New Zealand is now faced with a profound tragedy, as you’ve no doubt already heard. Before his attack on two mosques, the white terrorist, like so many before him, created his own manifesto so that the rest of could understand the “necessity” of his egregious acts.
As manifestos go, at least this one had decent formatting. But it didn’t say much. What it did reveal was that the author was scared. Terrified even. He feared Americans losing their gun rights (which seemed odd to me since he’s Australian). He feared white/Europeans being wiped out through some reverse-genocide. He worried that children were being born of mixed races, meaning less white children were born. And of course there was the ever-present—immigration of anybody that wasn’t white and their right to coexist.
In the aftermath of this attack, a Fox “news” analyst (I think analyst should be in quotes as well) Walid Phares told host Bill Hemmer that even though he decries the attacks, the political motivation is ‘understandable.’ Which begs the question: “does Phares agree with this manifesto?” which is, after all, a political statement.
I don’t want to get into the ties between Fox “news,” Evangelicals, the President and white supremacy, as that conversation is ongoing and we know they’re tied to the basic ideal that they have been chosen by God to be white, straight, male, and Evangelical.
While manifestos keep showing up on social media, it’s time we started talking about the one manifesto that should override them all, and that they should be adhering to. After all, he’s the guy they claim gives them the right to to be white in the first place. It’s time we started talking about this manifesto in ways that make clear what the man whose allegiance they have pledged to, thought about these issues.
Matthew 5-7 contains what has been called the Sermon on the Mount, but if you spend much time with it, you’ll notice that it sets up Jesus’ entire ‘ministry.’ His philosophy, his vision, his view of God and God’s relationship to humanity. He spends a significant amount time talking about a kingdom—the Kingdom of Heaven—which he believed was meant to exist right here on earth. Like no other recording of Jesus’ words, this sermon is the basis for his teaching: His manifesto.
When Jesus looked over the Galilean countryside at the mass of people gathered, he saw a people abused and bullied by Rome, and by the Jewish elite working in conjunction with Roman overlords. He saw the common people struggling under abusive tax laws while the elite enjoyed luxurious tax breaks. He saw justice for the rich and inequality for the poor. He saw families foreclosed upon, children sold into slavery, and households struggling under debt created by deceptive lending practices. There were Greek, Samaritan, Canaanite, and of course Roman: immigrants of all stripes.
And it’s in this context that Jesus begins this Sermon—with the Beatitudes—a series of blessings.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
- Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
- Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
- Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
There’s one very important idea that seems to get lost here. Jesus doesn’t mention tribes. He doesn’t mention religion, or race, or position in life. He doesn’t even mention gender. He calls out those who have been abused by life, and he blesses them—as they are.
While the beatitudes are a small section of Jesus’ sermon, the fact that they are at the beginning is significant. Most commentaries on this particular passage assume that Jesus is somehow encouraging us to BE those things: poor in spirit, one who mourns, meek… and so forth. While this is possible, it’s more likely Jesus, in his capacity as a teacher, is simply pronouncing a blessing. In Jesus’ world, blessings from spiritual leaders were precious and coveted. In the story of Jacob and Esau, we read about the lengths that Jacob (and his mom) went to get his father Isaac’s blessing away from his twin brother Esau. Later, Jacob would wrestle an angel, and even after the celestial being had crippled Jacob; in agonizing pain Jacob refused to let go until the angel blessed him—which it finally did.
Jesus was mentored under renowned, and now incarcerated, John the Baptist so he was not without a certain amount of clout, as evidenced by the size of the crowd that day (at least according to Matthew). Any blessing pronounced upon them by John’s Talmid would have been received as something precious—a promise from God. So when Jesus looked out and said to the ‘poor in spirit…’“You’re blessed,” those who felt as if they had lost everything must have felt a twinge of hope spring up within their dark depression. He followed up that blessing with a promise: The Kingdom of Heaven.
That’s the cuddly side. That’s the side we learned in Sunday School and sang songs about at church. For most of our lives this sermon has been presented as a warm and fuzzy homily, meant to make us feel good. However, it was only meant to make a certain group of people feel good. It was also meant to startle others: particularly those that weren’t on the list.
In looking at the ‘blessing,’ we seem to gloss over something else—something pretty significant. These were the people that Jesus pronounced BLESSED and promised The Kingdom of Heaven. The ‘real’ people God cared about. In hearing these blessings, we have to notice who doesn’t make the list. And if they’re not on this list, we can deduce they’re on another list—a cursed list—a list who God will actively oppose—a list of potential enemies.
As I look at what I’ve written so far, I realize that I’ve only just started. This is the setup. This the context in which Jesus sets up his theology. Jesus began the sermon that would define his “purpose” on earth by making it abundantly clear who made it to the The Kingdom of Heaven and who did not. It’s a short list, and there isn’t a lot of guessing as to whether or not we’re on it. That also means we can examine those who tell us they’re “Christian” and know if they’re on it. And quite frankly, Walid Phares isn’t on that list. Most Evangelicals aren’t on that list. The President isn’t on that list. White supremacists aren’t on that list. Our white terrorist isn’t on that list. Which means, according to Jesus, they’re on another list—a much more sinister list.
I have a lot more to say about this, but this is where I’ll end for now, since there’s so much more to this section of Jesus’ sermon (or manifesto, if you will).