented (dot com), a group that believes in loving unconditionally and not taking time to get the story straight. For example: "It is popular and politically correct in Christian circles to take a stand against homosexuality. So much so that Christianity today looks more like the world than a group of Christ followers." That would be news to the "popular" Christians who found themselves blackballed by the world for supporting California Proposition 8 against same-sex marriage. Or authors (like me) who know if they write a children's novel presenting a gay character unfavorably they can kiss the American Library Association goodbye. Rest of article here.