Incoming freshman Representative, Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)
set Christian tongues a clucking last Thursday with her stated intent to “go in and impeach the motherfucker” - referring with that vulgarity to to President Donald Trump. Many Christians shake their heads and wag their
fingers, lamenting the decrease in decency, and the collapse of civility, and et centers
But me… I just wonder if Jesus himself might not have called
President Trump a “motherfucker” or something similar.
Hear me out.
I know, of course, that Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and the apostle Paul’s advice to “…let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth,” (Ephesians 4:29) would seem to negate any chance that Jesus might use such an uncouth epithet, but I still think there is a case to be made.
Look for instance at the fiery invective that Jesus used against his enemies, the Pharisees, in Matthew 23 – particularly verse 33: “"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (NIV). We’ve probably read this verse enough time to buff away the jagged edge of these words. So we need to remind ourselves just how uncivil Jesus was sometimes.
Here Jesus is describing his enemies as snakes, as the children of vipers. In the context of that culture and that time, Jesus was condemning them as disgusting and defiling children of the devil (that ancient serpent – Revelation 20:2). This is no polite ecumenical discourse. This is bitter polemic. This is nasty partisanship. This is abusive, ad hominem attack. It may not have been “motherfucker,” but it was just as nasty.
Hear me out.
I know, of course, that Jesus’ admonition to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) and the apostle Paul’s advice to “…let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth,” (Ephesians 4:29) would seem to negate any chance that Jesus might use such an uncouth epithet, but I still think there is a case to be made.
Look for instance at the fiery invective that Jesus used against his enemies, the Pharisees, in Matthew 23 – particularly verse 33: “"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (NIV). We’ve probably read this verse enough time to buff away the jagged edge of these words. So we need to remind ourselves just how uncivil Jesus was sometimes.
Here Jesus is describing his enemies as snakes, as the children of vipers. In the context of that culture and that time, Jesus was condemning them as disgusting and defiling children of the devil (that ancient serpent – Revelation 20:2). This is no polite ecumenical discourse. This is bitter polemic. This is nasty partisanship. This is abusive, ad hominem attack. It may not have been “motherfucker,” but it was just as nasty.
We like to keep our Jesus clean. We like to keep him out of
the gutter – and to keep the gutter out of his mouth, but Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees was, at times, quite ugly. we tend to forget (willful, perhaps) that “[p]olite ecumenical dialogue
among different religious groups is a happy modern invention (Meier 338).” And
since the division between the two is often indistinguishable, it’s true of
political discourse as well.
Would Jesus have called President Trump a Motherfucker? I
don’t know. In Luke 13:23 he called Herod Antipas a “fox” (more specifically a “vixen”)
– and it wasn’t because Jesus thought Herod was handsome or clever. It was a pointed, and
insulting criticism on par with calling him a poser, jackass.
Would Jesus call President Trump a Motherfucker? I don’t know – but I think a case can be made that he might.
See also: Jesus, Be Civil!
Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew Vol. III: Companions and
Competitors. Doubleday. New York,
New York. 2001.
Well said. I have grown up with an aversion to anger, and a cultural desire to be polite. I'm English, evangelical background. Now I am raging. Life has not been kind. Injustices to me, my family, my friends, my patients, my neighbours have enraged me. My brother, who is a pastor, berated me recently for being angry. "you're angry, and that's out of character". Well yes. I'm furious, for very good reasons. It's my expression of anger that he's uncomfortable with. I'm just not polite anymore.
ReplyDeleteWell said. I have grown up with an aversion to anger, and a cultural desire to be polite. I'm English, evangelical background. Now I am raging. Life has not been kind. Injustices to me, my family, my friends, my patients, my neighbours have enraged me. My brother, who is a pastor, berated me recently for being angry. "you're angry, and that's out of character". Well yes. I'm furious, for very good reasons. It's my expression of anger that he's uncomfortable with. I'm just not polite anymore.
ReplyDeleteJesus got angry - it's told of him turning over tables and taking a whip to run those who would use the temple for their own personal gain. However, He would not speak in such a manner. He was a Jewish Rabbi. We are told to "be angry, yet do not sin."
ReplyDelete